Interesting, was just going through Mobils site and the only oil which has any BMW approval is Mobil1 ESP 5w-30 which is LL-04. Wonder if any of this has to do with BMWs new oil deal with Shell after cutting ties with Castrol.

 

Can you buy BMW approved Shell oil at your local Walmart?

 

Found this dealer alternative, but you can prolly only get it on Amazon.

Pennzoil Platinum Euro L with PurePlus Technology is specially formulated for diesel engines and is approved for BMW LL-04, GM dexos2 and Mercedes-Benz

 

Interesting, I saw this on another board too. The M1 OW40 oil I bought all shows the BMW LL-01 designation on it so it must have been new old stock. The in store examples all still have the BMW approved on it so they must have a bit leftover. Just glad what I already bought can be used since I bought a good 50 quarts. Will switch over to something else once I run out.

 

FINALLY something else to lose sleep over... I was getting tired (all pun intended) of only having to worry about my driver side airbag

 

Hey, stay out of the trees and off the next guy's bumper and you got no air bag worries at all!

 

If you do research GTL based oil stocks have very promising results, more so than your traditional oils. There are some drawbacks for extremely cold temps which can be remedied but the offset so far has proven to show more benefits than not. More than likely this change in formulation is the reason why the certification is not necessarily the performance. Either way, if you are concerned about oil, do the proper research before making decisions based on speculations. GTL is likely the future of oil formulation and it's only a matter of time before we see more companies moving in this direction.

 

Oh yeah, GTL is the future. However, I think Shell did much better job then Mobil1. I know they had issues with their plant that is suppose to pump out GTL products. Their VISOM base was stop gap because they were predicting shortage of PAO (they are largest supplier of PAO base stock). However, comparing to Pennzoil Platinum 5W40, it looks average. Considering NOACK of PP Euro and HTHS, this looks thin. M1 did not publish NOACK numbers, but it is hard to beat 6.8% that PP Euro has.
Why M1 dropped this I have no clue nor I understand. It is impossible in my opinion that M1 could not make a product that meets LL-01, and considering certification price, it just does not make sense. On another forum, M1 representative answered to one member saying that they are not in certification process. In EU they still sell old version, so who knows.

 

BMW Oil Specifications

BMW Longlife-98 (BMW LL-98)
Special long-life engine oil, approved by BMW. Also meets ACEA A3/B3, API SJ/CD, EC SAE 5W-40. Usually required for BMWs manufactured before MY 2002. Obsolete since 2009.
BMW Longlife-01 (BMW LL-01)
Special BMW approval for fully synthetic long-life oil. Product meets ACEA A3/B3 and API: SJ/CD EC-II. Usually required for BMWs built after MY 2002. Can also be used where a BMW Longlife-98 oil is recommended.
BMW Longlife-01 FE (BMW LL-01 FE)
Fully synthetic long-life oil with fuel economy properties. Oils meeting this specifications must have a low HTHS viscosity to meet the manufacturer's fuel economy requirements. These oils are only suitable for the following engines: N1x, N2x, N54, N55, N63, N74.
BMW Longlife-04 (BMW LL-04)
Special BMW approval for fully synthetic long-life oil. Viscosities are SAE 0W-30, 0W-40, 5W-30 and 5W-40. Usually required for BMWs equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF). Can also be used where a BMW Longlife-98 or BMW Longlife-01 oil is recommended.
BMW Longlife-12 (BMW LL-12)
Special motor oil for certain approved gasoline engines and the following diesel engines only: Nx7K1, Nx7U1, Nx7O1 from model year 2013. Not suitable for engines with 2 or 3 turbos.
BMW Longlife-14+ (BMW LL-14+)
Special motor oil for the following gasoline engines only: N20, Bx8 from model year 2014. Not allowed for diesel engines.

 

Does anyone have an official link stating this?

 

Here are new info on M1 0W40 FS.
Check manufacturer approvals:
https://mobiloil.com/en/motor-oils/mobil-1/mobil-1

My local Wal Mart already has new bottles without BMW approval.

 

This was hashed out at length over at the E46 site. As always (over there) Oil brings out a lot of comments.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1098160

 

...
But is you getting your oil in Wal Mart be aware: ONLY Castrol 0W40 carries BMW LL-01...

I've read somewhere that it's Castrol claiming they meet LL-01, not BMW officially approving it (and having Castrol pay some annual fee). Whether it makes Castrol bad or not is another story.

In any case, for my diesel I stick with BMW as ~$6/qt @ dealer it's cheap enough.

 

Castrol 0W40 is approved by BMW, there is no doubt about that.
I have actually worked on testing of one oil in Europe and its certification for VW 504.00/507.00 and it is not as expensive to get oil approved as some people think.
Only company that takes royalties for having their logo on bottles is GM for Dexos products.
What Mobil1 is doing is actually not understandable to me unless there is an issue with this GTL version and VANOS requirements that BMW has.
When it comes to BMW oil, which is made by Shell, I am not sure what it is? It meets LL-04, but I am not sure whether NOACK is low as it is in PP Euro, or what is SAPS level.
I use Mobil1 5W30 ESP since it has very low NOACK and lowest SAPS level on the market currently (means longer DPF life).