That's due to the fact that the US lagged much of Europe in implementing low-sulfur gasoline. It no longer applies to this market. The only meaningful difference between Longlife-01 and Longlife-04 is the SAPS level. Both have the same minimum HT/HS.
Nothing to do with EtOH. Otherwise Longlife-04 would be a problem in those vehicles which list it as an approval.
Other than the TBN what on the UOA shows the oil is "done"?
EU has same ethanol mandates as the US.
Go to Wal mart and get Mobil1 0W40, 5W40, Castrol Edge 5W40, Castrol Edge 5W30 Euro, Valvoline European Vehicle 5W40, QS 5W40.
EU: sugar cane ethanol. US: corn based.
Well with the current fill, the mileage, and potential condition of your bearings I would change it this weekend. Reuse the filter. IJS.
Hard to say, but bearings are subject to corrosive wear. To a certain extent corrosive wear will occur even when the engine isn't running, but it will happen a lot faster when the bearings are hot. It's possible that the corrosion inhibitor in the oil was used up due to the combination of time and mileage on the oil.
LL01 is what is called full-SAPS (Sulfated Ash and phosphorus) oil. It is generally a better oil for long-term use.Mobil1 0W40 is what I've been using on it since 2008, I still don't really understand the differance between the ll01 and llo4.
So one of you guys is saying to use the ESP 5w30 which is llo4?
And your saying use Mobil1 0W40 which is ll01.
I'm getting more confused by the second here.
We don't have any more high sulfur in the gas. It is not the same as SAPS. SAPS is a byproduct, a metallic byproduct. Since 01/2017 gas in US is Ultra Low SUlfur Gasoline (ULSG).
I don't know if they're bad to the point that they require replacement but you have an engine with 250k miles in it, with a UOA which suggests some bearing wear had occurred, and you're currently using an oil which is not suitable for the engine.
My 530i was one of those vehicles. FWIW Alusil isn’t a coating it’s an alloy, the whole block is made from that material.
