Engine Oil LL-01 vs LL-4

[4zwmb]

Hi all...so I have a 2011 bmw z4 e89 msport 30i. Its about time to change the engine oil. I bought 4 cans of Castrol oil (Engine Oil - Castrol Edge - 5W-30 Synthetic from RMeuropean and imprted them to Malta which is where I live. See the link below. I chose 5W-30 as recommended per the manual and obviously fully synthetic as required. Now the manual says that engine oil has to be approved by bmw and that it should meet LL-01 or LL-04 specifications. The oil that I bought meets the LL-01 criteria.

The question is this, on internet I have found that LL-04 oils should be used only in European countries and LL-01 oils should be used in non-European countries like U.S.A or Canada or Australia. Apparently this is because in European countries the sulfur content of the fuel is low and in non-European countries like U.S.A the sulfur content is very high. So, suffice to ask, why cant we use LL-01 oils in European countries? If European countries have low sulfur content fuels, why cant LL-01 oils be used just the same? If LL-01 oils can deal with high sulfur content fuels why can't LL-01 oils deal with low sulfur content fuels then?????? I am confused.

http://www.rmeuropean.com/Products/03037-MFG1135-V5124.aspx

 

[Chris_D]

Can't answer your question unfortunately but I had an e36 coupe with the m52tu engine which had benefitted from an engine replacement under waranty and on the quiet from bmw at 10k miles due to a design flaw - the nicasil bores suffered premature wear due to high-sulfur content in shell petrol, or something.
As i recall, I called bmw to verify the engine replacement had taken place to which they confirmed, but wasnt registered in the log book. The seller, a trade dealer wasnt aware of the swap so i had a practically brand new 1 yr old, 1 owner car, well the engine at least was brand new.
Hence, sulfur can possibly be quite an important consideration when it comes to engine wear..

 

[4zwmb]

But if you live in UK, how come the petrol had high-sulfur content? UK is a European country, no? So what is it that you use for oil engine replacement, LL-04 type?

 

[Chris_D]

Dunno, yes and yes.
:wink:

 

[Tumnus]

I think it's the other way round, UK has low sulphur fuel, the sulphur acted as a lubricant so when they reduced it in UK fuel the increase in friction would probably be what caused the premature wear.

 

[4zwmb]

But the question is still if one can use LL-01 oil in Europe or not. Nobody seems to know and the views from google after a lot of research are very vague. Its as if there is no real answer to this question.

 

[Chris_D]

Play safe if ur concerned. Buy ll-04.
Sell ur ll-01 to an unsuspecting mustang owner. It wont make much difference to them in the long run as they will have torque steered it into a wall before the next oil service is due....
:lol:

 

[enzed4]

LL-01 or LL-04 should make NO difference if you change oil regularly.
If you plan on keeping the oil in for the entire 'BMW recommended' period (which is about 3,000 years or to Mars and back if I recall correctly), then you should probably know which which oil is correct for your car, and use it.
I'd be more concerned about ensuring you use the right oil filter and not a cheap 3rd party job. Some of them look a right mess long before they're due to be replaced...

 

[Ewazix]

Opie Oils have a highly respected technical department that will answer customers questions via their website, they also have technical articles and 'myth busters' http://www.opieoils.co.uk/t-a-guide-to-oils.aspx

Using their oil finder for your specific car / location (Europe) the results are all LLO4 oils which, according to their article is the required spec for post 2004 BMW engines.
oil finder result for E89 3.0 http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-2354-lookup-results.aspx?vehicleid=5391&variantlist=98293:0,98385:0,98393:0,98645:0,98546:0,98585:0,98492:0,98927:0,98942:0,99136:0,98820:0,98795:0,98849:0,133398:0,133384:0,169997:0,167203:0,170897:0,171667:0,172557:0,202380:0,198111:0,219022:0&yearFilter=2011

 

[Garvin]

Play safe if ur concerned. Buy ll-04.
Sell ur ll-01 to an unsuspecting mustang owner. It wont make much difference to them in the long run as they will have torque steered it into a wall before the next oil service is due....
:lol:

Torque steer in a Mustang?

