OEM equivalent oil
 

Which one is the closest? I haven't seen how much a quart is yet at the dealer, just did an oil change with the ECS kit but I have a leak.

Thanks

Don't know which one is really the same or very similar. Why do you want to have a "copy" of the oem castrol stuff?
If you are just looking for an oil which won't harm your engine or your warranty (and fits your car) just go with an approved BMW Longlife Oil (for example 01 should fit your 2003 M54).

I'm using Mobil1 over 10 years now in all BMWs and am very satisfied (no beige smear/clog for example if you are driving short distance). But this is very subjectiv, everyone swears the oil he or she is using will be the best because of something :)

Look for the BMW LL-01 approval.

Any BMW LL-01 rated oil is good to go.

lol what warranty?

LL-01 got it, thank you.

You are right, that was quite a bit hypothetical ;)

haha

Mobil1 is one of the best though, was just asking for an equivalent because the dealer is a bit of a ride for me so in case of an emergency I can go to an autozone or pep boys.

Mobil 1 0W-40.

New formulation of M1 0-40 is not LL rated, FWIW.....

LL-01 (used by myself in M54):
"Mobil 1 New Life 0W-40"

LL-04 (may also be used for LL-01 vehicles, but some people say they are not as good as LL-01 for cars which are rated LL-01):
"Mobil 1 ESP FORMULA 5W-30"
"Mobil 1 ESP 0W-40"

Note: you have to look for the exact name, there exists a "Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30" which has no LL rating...

Here is the direct link to M1 and what stamps it has

https://mobiloil.com/en/motor-oils/mobil-1/mobil-1

Jsoto where do you take your truck for repairs that you can't do yourself? I've been to few places without positive results.

Interesting, thanks for that.

None of my vehicles ever sees an oil change interval greater than 7500 miles, so the LL/long life thing is probably irrelevant.

"Longlife" is the BMW name for the oil approval, it has nothing to do with a longer oil interval :)

Castrol Edge 0w-40 or 5w-40. Both are LL-01.

I suspect the OP's 2003 engine will not 'notice' what exact brand/exact viz/exact 'rating' of oil he puts in it, esp. adding a qt... ;)
GL, mD

Nope, not with this rear main seal leak I have which I won't be fixing anytime soon since I can't afford it. My grandfather had it replaced but clearly wasn't done right.

Looking into the lucas stop leak treatment for a temp fix, not sure how effective it can be though.

Sorry, yes I understand that. Some research on the missing LL-01 spec on 0W-40 "FS"...

The consensus on the BITOG site says that BMW changed the LL-01 test spec recently to include the N20 engine and the new formulation didn't pass; no details why. Hence ExxonMobil can no longer claim it meets the (changed) LL-01 spec; even though the new formulation does prior to the spec being changed. They also had to change the name slightly, hence the FS designation.

I don't have an N20, I've been using it forever in my M54s and I will continue to use it.

Might be worth giving ATP AT-205 a try - this stuff works! :thumbup:

ATP Automotive AT-205 Re-Seal

Awesome, thank you for that. Great reviews on it I see.

I get it from Amazon (they even ship it overseas!) and it's sorted a number of minor leaks on a range of vehicles, including minor PS hose sweating and a PS actuator seal leak on my X5.

You need to fix the rear main seal properly and don't even consider putting stop leak into the engine?

@Scott a N20 should need LL-14 FE
01 was approved somewhere around 2001, 04 about 2004, aso - therefore a newer engine would require an oil of the time it was build.

Note: there also was a "LL-01 FE" which is not compatible with LL-01
FE must be something like "Fuel Efficiency".

Where did you get that info from because since I said I'm getting it.....

Stuff costs money, something I don't have much of.

