Looking for German Castrol in the United States (Chicago)

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by Ralph1M

I went to walmart, autozone and oreilys and all there castro and Mobil 1 says "made in the usa from domestic and foreign components" I can't find German made oil anywhere, you guys have a link that is for sure made in Germany so I can order some?

Castrol 0W-40 is made in Germany. It should say "European Formula" on the bottle. Also, it is ACEA A3/B4. The other approvals are on the back of the bottle (LL-01, 229.5, etc.). It is available at Walmart in 5Q jugs. You can order "site-to-store" if your store doesn't have it.

Castrol 0W-30 is made in Belgium now (older bottles, may still say Made in Germany).

Mobil 1 0W-40, is LL-01 approved and says "European Formula" on the bottle. It is made in the US though I believe.

[jsublime]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

Go to the link below.

http://www.castrol.com/en_us/united-...promotion.html

Thank you! Printed out 3 coupons and was expecting the $25.xx price. when I got there it was $21.xx! So I got enough oil for 2 changes for ~50 bucks.

[OLEK135i]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

Castrol 0W-40 is made in Germany. It should say "European Formula" on the bottle. Also, it is ACEA A3/B4. The other approvals are on the back of the bottle (LL-01, 229.5, etc.). It is available at Walmart in 5Q jugs. You can order "site-to-store" if your store doesn't have it.

Castrol 0W-30 is made in Belgium now (older bottles, may still say Made in Germany).

Mobil 1 0W-40, is LL-01 approved and says "European Formula" on the bottle. It is made in the US though I believe.

Yes, do site to store! Ironman is correct on all of the above. 0W-40 is also avaialable in 1 quart as well, but it is more expensive (about $7 per, where the 5 quart is $21)

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by jsublime

Thank you! Printed out 3 coupons and was expecting the $25.xx price. when I got there it was $21.xx! So I got enough oil for 2 changes for ~50 bucks.

You're welcome. Glad I could help.

[JimD]

I don't think the stuff sold at Walmart is German Castrol, sometimes abbreviated GC, that is often sought after but rarely found. It meets all the same specs but is a later formulation that came out about 1.5 years ago. There is a huge, 50+ pages, thread on "bob is the oil guy" forum discussing this in detail. The consensus opinion seems to be the newer formula available at Walmart is as good but not identical to the original GC. There are enthusiests who have "stashes" of as much as 200 qts of GC.

I use Mobil 1 which is sometimes bashed by GC enthusiests.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by JimD

I don't think the stuff sold at Walmart is German Castrol, sometimes abbreviated GC, that is often sought after but rarely found. It meets all the same specs but is a later formulation that came out about 1.5 years ago. There is a huge, 50+ pages, thread on "bob is the oil guy" forum discussing this in detail. The consensus opinion seems to be the newer formula available at Walmart is as good but not identical to the original GC. There are enthusiests who have "stashes" of as much as 200 qts of GC.

I use Mobil 1 which is sometimes bashed by GC enthusiests.

True. I believe the first, real German Castrol was actually green in color. The name has stuck with the 0W-30 grade because it was still manufactured in Germany, even though it was re-formulated years ago.

Castrol has moved the 0W-40 to Germany now and the 0W-30 is made in Belgium. Both the specs (TBN, HT/HS, etc.) of the 0W-30 and 0W-40 are almost identical, with the only difference being viscosity.

Truthfully, any LL-01 approved you buy is going to be a good oil. I seriously doubt your engine can really tell the difference between Mobil 1, GC, BC, Pennzoil Euro, Motul, etc. The rest is all marketing hype and brand loyalty.

[OLEK135i]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

True. I believe the first, real German Castrol was actually green in color. The name has stuck with the 0W-30 grade because it was still manufactured in Germany, even though it was re-formulated years ago.

Castrol has moved the 0W-40 to Germany now and the 0W-30 is made in Belgium. Both the specs (TBN, HT/HS, etc.) of the 0W-30 and 0W-40 are almost identical, with the only difference being viscosity.

Truthfully, any LL-01 approved you buy is going to be a good oil. I seriously doubt your engine can really tell the difference between Mobil 1, GC, BC, Pennzoil Euro, Motul, etc. The rest is all marketing hype and brand loyalty.

I realize that this is not the old green GC, but it does say made in Germany, and seems to follow everything else mentioned in so many crazy threads. The price (with coupon) is amazing and that alone makes me buy this over Mobil 1. Thanks for the tip Ironman.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by OLEK135i

I realize that this is not the old green GC, but it does say made in Germany, and seems to follow everything else mentioned in so many crazy threads. The price (with coupon) is amazing and that alone makes me buy this over Mobil 1. Thanks for the tip Ironman.

You're welcome.

I agree, buy what is the cheapest LL-01 approved oil you can get. Your wallet will thank you.

I have a decent stash of Castrol 0W-30 (GC at the time) that I got for $3/quart, and now I have 10Q of Castrol 0W-40 as well. If you can get any LL-01 approved oil for $3-4/Q, I would recommend you stock-up.

