Steffie

What type of oil do you use for your GL?

alx

Mobil 1 0w40 for the gasoline engines and Mobil 1 5w40 ESP for the diesels.

The recommendation for Mobil 1 5w40 ESP being used in all gasoline engines requiring Mobil 1 0w40 has been withdrawn.

There is absolutely no need to deviate from the manufacturer recommended oil.

a2j

AMSOIL European Car Formula 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil for Mercedes-Benz 229.51I did an oil analysis test after driving for 10k miles. No issues. Now waiting for a second report after driving for 19k miles.

Fourdiesel

Does your oil analysis include a report on what is happening to the DPF? THAT is the biggest reason for the restrictions on the additive package used in the Mobil I ESP 5-40.

Steffie

Thanks. I'll stick with mobil1.

nynd

ESP 5W40... the recommended.. why run anything different!

a2j

That oil has the same specs as mobil1 esp.

Fourdiesel

If by specs you mean EXACTLY the same additive package then you are probably OK (but Amsoil may be in violation of patent or copyright infringement). The testing Mercedes did before qualifying the oil for use in the car (and that included meeting ALL the requirements of the emissions controls including expected lifetime) resulted in the list of approved oils Mercedes publishes - and updates from time to time.
There is FAR more to the modern oil service requirements than keeping the engine from wearing itself out in a few thousand miles. Internal wear is often far from a limiting requirement in the design of an oil. I don't have access to the internal testing requirements and data that Mercedes used in approving the oil for it's emissions certification program. If you feel comfortable about it though, that is a good thing!!

a2j

Don't know about patent or copyright infringement (more likely not), but AMS oil I use meets DPF (and other) requirements for Mercedes, VW, etc.. I'm sure Mobil1 is not the only oil that can be used in Mercedes engines. Do they have a monopoly?

alx

nope. but why experiment? mobil one is as good as it needs to be.

a2j

Did not know that using different brand oil was "experimenting". If that's the case, I've be experimenting all my life with all the cars I had. I use amsoil because I don't have to pay retail price for it. Like I would for Mobil 1. That's all.

Fourdiesel

No monoply - except in the US. That is the ONLY Mercedes listed oil for this vehicle that is available in the US [and Mercedes avoided selling the OM 642 engine in the US until they had made arrangements with someone (in this case Mobil-Chevron) to make available a lube oil that is NOT restricted to the dealer network]. If you want, you can get any of the other listed oils (Fuchs for example) imported for your use but I doubt if you'll save any money.
And we are talking just the diesel engines here, NOT any Mercedes motor.

alx

you are using different brand and different viscosity. that would fall strictly under "fuking with things you really have no need to *** with"

but... to each his own i guess. it is all good as long as you are not the next guy that buys that truck and ends up with worn cam lobes at 150k miles.

a2j

Yes, and I should only take my truck to dealership to change oil. Got it.

zackadoodle

I recently had my GL serviced at the Sugar Land, TX dealership and was surprised when they used Castrol oil. They said it meets all the specs.

For futher info see http://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/229.3_en.html

mitek

I run Castrol (GC) 0-30W in all of my cars. When I did my research back in the day, this "Made in Germany" Castrol oil seemed to be one of the few that are fully synthetic motor oils on the market at a reasonable price and readily available at WM. I also considered Redline and Motul but they are more $$$ and a bit more pain to get. For the diesel 3.0 (US spec) engine there are not a lot of choices as the oil has to have low ash content (to keep the DPF from plugging up) and meet the MB spec. So in my diesel Jeep GC with the same 3.0 engine I was running Mobil 1 5w40 ESP. When I gutted the DPF and installed the DPF delete tune, I was able to run different oils without worrying about the low ash content. I traded in my Jeep for GL550 and never looked back.

zam2000

I've been using Mobile-1 5W30 on all my cars for the last 7-8 years. Seem to work well & cost effective (Great deal from Costco with discount coupon).

Buy oil filter from dealer, an oil extractor (pump) from Amazon, and having done oil & air-filter change on all my cars since.

Never had problem with any car. All run smooth

a2j

oops, I made a typo. The oil I use is not 5W30, its actually 5W40. I must have been looking at 5w30 at the time or something. But I'm thinking to try 5w30 next time for improved fuel economy. Not sure yet.