0W-30 or 5W-30

Joined
May 7, 2020
Messages
3
Location
Ontario
Hi everyone,

My quest to find the best replacement engine oil for my '16 BMW X1 has apparently ended me up in analysis paralysis. My thought process went on something like:
"We have bad gasoline here so I should stick with LL-01 ones and stay away from those fancy European LL-04+ oils. [censored] those Pennzoil natural gas Platinum stuff sounds so pure, gotta have that. Oh but they only offer it in 5W and I'd rather have 0W for our brutal Canadian winters. Hmm people say they are equally pumpable so it doesn't matter. But that darn video on youtube clearly shows 0W is moving faster than 5W at -1000 degrees. But hey, it seems we don't have that much sulphur in our gasoline anymore, it's regulated to be 12ppm starting Jan 2020 (https://www.canada.ca/en/environmen...n/fuel-regulations/sulphur-gasoline.html) , almost California numbers baby! So am I good for European stuff now? Heck everybody says nice things about Castrol Edge A3/B4, can't go wrong with that. What do you mean nobody stocks them around here??

Somebody...please...help me! What oil would you use under my circumstances?

- short trips to work
- using no ethanol gasoline
- oil change every ~10K kms (6250 miles)

(Careful, "in this case any oil would do" comments will only aggravate my misery
smile.gif


Thanks for your insights!
 
Originally Posted by Danno
What does the owners manual recommend? Oil specs and viscosity.
And are you in southern or northern Ontario ?


The manual says:
"When selecting an engine oil, ensure that the
engine oil belongs to one of the viscosity
grades SAE 0W-40, SAE 0W-30, SAE 5W-40,
SAE 5W-30, 0W-20 or 5W-20.
The viscosity grades 0W-20 and 5W-20 are
only suitable for particular engines."

"Suitable engine oil types:
BMW Longlife-01.
BMW Longlife-01 FE.
BMW Longlife-14 FE+."

Under the hood sticker says: 0W-20

It's been maintained by the dealer so far but now that the warranty, etc. are over it's back in my DIY hands. I'm planning to switch to 0W-30 thinking it'll provide marginally better protection albeit slightly worse fuel economy.

I'm in Southern Ontario (Ottawa), btw.

Thanks!
 
Originally Posted by Karma_Police
Hi everyone,

My quest to find the best replacement engine oil for my '16 BMW X1 has apparently ended me up in analysis paralysis. My thought process went on something like:
"We have bad gasoline here so I should stick with LL-01 ones and stay away from those fancy European LL-04+ oils. [censored] those Pennzoil natural gas Platinum stuff sounds so pure, gotta have that. Oh but they only offer it in 5W and I'd rather have 0W for our brutal Canadian winters. Hmm people say they are equally pumpable so it doesn't matter. But that darn video on youtube clearly shows 0W is moving faster than 5W at -1000 degrees. But hey, it seems we don't have that much sulphur in our gasoline anymore, it's regulated to be 12ppm starting Jan 2020 (https://www.canada.ca/en/environmen...n/fuel-regulations/sulphur-gasoline.html) , almost California numbers baby! So am I good for European stuff now? Heck everybody says nice things about Castrol Edge A3/B4, can't go wrong with that. What do you mean nobody stocks them around here??

Somebody...please...help me! What oil would you use under my circumstances?

- short trips to work
- using no ethanol gasoline
- oil change every ~10K kms (6250 miles)

(Careful, "in this case any oil would do" comments will only aggravate my misery
smile.gif


Thanks for your insights!


Climate conditions??? I can only recommend what i have used personally. I believe Rheinol makes other viscosities, but your X should specify 5w40 as well..read the approvals on this oil.

All the best...

[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Karma_Police
Originally Posted by Danno
What does the owners manual recommend? Oil specs and viscosity.
And are you in southern or northern Ontario ?


The manual says:
"When selecting an engine oil, ensure that the
engine oil belongs to one of the viscosity
grades SAE 0W-40, SAE 0W-30, SAE 5W-40,
SAE 5W-30, 0W-20 or 5W-20.
The viscosity grades 0W-20 and 5W-20 are
only suitable for particular engines."

"Suitable engine oil types:
BMW Longlife-01.
BMW Longlife-01 FE.
BMW Longlife-14 FE+."

Under the hood sticker says: 0W-20

It's been maintained by the dealer so far but now that the warranty, etc. are over it's back in my DIY hands. I'm planning to switch to 0W-30 thinking it'll provide marginally better protection albeit slightly worse fuel economy.