[DSSG]

Kind of silly to search for some "special" oil when BMW & MB both specify Mobil 1 0W40 for their engines.

You'll find it at Walmart for $25/5 qt jug. You'll note it says European Formula on it.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by Happy Jose

Kind of silly to search for some "special" oil when BMW & MB both specify Mobil 1 0W40 for their engines.

You'll find it at Walmart for $25/5 qt jug. You'll note it says European Formula on it.

German Castrol (the 0W-40 version) is also available at Walmart for $21.66/5Q jug and is good for BMW and Mercedes.

[OLEK135i]

Originally Posted by Happy Jose

Kind of silly to search for some "special" oil when BMW & MB both specify Mobil 1 0W40 for their engines.

You'll find it at Walmart for $25/5 qt jug. You'll note it says European Formula on it.

Really? Mobil 1? I guess all those oil caps that say Castrol on our engines must be a costly typo.

[DSSG]

Without too much effort, you'll find Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula is approved for both BMW and MB. The reality is you could put just about any synthetic or even some dino oils in the crankcase as long as they were the proper viscosity.

Again, I challenge you to dig up one case of any BMW or MB engine failing due to extended drain intervals or using some brand of oil other than Mobil or Castrol. They don't exist.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by Happy Jose

Without too much effort, you'll find Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula is approved for both BMW and MB. The reality is you could put just about any synthetic or even some dino oils in the crankcase as long as they were the proper viscosity.

Again, I challenge you to dig up one case of any BMW or MB engine failing due to extended drain intervals or using some brand of oil other than Mobil or Castrol. They don't exist.

Let me see, you preach extended OCI's, but then say it is okay to use dino oil? You pretty much lost all credibility with that statement and it shows you don't know what you are talking about.

LL-01 and 229.5 are very rigorous approvals to obtain, I am pretty sure there is no dino oil out there that will meet either spec requirements.

[DSSG]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

Let me see, you preach extended OCI's, but then say it is okay to use dino oil? You pretty much lost all credibility with that statement and it shows you don't know what you are talking about.

LL-01 and 229.5 are very rigorous approvals to obtain, I am pretty sure there is no dino oil out there that will meet either spec requirements.

There are dino oils that perform every bit as good as synthetics. The chief benefit of the latter are starts ups in cold weather. As far as credibility is concerned, you have none with me for your basic ignorance of nearly everything related to engine related matters, put kindly.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by Happy Jose

There are dino oils that perform every bit as good as synthetics. The chief benefit of the latter are starts ups in cold weather. As far as credibility is concerned, you have none with me for your basic ignorance of nearly everything related to engine related matters, put kindly.

Please tell me what Dino oil will last as long as a synthetic oil? Also, please name one Dino only oil that is a 0W-XX?

There is no Dino oil that has a long drain approval from any manufacturer.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Happy Jose

Without too much effort, you'll find Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula is approved for both BMW and MB. The reality is you could put just about any synthetic or even some dino oils in the crankcase as long as they were the proper viscosity.

Again, I challenge you to dig up one case of any BMW or MB engine failing due to extended drain intervals or using some brand of oil other than Mobil or Castrol. They don't exist.

I hear what you are saying Jose and I do agree. BUT... I used Mobil-1 0w40 LL1 for my first three oil changes. Then I started to read all these posts on 1Addicts talking about using German Castrol(G.C.). After all BMW even stamps our oil fill caps - saying to use G.C. So I gave it a try. Even though the G.C. cost me twice the price... I was willing to give it a shot.

I was AMAZED on how much better the engine ran with G.C. in the same viscosity (0w40 LL). What really make me stick to using G.C. was the fact that on cold starts the engine had so much less metallic sounds. MUCH leff lifter noise on cold starts. Once the engine was fully warmed up... I also noticed my oil temps were about two needle widths lower. I was sold on G.C. I'be been using it ever since. I would recommend using it.

[DSSG]

Originally Posted by OLEK135i

Really? Mobil 1? I guess all those oil caps that say Castrol on our engines must be a costly typo.

Notice it says Castrol recommended! It doesn't say required!

[JHZR2]

The famous GC 0w-30 from BITOG days of yore may not be the same. It is, however, fairly obsolete in that it only carries an API SL approval. Edge 0w-40 is German made, and seems to be good stuff. I'd also consider M1 0w-40, or RLI if fuel dilution is a big issue.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by JHZR2

The famous GC 0w-30 from BITOG days of yore may not be the same. It is, however, fairly obsolete in that it only carries an API SL approval. Edge 0w-40 is German made, and seems to be good stuff. I'd also consider M1 0w-40, or RLI if fuel dilution is a big issue.

API specs are somewhat meaningless for BMW's. ACEA and LL-01 are what really matters. 0W-30 is still a quality oil with a high Group IV content, and virtually identical to Castrol's 0W-40, with the only difference being viscosity.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by DSSG

Notice it says Castrol recommended! It doesn't say required!

And new oil caps will say BMW recommends Shell!