BMW (S55) M3 - What LL01 or LL01FE oil?

[hellokitty]

I’ve been overly thinking this lately and need some help here.

I have a 2017 M3 that calls for LL-01FE. I’m strictly driving on the street and canyons. However, my car is running on flex fuel and I plan to use full E85 most of the time. Power output on my custom tune is around 580 whp (up from 440 stock). My planned OCI will be around 4-5k miles.

Is using LL-01FE out of the question due to the additional power? If so, what oil in the LL-01 segment would you recommend that can handle ethanol use well over the 5k OCI? I am thinking esters will oxidize rapidly, so that leaves 300V out. Xcess Gen 2 looks promising with 3.8 hths and high starting TBN.

what do you guys think?

 

[JXW]

Ravenol VST 5w-40. From my standpoint--what the ______ does FE mean? Fuel economy. When building and designing and engine for how can you acheive the ulitimate in protection AND include FE? Mutually exclusive IMHO. Not a tribologist just a enthusiast.

I purchase Ravenol from Blauparts (WI) and they ship with two day delivery to most places in the USA.

Lastly, the oil has a great HTHS and is approved LL-01.

Best of luck!

 

[Egg_Head]

They don't sell 91> octane in Cali?

 

[MattPersman]

Whatever you choose oil wise I would change it more frequently if using e85. I believe it’s harder on oil from many things I have read.

 

[BMW Dom]

Go with ll-01.

 

[THORROMIG]

Check out something from High Performance Lubricants.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Fuel dilution will probably be an issue so you'll want a HTHS of/greatrer than 3.5. That means LL01 in any weight.

Do a UOA to see how bad the fuel dilution is.

 

[mightymousetech]

Just grab anything approved for LL-01.

 

[hellokitty]

They don't sell 91> octane in Cali?

Nope California basically has watered down 91. Same goes for Arizona and Nevada. It’s probably closer to 90 octane compared to the rest of the US.

 

[hellokitty]

Check out something from High Performance Lubricants.

Where do you even buy this stuff? Is it different from “HPL” oil marketed by precision turbo?

 

[gatorfast]

I always used Castrol 0w40 LL-01 when I had my F80 M3 but I did not run an E85 tune.

 

[930.engineering]

I'd go either LL-01 or LL-04, not (never ever) LL-01 FE. The main difference between LL-01 and LL-01 FE is HTHS, while the main difference between LL-01 and LL-04 is SAPS level. On very most markets this engine is specced for LL-04 and that's what I'd prefer. California has low-sulphur fuel, so running mid SAPS isn't an issue so far. However....
Remember that E85 tends to encourage fuel dilution and even more so with a tune. Fuel dilution causes loss of viscosity including HTHS and leads to premature oil aging. Personally I wouldn't run E85, but if you do, take these issues into account.

 

[THORROMIG]

Where do you even buy this stuff? Is it different from “HPL” oil marketed by precision turbo?

They are a sponsor on this site. Look up sponsors.

 

[edyvw]

Never LL01FE in M3.
If you run E85 you want thicker XW40 oil!