robbrown99

Hi

I have a E350 W212 6 cylinder gas. Manual states 229.5 oil, and looming that up there's a whole bunch of valid options for weights.

I have some Castrol synthetic 5W 30, which according to MB is good for weight. Just wondering if the community recommends different heavier weight?

My car is garaged with heating so don't generally have cold starts.

Thanks

CaliBenzDriver

Engine wear and repairs are dictated by lubrication. You don't need to over pay for basic supplies.

Every oil companies swears their oil are the best with tons of compliance certicates.

The issue with engine oil is the viscosity is usually very short lived. Oil turns liquidy black...

A 5W30 is substandard everywhere except Alaska. Buy a 5W40 if you're in Canada.

Our engines rely on oil viscosity to work the VVT and tensioners.

Replace oil/filter near 5kMi.

This is what works well for some of us around here...

honest viscosity

Buy whatever oil brand that is recognized to have solid xW-40 grade: MOTUL, LiquimO, PenzO, AmsO

Tons of advertisement says most if the engine wear is from cold starts... the reality is Mercedes runs a number of its engines with limited oil pressure under load - For these engines to last, you need serious oil !
✌️

Raj1471

I've exclusively used Mobil 1 Euro 0w-40 in my vehicle since my ownership started at 26k with 5k oci presently at 119k. I'm happy with it.

Edward993

Same here since new, and Costco occasionally has it on sale which I prefer since it's far easier to deal with 1-qt bottles as opposed to the 5-qt jug. Just did an oil change yesterday at 109k miles and the car does not lose a drop between changes, not a drop in 10k miles. Amazing!

Fwiw, I would normally say that a 30 or 40w doesn't much matter on a street car driven under normal commutes/conditions. Normal. Not adverse climates like desert heat or extended idling, or anything more "extreme" outside of regular driving in typical climate. But given the manual clearly states a 40w for their AMG models (am I reading that right?), I'd heed that. So I would stick to the 0w/40 or 5w/40, depending on your climate ...though if not losing oil between changes now, go with the zero weight.

Edward

robbrown99

Thanks all!

I will go with 0W 40 and keep an eye. It only has 41k miles, so makes sense. As age increases, I will up to 5W 40

I will use the Castrol edge 5W 30 in my tractor. Lucky tractor. I have 3x 5 quart jugs of it (bought to service my last car) so shame to go to waste.

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Generally, you can use oil as long as:

1. It meets the MB 229.5 specification
2. It is within the temperature range for where the car will be driven
3. You change oil every 5k miles.

pierrejoliat

The manual is pretty clear on the acceptable viscosities, why you guys use zero weight oil and wonder why your car rattles when cold or leaks from all over just astounds me.

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Well, Mobil 1 0W-40 IS the specified weight and brand recommended for my engines. I may move to a 5W-40 when the weather warms up. What do you suggest?

CaliBenzDriver

+1: yes, exactly, me too!

Here is another oil rule: the best viscosities oils have narrow gap between the two numbers.
A 15W-40 has a longer lasting oil viscosity than a 0W-40.

Advertisers want us to believe the same oil can act as a 0W cold, then warm up to be a great W40... not true!! It only gets to be a high W-30.

In Arctic winter you may well need a 0W but then you need to dump that oil when weather goes back above freezing. M276/8 don't like 0W oil types.

The VVT and tensioners operation require a solid W-40 weight. The better oil viscosity allows proper timing at lower RPM.

My next oil change will be a 10 or 15W-
​​​​​

Edward993

1. Rattles when cold? Line none of my cars, extended family's cars, ever, as in over 100s of thousands of miles, have ever "rattled" because of low viscosity. None. As in zero. And specific to our e350 gas, it is as smooth today at 109k miles as day one.

2. Leaks? ...wow, ok, I'll simply repeat the above and say whatever piddly leaks I have had and witnessed were due to age/mileage and nothing to do with viscosity. Nothing! Were viscosity truly the cause then as I'd have leaks with a zero weight, at least by this logic.

