I am just back in the office today to follow up on this. I have done plenty of research and know 100% for a fact that 10W30 is NOT an approved LL-01 oil to use. Please see below guidelines from BMW and note especially the last point in bold:
· The BMW Synthetic 5W-30 is a version of Castrol TXT Softect sold overseas. It is a Group III hydro-cracked oil which cannot be called synthetic in Europe, is a heavy 30 weight oil, and is a ACEA A3 oil which means that it is approved for longer change intervals.
· In the US, the only Group IV PAO Synthetics that are available are Mobil-1, Amsoil (but not the Xl-7500), Royal Purple, and German Castrol 0W-30 (it has the red label and says on the back, "Made in Germany). Redline is a Group V PolyEster based oil. All other Castrol, Quaker State, Pennzoil, Valvoline "synthetics" are Group III hydro-cracked oil. There is a significant amount of debated over how much better Group IV base oils are than Group III, but generally they are considered better.
· When looking for oil for any BMW that does not require Castrol TWS 10W-60, find oil that has either/both of the following ratings ACEA A-3 and BMW LL-98/LL-01.
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Mobil-1 0W-30, 5W-30, and 10W-30 are NOT ACEA A3 or BMW LL approved oils. This is because they all are thin 30 weight oils. Mobil-1 0W-40 and 15W-50 are ACEA A-3 rated and the OW-40 is BMW LL-01 approved. For 99% of climates and drivers 0W-40 will work great (This is what I used to use). Look for the ACEA A-3 rating, if the oil doesn't have it keep looking.
I know for a fact that when I have personally sat through an oil change that I confirmed the BMW 5W30 was used in the past. I did however look at the invoice from the work I had done in October 2013 and see that 10W30 was used there as well; I guess I just didn’t catch it.
Please let me know your thoughts. Not trying to be unreasonable about this, but obviously having the correct oil in my car is a major priority. Thanks for your cooperation.