Mobil 1 LL-04 oil on sale at Pep Boys

Courtesy of the good people at TDI Club, you can (and I just did) get five quarts of Mobil 1 5W30 ESP (LL-04 compliant) oil plus a filter for $33.

The store I visited near Washington, D.C. didn't have a Mobil 1 filter for the 335d so the manager let me substitute a Fram filter.

I explained that five quarts is not enough to change the oil on a 335d so they let me run the coupon through twice and get 10 quarts.

At this point I am going to name my next three sons Manny, Moe, and Jack.

Sale ends Feb 2....

http://www.pepboys.com/sale_specials...3_mobil1coupon

Originally Posted by jfxogara

Courtesy of the good people at TDI Club, you can (and I just did) get five quarts of Mobil 1 5W30 ESP (LL-04 compliant) oil plus a filter for $33.

Did you mean to say five litres? My experience is that the Mobil 1 LL-04 is sold by the litre rather than the quart.

liters at Pep Boy? I think it was quarts, or at least whatever fraction of a liter it is that fits in a quart can. Nothing wrong with Fram filters either, have used them for years and never had a problem. Can't say that about some of the others -- had a pin hole leak in a Wix fuel filter on my boat diesel -- glad it was a diesel not a gasser!

Llisterone, yes, it's one-liter containers.

I discovered today that Kelly Auto parts carries Pentosin Pento High Performance II 5W-40.
It's a European full-synth that meets LL04. $9.99/liter. Of course the local shop only had 4 or 5 liters...

I meant O'Reilly's

Many Thanks, jfxogara (if that is your real name). I'd never been to a pepboys before, but there's one about 35 miles from me. Went last night w/coupons and they were out of mobil1 esp. Sux, because it said they had some on their website. Shoulda called. Anyway, they ordered some from another store and it came in today. I got 10 quarts of oil and 2 purolator filters (list $15.99/ea. and they're made in Germany) for $70! I think the regular price for a quart of mobil1 esp is $12.99. Nice deal!!!

Also got 10 liters and 2 purolator filter for less than $70. I am planning tomorrow to get 5 liters. I will be good for 2 oil change.
Thanks

They let me do it three times. 15 Liters of oil. 1 purolator for 335D, 1 Mopar filter for Dodge and 1 filter for GF's mustang. They only had 13 Liters so they are transferring another 6 from another store (along with the Purolator filter) and i will pick up my missing to 2 Liters and filter. Purolator would have been $20, mopar filter $12, and bosch filter for 'Stang another $10. So, $99-$20-$12-$10=$57 for 15 Liters.... $3.80/liter. This is about what Walmart charges for conventional oil.

Thanks so much jfxogara for the tip!

I can never take advantage of this stuff because the TDi guys sweep in and buy it all. Goddamn hoarders.
The stuff is on sale every year for Christ's sake.


Sent from my MB525 using Bimmer App

Everyone knows that LL04 is not a complete oil spec, right?

The oil that you put into the car must be LL04, but not every LL04 is approved. You may use an LL04 to "top off", but fresh fill must be Castrol SLX, per BMW. (People just cannot get their heads around this last part...but as a matter of legal fact, BMW only 'recommends' one oil in the USA)

Outside of warranty, who cares....

A

Originally Posted by ard

Everyone knows that LL04 is not a complete oil spec, right?

The oil that you put into the car must be LL04, but not every LL04 is approved. You may use an LL04 to "top off", but fresh fill must be Castrol SLX, per BMW. (People just cannot get their heads around this last part...but as a matter of legal fact, BMW only 'recommends' one oil in the USA)

Outside of warranty, who cares....

A

False,false,false...as confirmed by me in a call to BMW Headquarters in NJ soon after having taken delivery of my "d".If BMW officially designates/recognizes an oil as "LL-04" it's suitable for their late model (US,at least) diesels...the 335 and the X5.

And BTW,the same goes for oils certified as meeting the Mercedes "229.51" standard.The MB website contains a list of *many* oils with the 229.51 designation,including Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 along with many different European brands (Fuchs,Elf,etc,etc).

Originally Posted by listerone

False,false,false...as confirmed by me in a call to BMW Headquarters in NJ soon after having taken delivery of my "d".If BMW officially designates/recognizes an oil as "LL-04" it's suitable for their late model (US,at least) diesels...the 335 and the X5.