3. A given manual offers guidelines that abide by their own design parameters, not to mention their legal team. A recommended viscosity that people followed and ended up with issues en masse would be a corporate nightmare and public black eye. So is MB really this careless?

Not sure if you're being serious, just stirring the pot, or maybe I'm missing the punchline. Just sayin

Fwiw, folks can go ahead and use whatever they want, go for it, your prerogative. Wives' tales and anecdotes aplenty, and over years abound. By contrast, there is genuine data to be considered, weighed, not to mention common sense, and one can draw whatever conclusions one wants.

Edward

CaliBenzDriver

Nop, we are not just wasting time wholesale. We are providing personal guidance.
Pierre was pointing out that people have a hard time connecting the dots with their issues (rattles, leaks, burnt oil,...) and the 0W low viscosity oils.

The popular $10,000 - "Oil-in-harness" qualifies as an oil leak, yes?

You also bring up a good point about Daimler Corp:
"... ended up with issues en masse would be a corporate nightmare and public black eye. So is MB really this careless?"

Read the oil solenoid thread to find out how smooth your engine is running on low oil pressure.

Is that info eye opening??

Jeedie

As a blanket statement above, I would disagree with this. The original full mineral oils were all 15W-40 back in the day. These mineral oils typically have a low HTHS value, meaning in practice that the polymers which are responsible for the viscosity tend to break down rapidly, leading to a quicker onset of an effective low viscosity.

Only partially or fully synthetic oils could bring 15W-40 down to 5W-40 or below. These blends, on average, provide a higher HTHS value which leads to a longer effective life. See how the introduction of synthetic oils also lead to longer lifetime of oils? In the end, it's not just about viscosity the day you buy the oil, but also its viscosity after several thousand miles.

Of course, there will be high quality fully synthetic 15W-40 oils with a high HTHS value available (disclaimer: I did not check this). They'll perform as expected.

Oh, at the end of the day, this statement about oil holds true most of the time: fresh engine oil, no matter the quality, will usually be better then whatever is in your engine now due to the degradation of the oil. Just don't expect that cheap pure mineral oil to hold that nice quality for long.

juanmor40

I only can tell you something. From a well-respected source (engineer within a major turbo manufacturer for nearly all car brands), his advice to me was: if you do not mind, raise your oil "cold" weight if you want your car to last. Their products are tested from 0W->10W, and they perform the same but will last longer. He confirmed what we have heard in multiple forums (I guess you refer to those as wives' tales) , the 0W-40 is only to satisfy fuel consumption guidelines.

I did change from 0W40 and 5W40, and on my car, I am not going back unless I move to Northern Canada. Which oil brand is best? Not a clue, and personal preference. I just tried Motul because my Indy had it, and it is working for me but I am sure there are many good brands out there.

About MB being careless, oooo that is a good one.. . Go ahead and repeat that in the forums with broken M274 engines with repairs starting @$10K+ before 100K miles, and MB ignoring the issue.

Also, @pierrejoliat worked for a major oil additive manufacturer (which hosted me in the summer of 1990) if I am not mistaken, and I take his advice at face value.

Edward993

OK, I see where y'all are coming from. And I wholly get the shenanigans of EPA this and that, hence the sometimes ridiculous claims (in manuals) of "lifetime" trans oil and lighter engine oil for MPG ....this I get. And as pissed as I would be over a $10k engine failure or the like (lots in the porsche world reeled over their IMS failures with the 996, for example ...and don't get me started with Honda jacking me on a transmission in their "reliable" history!), the "carelessness" is likely not the maker playing fast and loose as much as they are riding a line to maximize profitability. Nah, I aint excusing them for a second! ...I just don't think it is "careless" behavior as much as it is "calculated" behavior ...but even then I'm merely guessing, and perhaps splitting hairs needlessly. But I've still sworn off Honda for life, just because corporate were jerks ...had to get that in!

