Originally Posted by propellerhead78
Originally Posted by NuttCase
Originally Posted by propellerhead78
I'm using Motul 6100 SYN-ergy 5w30 in our M5 presently. I have about 1800 miles on the oil and have been happy with it thus far. Mostly mixed city/hwy driving and lately a lot of fun drives at night on the empty freeways. It's the correct viscosity, and meets A3B4, SL and LL-01 standards though it is a blend, which I didn't know at the time. I'll probably run it 3k then change it to the Motul Specific 5w30 LL-01 A5B5 I have on the workbench. Strange thing about the BMW S63 engine-different year owners manuals have different oil viscosity recommendations. My manual says 0w30 or 5w30 as an alternate. I know other years list 0w40 and 5w40, but I try to stick by the letter of the book.
It's often the case with European cars that are sold in many geo-markets, there are differences or inconsistencies in the owners manual. In some cases the viscosities change from one model year to the next even though the engine has remained completely unchanged. I have a couple of M5 brochures from the time I was car shopping a few years ago which ended up with the purchase of an Audi R8V8.
So one 2013 brochure states : 0W30, 0W40, alternately 5W30, 5W40. ACEA A3/B4 (no reference to LL01)
and the other 2016 states : 0W40, alternately 0W30. BMW LL01 LL01FE (no reference to ACEA)
I think the Motul you refer to is LL01 FE, as you say A5B5. Would you not be better to stay with an A3/B4 LL01 rather than the LL01FE which will have a lower HTHS? Great car by the way. I had a test drive about a year ago in a F10 M5 and was blown away by the effortless performance and traction.
Thank you for your response, I hope you're getting along OK in Ireland with this virus business...
I'm glad someone else noticed the discrepancy between years of the recommended viscosities. The printed 2015 manual in my car states 0w30 recommended, 5w30 as an alternate. I found an online 2015 manual that has 0w40 recommended with 0w30 as the alternate! Slightly confusing for the user and maintenance minded...
Because 0w40 and 5w40 are recommended in other years material for the M5, is it safe to assume that the other viscosities will be perfectly fine? There are more options in 0w40 and 5w40 than Xw30 with BMW LL-01 so it makes the search a bit easier. I live in Southern California which gets warm enough that a 40wt oil would be fine, for commuting, evening rapid drives and backroad trips up north. I'm not sure though, what subtle differences BMW may have made throughout the run, or if the inclusion of the Competition package requires a 0w/5w30 oil.
As for the Motul Specific 5w30 A5B5 LL01 FE (you're right it's FE), I'm not educated enough on how HTHS shear varies from one spec to the next. What should I consider with respect to that? My assumption was that LL01 FE superseded LL01, and that they differ from the LL04 C3 spec that I shouldn't be using in my car. I was hoping that this Motul Specific would be the standard oil I use in the car. There is also a LiquiMoly product unveiled last year that I was thinking about: SAE 5w30Special Tec B FE. Liquimoly SAE 5w30Special Tec LL is another and it's available at NAPA a few miles away. Not sure which is better honestly.
What brought me to this site was a search to find out about the 6100 Motul 5W30 I put in my car a few months back. All the specs match the book, but because it's a Technosynthese product, it's a blend of sorts (to my understanding) and I was concerned it was something I shouldn't run in the M5. Even if it is a blend, it does meet the spec to a letter-nowhere is synthetic oil mentioned-so perhaps I should just run it a shorter interval.
The M5 is a dream car-spectacular performance and practical for the family! I found this in an unlikely place...You've got quite the machine yourself. The R8 V10 Spyder with a gated manual gearbox is just about the apogee of sports car art IMO. I have driven the R8 v8 R-tronic and it was incredible, particularly the sound-no doubt that v10 at 8500rpm is even wilder.
LL01FE does NOT supersede LL01.
Any LL01 in S63 would be fine and I personally would use it (I use in my N52 LL01 not LL01FE which is also allowed).
HTHS in LL01FE is around 3, compared to minimum of 3.5 in LL01 oil.
Now, S63 specifically is very demanding engine. Reason why LL01FE is recommended is that BMW found out that most BMW owners do short distances, extreme city driving in the US. N/S63 engines proved particularly susceptible to issues with specific to short distances. BMW tried to mitigate that issue partly with thinner oils.
Now, problem with N/S63 is extremely high operating temperature. That is generally case with BMW engines. But N/S63 runs around 110c. That means that 0W30 oil is actually thinner at operating temperature than what KV100 suggests. That is why I would run in that particular engine oils like Motul X-Cess 5W40 if you like Motul. Plus that oil is like $37 on Amazon for 5ltr. Though you can run Castrol Edge 0W40 which does not have LL01 anymore but has MB229.5 etc. It is $25 for 5qt in Wal Mart. You can run Valvoline European Vehicle 5W40 which is LL01, Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W40 etc.