The right oil and DPF afterburning in the BMW E91

BMW driver question

What oil should I pour into my BMW? I was thinking about Castrol, but I don’t know what parameters it should have. Second question: i have a car with an original DPF. Does any light on the dashboard illuminate or, is it noticeable while driving when the DPF burns up?

The problem was with a 2011 BMW 318D E91 with 85,000 km. It can happen in other models as well.

Answer from BM Cars service

According to BMW recommendations, vehicles after 2004 with diesel engines should use 5W/30 viscosity oil with LL04 standard. The manufacturer of the oil can be anything. For many years the recommended manufacturer was Castrol.

As of 2014, BMW recommends using Shell oil with the aforementioned specification. However, Castrol also offers an oil with the LL04 standard with a viscosity of 5W/40 – suitable for higher engine and ambient temperatures. This is the kind of oil you should use in your vehicle.

DPF afterburning is not signaled in BMW cars by any indicator light. It is also impossible to notice it while the engine is running. Only the use of diagnostic equipment connected while driving can allow observation of the filter afterburning process.

The afterburning procedure is fully automatic and turns on when additional conditions are met. These are: adequate engine temperature, no active errors in the engine controller, adequate DPF temperature. Thanks to the switching on of this procedure, it is possible to operate the DPF without failure for a factory-established distance of 200,000 km.

After reaching this distance, it is necessary to check the efficiency of the filter and, if necessary, delete the mileage limit. We can perform such operations in our service center.

Other BMW tips related to this topic

• DPF in BMW – problems and repair of diesel particulate filter in cars with diesel engines
• Catalytic converter in BMW – problems and repair of catalytic converter in gasoline cars
• High oil consumption in BMW 3 – what is the reason and what is the norm?

Read more tips and ask your own question