 

[enzed4]

Play safe if ur concerned. Buy ll-04.
Sell ur ll-01 to an unsuspecting mustang owner. It wont make much difference to them in the long run as they will have torque steered it into a crowd of unsuspecting onlookers before the next oil service is due....
:lol:

There you go mate, fixed that for ya

 

[Chris_D]

Play safe if ur concerned. Buy ll-04.
Sell ur ll-01 to an unsuspecting mustang owner. It wont make much difference to them in the long run as they will have torque steered it into a wall before the next oil service is due....
:lol:

Torque steer in a Mustang?

ah, i meant snap oversteer - it was late!
:lol:

 

[Chris_D]

Play safe if ur concerned. Buy ll-04.
Sell ur ll-01 to an unsuspecting mustang owner. It wont make much difference to them in the long run as they will have snap over-steered it into a crowd of unsuspecting onlookers before the next oil service is due....
:lol:

There you go mate, fixed that for ya

I fixed it again. lolz (torquesteer is fwd terminology as rightly pointed out) :roll:

 

[4zwmb]

Opie Oils have a highly respected technical department that will answer customers questions via their website, they also have technical articles and 'myth busters' http://www.opieoils.co.uk/t-a-guide-to-oils.aspx

Using their oil finder for your specific car / location (Europe) the results are all LLO4 oils which, according to their article is the required spec for post 2004 BMW engines.
oil finder result for E89 3.0 http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-2354-lookup-results.aspx?vehicleid=5391&variantlist=98293:0,98385:0,98393:0,98645:0,98546:0,98585:0,98492:0,98927:0,98942:0,99136:0,98820:0,98795:0,98849:0,133398:0,133384:0,169997:0,167203:0,170897:0,171667:0,172557:0,202380:0,198111:0,219022:0&yearFilter=2011

Hi, thanks for this detail, I will check the links you have posted...I guess I cant use the oil I bought then. Its still a mystery to me why the LL-01 cannot be used in European countries as well though.

 

[4zwmb]

Ewazix, you are right, I checked all the different oils on Opie Oils and the results are all LL-04!

 

[Tumnus]

Opie Oils have a highly respected technical department that will answer customers questions via their website, they also have technical articles and 'myth busters' http://www.opieoils.co.uk/t-a-guide-to-oils.aspx

Using their oil finder for your specific car / location (Europe) the results are all LLO4 oils which, according to their article is the required spec for post 2004 BMW engines.
oil finder result for E89 3.0 http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-2354-lookup-results.aspx?vehicleid=5391&variantlist=98293:0,98385:0,98393:0,98645:0,98546:0,98585:0,98492:0,98927:0,98942:0,99136:0,98820:0,98795:0,98849:0,133398:0,133384:0,169997:0,167203:0,170897:0,171667:0,172557:0,202380:0,198111:0,219022:0&yearFilter=2011

Hi, thanks for this detail, I will check the links you have posted...I guess I cant use the oil I bought then. Its still a mystery to me why the LL-01 cannot be used in European countries as well though.

I would imagine most European countries now use low sulphur fuel, which would explain why they only recommend LL-04.

 

[4zwmb]

Yes that is what I believe too but if LL-04 is to be used wit low sulfur fuel countries only and LL-01 with high sulfur fuels, why cant LL-01 be used with low sulfur fuels as well? This is the question here.

 

[Tumnus]

Yes that is what I believe too but if LL-04 is to be used wit low sulfur fuel countries only and LL-01 with high sulfur fuels, why cant LL-01 be used with low sulfur fuels as well? This is the question here.

The sulphur acts as a lubricant, so I'm guessing that LL-04 has additives to compensate for the lack of sulphur. Using LL-01 in Europe could therefore increase engine wear.

 

[4zwmb]

Oh this makes sense now. The way I saw it was that the less sulfur in the fuel, the better is the grade of the fuel and hence why I could not understand why in a less sulfur type of fuel, LL-01 is not permitted. I do understand now. :headbang: Got to go buy the LL-04 type because I am now fully convinced and I am afraid to choose the LL-01 type.

 

[4zwmb]

All this has made me think of something else now too...Does it mean that our engine oil mixes with the fuel at some point when the car is being used?