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      04-04-2020, 10:39 AM   #1
nearwater4me
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Dealer using 0w-30 weight for oil changes?

I just had my 10,000 miles oil change done, and by looking up the P/N used (b 83212365950), it appears that they filled up my m2c w/ 0w-30.
Should I be worried for daily driving?
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      04-04-2020, 12:08 PM   #2
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That is what is recommended by BMW for the M2C for the S55 motor. If you live a in a warmer climate you use 5w40

look in the owner's manual...

Last edited by Quicksilver_M2C; 04-04-2020 at 05:49 PM..
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      04-04-2020, 09:08 PM   #3
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As mentioned above that is what BMW currently recommends for the M2C in the USA

BMW LL-01 FE

SAE 0W-30

BMW supposedly switched to a lower viscosity in an effort to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy
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      04-05-2020, 07:46 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nearwater4me View Post
Should I be worried for daily driving?
Why would you be worried for daily driving?
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      04-06-2020, 02:49 AM   #5
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I thought the recommended oil was 0w-40...
I admit I didn’t check the manual.. no idea why I thought it was the 0w-40
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      04-08-2020, 08:10 AM   #6
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BMW is constantly updating their oil recommendations making the manual essentially "out of date". BMW recently revised most engines back to 2006 to prefer LL-01 FE oil at 0w-30 for all I6 gas engines instead of what most manuals at the time called for LL-01 5w-30.

The only difference is the minimum HTHS (high temp/high shear) spec. This determines how much viscosity is lost with high heat/stress. Higher is better. LL-01 HTHS minimum is 3.5 where FE is 3.0.

Summary: Someone at BMW came up with the idea that most of their I6 gas motors can get better gas mileage (higher CAFE rating) while sacrificing a little bit of viscosity. Probably wasn't an engineer that made that call...
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      04-08-2020, 03:24 PM   #7
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If you're not acting as the Pace Car at the 2019 Indy 500, probably not a major issue...
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      04-09-2020, 12:41 AM   #8
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Thin oil is all the rage, check BITOG.

If the engine is designed for 0w-30 then I say for the bulk of street driving it's probably great.
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      04-09-2020, 12:42 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PackPride85 View Post
BMW is constantly updating their oil recommendations making the manual essentially "out of date". BMW recently revised most engines back to 2006 to prefer LL-01 FE oil at 0w-30 for all I6 gas engines instead of what most manuals at the time called for LL-01 5w-30.

The only difference is the minimum HTHS (high temp/high shear) spec. This determines how much viscosity is lost with high heat/stress. Higher is better. LL-01 HTHS minimum is 3.5 where FE is 3.0.

Summary: Someone at BMW came up with the idea that most of their I6 gas motors can get better gas mileage (higher CAFE rating) while sacrificing a little bit of viscosity. Probably wasn't an engineer that made that call...
Maybe, we just don't know without speaking to engineers. It's possible they always thought it would be fine but had to wait to validate it in internal testing. I'd guess it's fine for the bulk of street driven S55 cars.
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      04-09-2020, 06:11 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris719 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by PackPride85 View Post
BMW is constantly updating their oil recommendations making the manual essentially "out of date". BMW recently revised most engines back to 2006 to prefer LL-01 FE oil at 0w-30 for all I6 gas engines instead of what most manuals at the time called for LL-01 5w-30.

The only difference is the minimum HTHS (high temp/high shear) spec. This determines how much viscosity is lost with high heat/stress. Higher is better. LL-01 HTHS minimum is 3.5 where FE is 3.0.

Summary: Someone at BMW came up with the idea that most of their I6 gas motors can get better gas mileage (higher CAFE rating) while sacrificing a little bit of viscosity. Probably wasn't an engineer that made that call...
Maybe, we just don't know without speaking to engineers. It's possible they always thought it would be fine but had to wait to validate it in internal testing. I'd guess it's fine for the bulk of street driven S55 cars.
I don't have much faith in BMW ever recommending what is best for the engine after the 15k mile oil change debacle.
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      04-09-2020, 11:18 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PackPride85 View Post
I don't have much faith in BMW ever recommending what is best for the engine after the 15k mile oil change debacle.
I'm convinced that 15K oil change wasn't a total mistake, but it may have been an misunderstanding based on common oil usage and fuel quality...

I grew up in the UK and moved to the US (via Korea) in 2012 when I was 32 years old. I therefore already had my fair share of oil changes and services done on cars in the UK before leaving.

Having lived now in the US for many years, I would say that there are three things that are significantly different between what's considered normal servicing between Europe and the US:
  • Fuel Quality
  • Oil Change Intervals
  • Tire Life
Fuel
Pump fuel quality in the US sucks in all states, but especially in those on the West Coast. I'm not going to be drawn into an argument on this topic, but I stand by my claim based on extensive research into standards in different countries that US 93 AKI is roughly equivalent to European standard fuel which is rated at 95 RON. European premium fuel is far better with a RON of between 97 and 99. I realise that this statement goes agains that established (incorrect) thinking that US 93 = EU 99, and I'll say one more thing about it. AKI is a ratio, and the important thing which we're never told isn't the RON, it's the difference between MON and RON; the larger the better for high compression / forced induction engines.