I've seen/read enough over the decades on oil and there are no shortage of experts chiming in, so yeah, I'll defer to you. That said, one cannot ignore that the slim delta between two similar viscosities and whatever results (like engine x died with zero weight but engine y lived a long and happy life) is pretty anecdotal. If not overblown. And perhaps even skewed by preconceptions or the like, preconceptions like "gotta change oil every 3k miles."

So to the original post, the quantifiable difference between a 0w/30 and 5w/30 of like brands (like the Mobil1 we seen to be discussing) hard to pin down, let alone assign any absolute answer. Too many variables to simply attribute to "yeah, that's the better one" or "I'd never use that one" ...so far as we're talking about like oils of similar weight, of course! Likewise, 0w/30 vs 0w/40 of the same maker, like the Mobil1. Just too many other variables to attribute winners and losers here. And as I had mentioned before, I speak only of "normal" running conditions that do not include living in hottttt climates, idling like taxis/limos used to, whatever "adverse" conditions one undergoes that is clearly beyond the discussion of "normal." I sure as heck ain't running a 0w/40 in my aircooled 911 at the track, for example because that just aint anyting close to "normal."

All to say that there is nuance here. At least IMO, given I am a layman but have been around the block for some time. Dogma exists everywhere, and perhaps I reflexed when I hear absolutes when discussing oil. Feel free to ignore this layman's conclusions, but they are mine built from my admittedly small test sample.


Edward

pierrejoliat

Really? Your owners manual says that? What page might that be on?

pierrejoliat

I am saying if you read your owners manual for acceptable viscosity in oil, there are fifteen, I would be glad to post a picture of the manual so you can see what the Mercedes engineers had to say about viscosity's that are acceptable.

juanmor40

MBNUT1

I have never seen Mobil 1 Euro 0-40W oil at Costco

juanmor40

It seems it is available online
https://www.costco.com/mobil-1-0w-40...100169676.html

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

It's cheaper at Walmart.

Edward993

I've bought it twice (at the store, not online) already (three times??) ...perhaps its regional. Was maybe around $35ish for a box of 6 quarts.

Edward

Edward993

Look, I aint being argumentative here. I am fully aware of different oils for different climates and usage. But I was responding directly to the comment of "rattling" and "leaks" due to zero weight. Read it again. Posting the manual is irrelevant with regard to the aforementioned claim. C'mon now.

Edward

CaliBenzDriver

confusing viscosity chart side by side

(My parents met when they were both working at SHELL Oil Co in the '60's.... my dad was always trying on new oils in his own engine.) - So viscosity performance was a familiar topic.

We can agree that we all have a similar viscosity target and understand viscosity is related to temperature, right?

Everyone is pegged on his favorite oil being the best and the cheapest where they know... AMZ👏

Every oil we pick is the best for us

The way piston rings are leaking a thicker oil is going to provide a thicker film. That's what it's all about: surfaces gliding on a film without rubbing.

Thin 0W-15 oils are amazing for ppl who need to be amazed. I can bet my hydraulics will like better 15W-40 honey.
Every engine runs at different temperature according to locale, mileage, blow-by, carbonized Lambda, driving style, ...oil pump pressure, internal unsealed leaks as discovered by @S-Prihadi front timing cover.

> MASTER PLAN:
Imagine a burnt black 0W-30 oil run under low pressure on dry heated pistons at extended intervals... dry pan: "Game Over".

pierrejoliat

Hmm, sure seems that you are, fully aware, yet the engineers who designed this engine are irrelevant? My aforementioned claim stands, 0 weight oil leaks through seals faster and more frequently than 10 weight oil, this is an incontrovertible fact that all your bluster doesn't change. 0-W40 is acceptable, but so is 20-W50 down to 23F, Why would you choose a viscosity at either end of the acceptable range if you could pick the best from right in the middle? https://www.valvolineglobal.com/en-k...g-oil-weights/

pierrejoliat

Whatever you think is best, I would suggest a 10-W40