I'm in Southern Ontario (Ottawa), btw.

Thanks!

Go with 0W40 Castrol ot M1

BTW, we consider Ottawa to be Northern Ontario...
 
Originally Posted by Bluestream

Go with 0W40 Castrol ot M1

Thanks, I think I'll go ahead with Castrol if I can find any.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Bluestream
Originally Posted by Karma_Police
Originally Posted by Danno
What does the owners manual recommend? Oil specs and viscosity.
And are you in southern or northern Ontario ?


The manual says:
"When selecting an engine oil, ensure that the
engine oil belongs to one of the viscosity
grades SAE 0W-40, SAE 0W-30, SAE 5W-40,
SAE 5W-30, 0W-20 or 5W-20.
The viscosity grades 0W-20 and 5W-20 are
only suitable for particular engines."

"Suitable engine oil types:
BMW Longlife-01.
BMW Longlife-01 FE.
BMW Longlife-14 FE+."

Under the hood sticker says: 0W-20

It's been maintained by the dealer so far but now that the warranty, etc. are over it's back in my DIY hands. I'm planning to switch to 0W-30 thinking it'll provide marginally better protection albeit slightly worse fuel economy.

I'm in Southern Ontario (Ottawa), btw.

Thanks!

Go with 0W40 Castrol ot M1

BTW, we consider Ottawa to be Northern Ontario...

Agreed, on 0W40 and that climate is as harsh as northern Ontario.
Lived in Ottawa for 10 years.
 
Castrol Edge 0W30 A3/B4 has all the LL/MB/VW this or that suitable for BMW's ...
As long as you don't mind API SL
shocked2.gif

Don't rich people drive BMWs? so $9-10/qt. should not be an issue I assume
grin2.gif


Having said that if I owned a BMW and with 6250 oci and my driving style, I would NOT be afraid of using any other good 0W30 with half the price and no LL. Doesn't LL mean long life? I would think any good 0W syn can handle 6250.
Just my opinion and not suggesting people violating the owners manual.
 
Ontario Canada.

As you've realized your vehicle can operate on a wide spectrum of grades.

Based on your climate and operating environment I would opt for the following:

LL14FE In the United States BMW dealers only pour the 20 weight for your model. Most BMW SAV's are driven in urban environments as commuter cars.

OR

LL01FE. Should be 0w30 and in the US is reasonably priced from BMW dealerships.

The only advantage you have with LL01 (A3B4) is that you have a wider selection to chose from. You don't "need" the higher HTHS of LL01 and I wouldn't run a 40 weight in the dead of Canadian winter. Of course you can buy it in 5w30


Disclaimer: I'm a fanboy of the BMW TPT motor oil. For the US market it is readily available at BMW dealerships and competitively priced. Yes I could find cheaper Castrol, M1 or whatever but I'm not interest in waiting for sales, dealing with rebates etc. I'm exactly 3 miles from a BMW dealership. You market may very.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by OilUzer
Castrol Edge 0W30 A3/B4 has all the LL/MB/VW this or that suitable for BMW's ...
As long as you don't mind API SL
shocked2.gif

Don't rich people drive BMWs? so $9-10/qt. should not be an issue I assume
grin2.gif


Having said that if I owned a BMW and with 6250 oci and my driving style, I would NOT be afraid of using any other good 0W30 with half the price and no LL. Doesn't LL mean long life? I would think any good 0W syn can handle 6250.
Just my opinion and not suggesting people violating the owners manual.



Probably.

LL14FE (0w20) is based on the discontinued A1/B1 specification (HTHS 2.9-3.5)
 
Originally Posted by Karma_Police
"We have bad gasoline here so I


That's new one on me!!! Where do we have "Bad" gasoline here in Ontario that is top tier?
confused2.gif
 
Last edited:
We have several Bmw vehicles and live in Ontario. I use either 0w30 or 5w30 in the winter and 0w40 or 5w40 in the summer ( southern Ontario with the humidity is killer in the summer) . I'm positive that Castrol 0w40 has been discontinued so that would leave PP or Mobil 1. However now that you are out of warranty and NOT using a long OCI I would honestly use any NAME brand synthetic oil. I do feel that if you choose to go with the recommended oci that you use an oil with high hths.

For our older cars that are naturally aspirated I do use normal ( no LL rating) synthetic in 5w30 and sorter than recommended oci all year round. My turbo vehicles get the thicker stuff in the summer but stil short oci.
 
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