Important to this topic though, is that US Fuel also has quite a bit higher sulphur content, which has a negative impact on oil life. I'm not an expert on why this happens, but it does have an impact and that explains point 2:

Oil change interval
My first car was a 1985 MY original Mini, and the manufacturer specified an oil change interval of 12,000 miles / 12 months. I actually did changes more frequently than this at 10,000 miles, but in the UK, I never heard of anyone who changed more frequently if they didn't track their car. It's important to note that in the original Mini, the gearbox shares oil with the engine!

My second car was a 1992 MY Peugeot 405 Mi16x4; a homologation special 4wd version of the Mi16. It had a manufacturers specified oil change interval of 10,000 miles / 12 months, which I admit is closer to typical in the US.

My third car was a 1999 MY Peugeot 406 Coupé (3.0 V6), and this had manufacturers specified oil change interval of 20,000 miles / 24 months! I was surprised by this, but followed the manufacturers guidelines and sold the car with 180,000 miles and it never burned a drop of oil the whole time I had it.

At the same time as the 406 Coupé, I also had a 2003 MY AP2 Honda S2000 (AP2 was still a 1,997cc F20C in Europe; for better or worse we never got the 2,157cc F22C1 engine). Honda recommended an oil change interval of 7,500 miles / 12 months. And as we all know, the F20C is one of the most highly strung NA engines ever in a production car. I never did 12,000 miles in a year, and I switched to fully synthetic higher performance oil, but I did change the oil only 1 time per year.

One point that is very important to note is that European car manufacturers also switched to recommending either Semi Synthetic or Fully synthetic oil blends many many years before that was the norm in the US.

Tire Life
This is probably self explanatory... The US is BIG, with lots of straight roads. In the UK, it is quite typical to get about 12,000 ~ 15,000 miles out of a set of tires on a normal passenger car. I got 30,000 miles out of the tires on my first car here, and I thought I drove it hard.

At the time I left the UK, all cars came with summer tires. Most cars in the US come with all season tires. All seasons would make sense in the UK as well, and that may be the case now, but this also might be a contributing factor to tire life in the UK.
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      04-09-2020, 11:19 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PackPride85 View Post
I don't have much faith in BMW ever recommending what is best for the engine after the 15k mile oil change debacle.
You can guess, but we just don't know.

The engineers seemed to win on the 10W-60 in the high revving S engines, which of course didn't stop them from blowing up in class-action lawsuit inducing numbers.
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      04-09-2020, 12:48 PM   #13
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They don't do that in YOORUP. So what is it about the driving environment in NA that destroys engines?

Aside from the fuel - which appears to be a mix of ethanol and sulphur...
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      04-09-2020, 01:07 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
They don't do that in YOORUP. So what is it about the driving environment in NA that destroys engines?

Aside from the fuel - which appears to be a mix of ethanol and sulphur...
Yes, the fuel, and until quite recently, the quality of the oil used.

Sorry, I wrote a lot and didn't summarise.... brevity isn't a strength!
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      04-14-2020, 03:19 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2020M2Competition View Post
As mentioned above that is what BMW currently recommends for the M2C in the USA

BMW LL-01 FE

SAE 0W-30

BMW supposedly switched to a lower viscosity in an effort to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy

Actually there is an EU spec M version oil: BMW M LL12 FE 0W-30.
Made by Shell based on Pureplus technology. As per BMW recommendation, i am using this oil in M2C, z4M40i and F90 M5 with 8k-10k km oil change intervall. Seems to be a good oil, which fits several engines.

For example z4 m40i B58 engine can be filled with 0w20 oil as well (LL17 FE).
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      04-28-2020, 03:04 PM   #16
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My manual says 0w-30 , but that liter they give for free on purchase in the leather bag is 0w-20, so who knows what there doing .
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      04-28-2020, 09:03 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by ROBM2C View Post
My manual says 0w-30 , but that liter they give for free on purchase in the leather bag is 0w-20, so who knows what there doing .
Definitely don't use the 0w-20. I'm sure that gift is the same as a 230i buyer gets, and that's where the 0w-20 belongs.
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      04-28-2020, 09:06 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CSL335i View Post
Actually there is an EU spec M version oil: BMW M LL12 FE 0W-30.
Made by Shell based on Pureplus technology. As per BMW recommendation, i am using this oil in M2C, z4M40i and F90 M5 with 8k-10k km oil change intervall. Seems to be a good oil, which fits several engines.

For example z4 m40i B58 engine can be filled with 0w20 oil as well (LL17 FE).
If the 0w-20 is approved for your engine and you aren't tracking the car or doing autobahn runs, it might not even be a bad choice. I probably wouldn't run it in the S55 though.

I doubt there is a lot of difference in 0w-30s that meet BMW specs, all the good oils are all produced by similar processes and have similar additive packs unless you get into more exotic stuff.
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