And BTW,the same goes for oils certified as meeting the Mercedes "229.51" standard.The MB website contains a list of *many* oils with the 229.51 designation,including Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 along with many different European brands (Fuchs,Elf,etc,etc).

"as confirmed by ME in a CALL"...you cannot be serious!

Get it in writing, otherwise it isnt legally binding. Just because an diesel requires LL04, and BMW lists and oil as LL04, does not mean BMW recommends that oil for that engine. Like you are in grade school with the lttle circle diagrams, remember?

BMW only has one published recommendation for diesels in the USA- Castrol SLX. And a case of e-beer to anyone that gives me a BMW US publication that is different.

A

PS Dont talk about MB and VW certs or rules, those are specious arguments.

Ard.
Not trying to yank yer chain as you have delved into this. I admit that I'm a newb on this subjetc. That said, the back of the bottle says BMW Long life 04. Is your point that just because it says BMW LL04 doesn't mean BMW approves of its use? Not opposed to Listerone's opinion either only presenting facts here.

Personally, Mobile1 is a damn good oil to me. The only thing special here is the ESP (Emission System Protection). I don't intend to run my oil more than 5 to 6k doing in between changes myself. Beyond being careful with the DPF, i fully trust Mobil 1. I work in the space industry and a mechanisms guy here in my division says Mobil1 is the only outfit that publishes research showing actual wear data associated with their product. Outside of that, when i was in the petchem industry, Exxon/Mobil was a damn good customer that came to us repeatedly with purchases and knew what the hell they were doing with our products (accelerometers, velomitors, monitors programmed for shutdown). I say this in comparison to outfits like Enron (before they cratered).

Originally Posted by ard

"as confirmed by ME in a CALL"...you cannot be serious!

Get it in writing, otherwise it isnt legally binding. Just because an diesel requires LL04, and BMW lists and oil as LL04, does not mean BMW recommends that oil for that engine. Like you are in grade school with the lttle circle diagrams, remember?

BMW only has one published recommendation for diesels in the USA- Castrol SLX. And a case of e-beer to anyone that gives me a BMW US publication that is different.

A

PS Dont talk about MB and VW certs or rules, those are specious arguments.

cur·mudg·eon


noun: a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
--------------------------------------------------------
Check your dictionary..."recommend" and "require" have very,*very* different meanings.Particularly in a court of law.

Originally Posted by listerone

cur·mudg·eon


noun: a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
--------------------------------------------------------
Check your dictionary..."recommend" and "require" have very,*very* different meanings.Particularly in a court of law.

You left out, "in this case, correct".

BMW recommends and approves" only Castrol SLX.

If you really read and understand the BMW publications on this issue, you come to the incredulous conclusion that they 'recommend and approve" only one oil, yet allow 'top off' to be done "between oil changes" with other oils outside of this narrow approval.

Finally, happy to review your printed documentation on recommend OR "require". You will come to the stunning conclusion that all the BMW clap trap about LL04 and viscosity ONLY applies to top off oils.

A

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Ard.
Not trying to yank yer chain as you have delved into this. I admit that I'm a newb on this subjetc. That said, the back of the bottle says BMW Long life 04. Is your point that just because it says BMW LL04 doesn't mean BMW approves of its use? Not opposed to Listerone's opinion either only presenting facts here.

Personally, Mobile1 is a damn good oil to me. The only thing special here is the ESP (Emission System Protection). I don't intend to run my oil more than 5 to 6k doing in between changes myself. Beyond being careful with the DPF, i fully trust Mobil 1. I work in the space industry and a mechanisms guy here in my division says Mobil1 is the only outfit that publishes research showing actual wear data associated with their product. Outside of that, when i was in the petchem industry, Exxon/Mobil was a damn good customer that came to us repeatedly with purchases and knew what the hell they were doing with our products (accelerometers, velomitors, monitors programmed for shutdown). I say this in comparison to outfits like Enron (before they cratered).

