Hi all
I'm replacing engine oil and filter this month but can't work out which flavour of oil to buy.
0w 30 or 5w 30.
I live in England and drive all year round.
Any advice on oil specs or filter brands much appreciated.

I'd buy the oil that meets the spec for your petrol engine as indicated in your owners manual, from the cheapest reputable manufacturer.

Mine is a diesel so sorry I dont know the spec for your petrol engine.
I had a look in my owners manual but the 3.2 petrol is not mentioned.

Personally I get my lubes from Smith & Allan
https://www.smithandallan.com/ Jules

I run mobil-1 5W-30 and K&N filters. Any full-synth should do fine. I kep my cars a good while, hence the synth vice cheapo dino juice.

Mines a US car, manuals in other countries may specify a different oil weight but if it were my car I'd run the heavier weight. Not sure why they'd spec different weights in the same engine other than maybe emissions/fuel economy... ie, sacrifice some wear on YOUR motor to get THEIR economy/emissions numbers where they need them.

Craig,

The Oil choices here in the states aren’t as good as what you get in Europe

I run either 0w30 or 0w40 (Marketed as European formula)

Lately I mostly use Mobil 1 0w40

Here is what I look for in a motor oil

MB 229.5 The Mercedes spec for Petrol engines

VW 502 VW spec for Petrol engines

And I formerly looked for the BMW LL Spec but BMW removed the Mobil 1 oil that I use, so I don’t look for that spec anymore. I did research why BMW removed Mobil 1 and all I could find was that they did it for marketing reasons.

I think that you can get a Castrol oil that will work fine

Good luck

Paul

I ended up using castrol Edge 0w-30 and a genuine filter. Replaced the plug and washer while I was there too.
Cam cover/pcv next weekend.

Craig,

I am going to make some recommendations


First Don’t replace the oil that you just put in service this recommendation is for next time (in 6 months for your next change)

MB 229.5 Is for Petrol engines

MB 229.51 Is acceptable for Diesel or Petrol Engines


I only use a motor oil that is optimized for my Petrol Engine.

You can look up the VW specs also for Petrol vs Diesel

Additionally I prefer to use an oil that was available at the time that the 3.2 first came out.

The reason for this is that the design team couldn’t predict how oil specifications would change in the future. If you really want to know more then search Low SAPS oil. I don’t use low SAPS OIL in any of my vehicles.

I did look up the CASTROL EDGE specs and I would use



CASTROL EDGE 0W40 A3/B4

MB 229.5
VW 502
Full synthetic


Just my $.02

Take care

Paul

I use Amsoil 5W30 XL or Signature.........................I have no idea if Amsoil is available in the UK?

a Q @p_gill? Paul, why do you use the W40 vs. the W30 weight?

Motion,

To answer your question.

The easiest answer is that no one wants to know the answer to that question.



Keep reading if you really want to know.

The large OEMs spend a lot of money testing oils and certifying them for their engines.
Some of these tests are available (i.e. NOACK volatility)

Other tests are proprietary and the Test Method (or test Protocol if you prefer) are not available for review and the results are typically not available.

I've been using Mobil 1 0w40 for 18 years and I was using the Old Formula and I am currently using the New Formula.

If you go to Mercedes or VW they have a list of oils that meet their specs.

In the past I did use a Castrol 0w30 but that formula isn't available to me any more.

Take a look at the attached files for more information.

Thanks

Paul

https://www.freel2.com/gallery/albums/user...sludge.pdf


https://www.freel2.com/gallery/albums/user...200w40.pdf

Thanks Paul, reading as I type!

MotionInc wrote:

Paul, why do you use the W40 vs. the W30 weight?