waynesi

I drive a 96 E320 and would like to know if there is any reason I should not refill the engine with Mobil 1 Synthetic oil the next time I do an oil change.
If it is alright to do, are there any specifics as far as procedure or recomendations as to drain and refill after an amount of time/driving and filter changing???
Has anyone done this to their own vehicle and what are your impressions? Is it worth the added expense of Mobil 1 or is 10-w40 good enough?? TYIA for your input.

Musikmann

Common knowledge used to be that it is a bad idea to switch to synthetic from conventional if the car has a lot of miles on it. I don't know if this would apply to your car, but I think I would continue using what it has had in it for 10 years.

waynesi

95,000 miles

FlatlineEF9

at 75k i also did this. Went from dealer recommended 20w50 to Synthetic. Head gasket started to leak oil strangely one week after i did the switch. Not too sure if its conicidence or if it was just something that the engine wasnt used to. IMO, not worth it. I switcehd back and now no oil problems. Im also running a 96 btw.

waynesi

thanks for the replies...

I am losing oil from the front of the engine also, looks like it could be from above the water pump... is that the head gasket? What did the gasket replacement run you, or did you do it yourself???

Benzs

I have a 96 also, head gasket replacement cost $2100.00.
I am glad I had a aftermarket warranty as it paid $1800.00 of the bill.

ccmbduong

It's hard to prove that by switching from reg.oil to syns oil would result in head gasket leak (I am told that it happened w/ American made cars but not w/ Japanese made cars). My '96 E320 had a head gasket leak, just like others have reported, at 75K miles. After replacing my car head gasket and refilling it with 0W-40 syns oil , my MB master mechanic told me that there is no guarantee that same problem won't come back 10 yrs from now.

OceanView

I have a 96 as well with no oil leaks.
Car has 203K miles right now. Have used Mobile 1 for most of its life.
Not sure if there are any correlations between switching dino to synthetic but if your using dino, it may be smart to keep using it.

E-Klasse

I use AMSOil 10W-30 in my 96. I switched to synthetic at 100K miles. I just stayed with the same weight of oil rather than going to a 0W oil.

FlatlineEF9

Yeah, my headgasket replacement was also around 2k at the dealer.