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Oil Decision Time.

It's near time for the 8k mile oil change for the car in my sig.

There are three things I look for in an oil.

1: API rating. It has to have the starburst on the container. If it does not have it, then I don't look any further.

2: ACEA rating. It has to have a HTHS of at least 3.5. So that means it has to be A3 or better. I've read that you can go to a higher A rating, but not lower. So if it's A1, it's rejected.

3: MFG approval. A great deal of money is spent on R&D to make sure the oil can handle the engine. Auto makers work closely with oil companies on that point. BMW works with Castrol, as does Audi/VW though other companies will pony up the money to test their oils. It's the same with Porsche/Mobil, Ferrari/Shell, etc.

Other companies also work with the auto makers. BMW factory fills with Castrol, but Valvoline/Mobil/Pennzoil also have BMW approvals for some of their oil. Porsche has over 100 approved oils, but factory fill with Mobil 1.

My point? Engine makers know more about their engines than anyone. So I'm a big proponent of using mfg approved oil in my engine.

So it is LL-01 for me. It is a point that I can bend on a little though, as my 6yr/100k mile warranty is up.


The next post will be a list of oils I'm looking at, and finally, the one that is my choice.

Feel free to advise, but within the paramaters. (LL-01 isn't an absolute.)
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