Do some research with regards to bimmers with oil leaks and using stop leak. This product softens the seals and BMW engines have a lot of them. Its not a good idea and will probably cause more harm than good. This next time around that you have to change the rear main seal you are going to want to check the condition of the cap. Do you know if the rear main seal was changed as a whole system which includes the gasket, metal mounting cap with rear main seal inserted and new bolts? Some people take the cheaper route by picking out the old seal and installing the new seal. In the process of picking out the old seal sometimes they nick the journal of the cap and this causes the leak. Whats even worse is when someone nicks the crank journal and at this point the engine has to come out to fix or replace the engine. When BMW replaces the rear main seal they sell and install the whole kit that includes the integrated mounting cap with rear main seal and gasket. This way you stay away from nicking critical components when trying to replace just the seal. By yours being done twice and the same problem exists someone did not do something correctly or failed to see the cause of the real leak. But what ever you do not use stop leak. Perhaps you may want to consider selling the X and finding something a little less expensive to maintain and care for.

Appreciate the advice but you shouldn't care how others maintain their car. Go ahead and do a search and see how much I've done/replaced to it in the last 4 months but good try on saying I don't care for it.

ps no where is it stated it's been done twice...

I would have thought the same thing. But the BITOG guys (who research and debate oil all day long apparently) swear that the N20 was added to both the LL01 and the LL14 test spec; something about the N20's direct injection engine needing an additive to keep soot/carbon off the exhaust valves/stems. I'll do some additional research and see what I can dig up.

Strange :)

I love direct injection. My '06 Passat 2.0T was one of the first to use it if I'm not mistaken. Took me a while to understand the loudness was normal lol.

I love it too, but the early implementations are really prone to carbon buildup.

My 12 A4 is a perfect example. At 70k miles, I had to pull the intake and decoke the exhaust ports, valves/stems and guides. The amount of carbon buildup was shocking. For 13+ VW/Audi installed a second injector to keep the valves clean.

:iagree: with David. This is not rocket science

Yea the carbon buildup is the biggest problem with them, along with the hpfp's going bad quickly from how much work it's doing. When the 2.0T came out the hpfp's were quickly failing since it was all still a new concept.

The only problem would be me adding non-synthetic, if it even still exist lol.

Are you sure it is the rear main seal? If not, it could be a valve cover leak. There are a ton of threads about best oil to use. Choose one that is readily available and meets factory specs. There are so many you can look decide by price, whatever give you warm fuzzies or even the prettiest container. Best to stay in the weight range as recommended by BMW unless you are in an extremely cold climate. That said, if you go to a heavier weight range it might slow down the amount of oil leaking. Since it gets so cold where you live I wouldn't do that in the winter. I understand your circumstances but it is simply a bad idea to attempt to solve the problem with an additive. Much better idea to deal with the problem by adding oil when needed and going to a carwash every once in a while that sprays the under carriage.

99% sure. Valve cover gaskets were leaking but I already replaced those over the summer so they're good to go. I've been planning on dropping the shield to clean it and see where the leak is really coming from but I'm pretty damn positive it's the rear main.

Another thing that backs that up is if I drive it somewhat hard, the leak becomes bigger/quicker after parking it. If I drive like a grandmother then the leak is slower. So of course I try my best to take it easy but it's hard lol. I'm not really an asshole driver I just like to get to places quickly yet safe.

It sucks either way because I just can't get away from having cars that leak oil! '98 Grand Cherokee 5.9, '91 Integra GS-R, '89 Volvo 740. I'm 32 & have had about 10 cars and the only one that didn't have type of leak was the Passat

Since source of oil leaks can be so misleading I always get the vehicle up on jack stands and clean the engine top and bottom. Once that is done I let the engine idle up to operating temp and then with my handy dandy super bright focused beam flashlight lie underneath in wait for the highest source of fresh oil to appear. Sometimes I have had to run the RPMs up to 3000 or so and hold it for a minute or two when it hasn't shown up at an idle after 10 minutes or so. If the leak is significant enough that repair should be done that process almost always confirms the source.

NAPA sells UV engine oil dye for about $10. Dump it in and follow the same process you use to check for leaks, but using a UV flashlight ($8 at Amazon). The leak is easy to find/trace as the dye glows.