You interpretation in paragraph 1 is correct. BMW says:

we recommend and approve Castrol SLX

If you cannot get the recommended and approved oil, use the following for top off between changes:

blah, blah. LL04

it makes no sense, and BMW doesnt care. The LL spec is a spec on how long the oil can go between changes... unless BMW says "You can use any LL04 oil in this car" then all the certs in the world dont matter. Interesting my personal theory is that this grew out of their legal moss-magnssen exposure in the USA...when they allow you any top off oil, they are covered legally since they provide all required oil changes under the US maintenance agreement.




There are MANY fine oils besides Castrol SLX. Probably SUPERIOR oils! Yet, when you narrowly interpret BMWs publications, they are not at all helpful. Frustrating.

And just for completeness, this is the total of BMWs recommendation for a diesel:

All 2012 model year X5 xDrive35d vehicles are
factory-filled with a different BMW High
Performance Synthetic oil than on gasoline
engines. For this model we recommend BMW
High Performance 5W-30 Diesel Synthetic Oil
(BMW part number 07 51 0 037 195) for regular
scheduled engine oil changes.
For diesel engines (X5 xDrive35d only): the
synthetic oil listed below meets BMW’s Long-life
rating LL-04:

 Castrol SLX Professional OE SAE 5W-30 Fully
Synthetic

BMW recommends that you check your engine
oil level whenever you add fuel to your vehicle. If
you need to add oil between oil changes and
BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil is
unavailable, you may top up the oil level with one
of the following approved synthetic oils. For
information on checking your engine oil level
refer to your vehicle’s Owner’s Manual.

The choice of the right SAE grade is based on
the climatic conditions in the region in which you
normally drive yourBMW. To best determine
which SAE grade is best suited for your vehicle,
contact an authorized BMW center.

If you are unable to obtain the BMW approved
synthetic oil from the list above, use only a
synthetic oil with an API rating of SM or higher.

The astute reader will see that they actually fail to list any suitable replacement oils.

Here is the link: http://cache.bmwusa.com/pdf_842e573e...0-0db51a507902

if the link is bad, find it under warranty/ultimate service... http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...antyBooks.aspx

A

Originally Posted by ard

And just for completeness....

We'll take your inclusion of the link to the pdf as an acknowledgement of having been incorrect in your earlier assertion.

Here is a list of BMW approved LL04 oils

BMW's marketing relationship with Castrol is well known. That's why they mention that brand by name and sell it exclusively at dealerships. But it doesn't mean that is the only LL04 oil approved for use by BMW. The spec defines the parameters an oil needs to meet to be labeled as LL04.

Nearly every major oil manufacturer has an LL04 approved oil.
An internet search quickly found this example:
http://dicogsa.com/certificados/Det-BMW.pdf
Notice the letter is from BMW...

another one auf Deutsch:
http://www.techmax.ca/images/INEO-MC3-SAE-5W-30-BMW.jpg

from Motul:
http://www.worldpac.com/pdfs/motul_8...4_approval.pdf

you get the picture.

Are you convinced yet, ard?

Originally Posted by listerone

We'll take your inclusion of the link to the pdf as an acknowledgement of having been incorrect in your earlier assertion.

Uh, did you actually read the link?!? I usually never call people morons, and wont now.


The link is to the text I posted- unlike some who think a telephone conversation is 'proof', I actually post links to the proof.

Originally Posted by d geek

BMW's marketing relationship with Castrol is well known. That's why they mention that brand by name and sell it exclusively at dealerships. But it doesn't mean that is the only LL04 oil approved for use by BMW. The spec defines the parameters an oil needs to meet to be labeled as LL04.

Nearly every major oil manufacturer has an LL04 approved oil.

But NOWHERE does BMW state "All LL04 oils are approved for oil changes"

I agree this is a marketing arrangement, but you cannot get around the black and white text: BMW only has approved Castrol SLX OE pro in the usa for diesels. Everything else is for 'top off'

A

Originally Posted by ard

But NOWHERE does BMW state "All LL04 oils are approved for oil changes"

I agree this is a marketing arrangement, but you cannot get around the black and white text: BMW only has approved Castrol SLX OE pro in the usa for diesels. Everything else is for 'top off'

A

You are a very stubborn person.

Originally Posted by d geek

You are a very stubborn person.

The self admitted curmudgeon,it would appear,doesn't appreciate that I (and very possibly you as well) read the pdf linked to in Post #18...particularly pages 2 & 8.

I'm out of here...this is getting tedious.