Blend in a BMW

[PReal]

My inlaws have taken over my old 2006 X3 and I was thinking I would share the wealth from my oil stash.

What are the thoughts of using a non certified LL01 5w30 blend in a BMW x3 well out of warranty. Car has a shade under 100k miles on the 2.5 I6 and have been doing 5k changes with syntec 5w40.

I'm sure there are tons of bummers using non certified oil on the road. What are BITOG's thoughts?

 

[Quattro Pete]

What's the HT/HS viscosity of the blend that you're planning on using?

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
What's the HT/HS viscosity of the blend that you're planning on using?


+1, or perhaps more importantly, is it ACEA A3/B3? What OCI will you be doing?

 

[TrevorS]

More importantly, how will BITOG BMW drivers respond to this insult?

Originally Posted By: PReal
I'm sure there are tons of bummers using non certified oil on the road.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: TrevorS
More importantly, how will BITOG BMW drivers respond to this insult?

Originally Posted By: PReal
I'm sure there are tons of bummers using non certified oil on the road.


I do see them as I drive by VIOC, Jiffy Lube, etc.

 

[PReal]

Hths is right at 3.0

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: PReal
Hths is right at 3.0


That's about .5cP too low.

 

[Brybo86]

Is the new owner a slacker for maintenance? Why not use whatever you have been using.

 

[PReal]

Because I have a lot of non certified oil I would give to them.

 

[dparm]

A blend with HTHS 3.0 is too low. You need to be around 3.5, which is what all LL-01 oils must have as a minimum.

 

[daves87rs]

I'd just stick with the syntec you were using....

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

There's a LL01-FE spec which allows and HTHS of 3.0

BMW N40, N42, N45, N46, N62, N73. These are all older I4, a V8 and V12.

That said there are plenty of people who motor around with any old oil in their BMW 's. I've seen people use regular M1 5w30 religiously.

 

[bigjl]

I would stick to the proper oil in this one.

People have been ruining BMW engines for many years in Europe by using the wrong oil.

The petrol engines do tend to run and run if well maintained.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
There's a LL01-FE spec which allows and HTHS of 3.0

This FE spec always has me puzzled. BMW allows it in Europe, but not in the US. I would have thought BMWNA would have jumped on it in an effort to improve their CAFE standings, yet, many years after FE was introduced, it's still nowhere to be found in the US owner manuals. What is BMWNA afraid of?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
There's a LL01-FE spec which allows and HTHS of 3.0

This FE spec always has me puzzled. BMW allows it in Europe, but not in the US. I would have thought BMWNA would have jumped on it in an effort to improve their CAFE standings, yet, many years after FE was introduced, it's still nowhere to be found in the US owner manuals. What is BMWNA afraid of?



I guess it's because BMW never imported the engines which use it or the sales numbers (N62) didn't justify the cost of another oil.

Since LL01 the US never had an I4 until recently and the I6 was always the biggest seller. Who knows.

 

[crw]

Guys, these threads are missing an important consideration. How long? How long do you plan to use *whatever* oil? I'm still a novice when it comes to all the numerical specifications (beyond weight), but I would think that you can run any good quality oil for 5000 miles. If you want to go 15000 or whatever the OLM says, better use the proper oil.