PARTS FOR BMW
BMW Motor Oils - Dates and Packaging
A while back we received a question about BMW motor oils and the text printed on the bottom of individual containers - they were curious if they received something past what was perceived as a 'expiration on date', as the date that appeared on the bottle referred to a time that was just 3 weeks before the day they received it.
So where was this date, exactly?
The text in question was on a bottle of BMW 5W30 engine oil, or what we sell as:
- BMW 83212365946 SAE 5W-30 Full Synthetic Motor Oil.
and also what we ( and other companies ) sell on Amazon as:
- ASIN B01LT7EVJS
What are these numbers and what do they mean?
The numbers located on the bottom of the bottles and also located on the box or case from the manufacture, is a Product Manufactured On Date ( or born on date, if you think of beer dates! ) with some additional lot code information.
Below is an an example showing a bottle that we received from the manufacturer in December of 2019 - here the product displays a 'born on date' of the 5th of November 2019.
This example shows:
Code information: 14410175 U001
Product Manufacture Date: 05NOV19
Code information: 1743 L2
Again, these codes are not meant to interpret as a “product expires by” date, but rather utilized to identify when when the product is manufactured, with the following date format: DDMMMYY
That said - we receive our BMW stock through official sales channels, often arriving at our facility less than 1 week from manufacture.
So again, this date is an indication of when the item was manufactured, and also includes some production lot information for lot tracking.
We understand this information may be different than what some are used to seeing or have experienced on other products.
At his time there isn't even a standard for date notation across manufactures. Some manufactures try to make it even more interesting when their product is made in other countries and then make use of the European date ISO-8601sequence - YYY-MM-DD.
At his time there isn't even a standard for date notation across manufactures. Some manufactures try to make it even more interesting when their product is made in other countries and then make use of the European date ISO-8601sequence - YYY-MM-DD.
As we greatly appreciate our relationship with our customers please let us know if there are any questions or concerns on this or any of the products we carry!
We'll also take this time to say thanks to our close working relationship with the manufacturer the products we carry, our products are typically received by us literally days from manufacture.
IF your product was purchased on Amazon, please confirm the vendor - there are other vendors who may buy older stock from distributors at discount or clearance prices at fiscal end, and sell products at reduced prices - sometimes even below what dealers can acquire. We have found most of our questions arise from Amazon orders partly filled by another vendor and the rest from us.
We do appreciate our customers who take the time to contact us, as it helps to gain understanding what others are seeing.
We do appreciate our customers who take the time to contact us, as it helps to gain understanding what others are seeing.