Is Mobil 1 suitable?

[nickh]

Hi.

It's coming up to the 84000 mile service on my 230e and i noticed my oil level has dropped to about less than a cm from minimum level, it was just below max 5months ago. I have just topped it up for now. I will do the oil change myself. I have used Mobil 1 oil in all my previous cars, is it worth it in my 230e (1992)? or should i go for a thicker one? If the car is going to loose oil then Mobil 1 is rather expensive. I also noticed a little oil in the coolant, but as it's not been changed for 4 years then that seems ok, so I will change that as well.

 

[kid-jensen]

Oil Recommendation

NickH,

If you're concerned that by buying Mobil 1, wou're just paying for some Mobil Executive's holiday in Bermuda, then go for the Halfords Synthetic.

It's almost half-price, and I have used it in all my cars for about 8 years now (or however long it's been around) with no problems.

Viscosity (not that it matters much) is 5W50, but more inportantly, it has the latest SAE rating.

Don't like to recommend anything from Halfords on principle, but this stuff "does what it says on the tin".

 

[sunil sood]

i would use a 10w/40 semisynthetic oil -always use quantum from german and swedish-it is a 12 pounds for 5 litres. this is better than the 15w/40 multigrade and less dearer than the mobil 1 or quantum fully synthetic oil.

providing you change the oil/filter according to the maintenance booklet-my opinion is a 10w/40 synthetic provides good all roud value. :lol:

 

[nickh]

I will be looking at some oils this weekend, i'll have a look around and see what is around of the synthetic type, other than mobil 1.

 

[Legoman]

to be honest most synthetic oils are pretty much the same quality the only consern is there cold and hot viscosity ratings , id phone a mercedes specialist and find out what they recommend for the car , from personal experience ive found different cars like different viscositys i tend to buy a non brand name with no gimicks (i think that castrol magnitec is a loada bull ive used it and its useless) the only additive i use is slick 50 or something with lots of teflon or whatever its called in it.

 

[altreed]

I used Slick 50 in my old Golf '84 MkII GTi for 80,000 miles, 3 treatments, every 25k. I sold the car with 130k on the clock and it would pull a genuine 120mph 4-up on a slight incline (m3-m27 runoff, if you know it) the motor was as sweet as nut. I got over 40Mpg all the time. I used bog standard Duckhams and changed at 3k. A good formula. Very nice sweet motor that and I miss it.

Now I have a c36. Very powerful, sometimes it scares me. The stealership always used Magnatec at a horrendous cost. I dropped it off with Andy just recently, he said he has put mobil semi synthetic in it. I trust his judgement. I am not sure of it's name, but he explained that the oil is less important than the frequency it is changed.

I am tempted to change mine every 3k and do an oil and filter at this time. I will need one of those dipstick pumps though. Anyone know where to get them?

 

[dieselman]

Don't use additives, especially Slik 50 or any other containing Teflon. Yes it does reduce friction if it can get through the filter. More likley it will partially clog the filter (as the filter will filter to a smaller particle size than the teflon is ground to), and it can cause oil starvation at bearing surfaces.

As for the dealers charging a lot for Magnatec we have covered this before. Magnatec is a basic mineral oil witha small amount of synthetic added. Low grade oil, but excellent marketing.
As andy does, go for a true 50/50 semi-synth ora full synthetic, and keep changing it.
3K is wastfull given that todays engines, and in particular fuel, doesn't pollute the oil so much, and thet filtration is also finer than previously was the case.

 

[Legoman]

only need to change it every 6k at most if you thrash it 10k if you do motorway work alot altreed , no need for more than that
hehe yep im aware of the m27 - m3 run off as i live in southampton ,
as for the dipstick oil pumps , ive seen them in demon tweeks (red covered race accessory version) also ive seen them for sale on ebay , take your pick. as for the comment on slick 50 clogging up the filter , well ive never seen it happen in all the years ive worked on cars and it does make a noticable diffrence to older cars especially (no need for it in a new tight engine in my opinion , each to there own though i suppose

 

[altreed]

I mostly do short trips, hence the oil has to work harder. The oil doesn't spend much of it's life at full working temperature as my morning and evening driving duration is only 15-20 mins, once a week I drive for 1 hour at a time on one day. So the oil really works hard and wears out faster, it is more likely to suffer from condensation in the sump.

I haven't put Slick50 in my c36 yet, I may do it when I get it back from the service. But it didn't harm my Gti.

 

[Legoman]

you want to change it every 6k then , at the moment im driving a race tuned 205 gti running on twin weber dcoe's without a thermostat and only drive it short distances like you (5 miles to work and back) i get nasty emulsificasion at this time of year but it's still happy with a change every 6k or so , if ya wanna change it more often fair enough but it'll be a waste of money , i can guarantee i get more moisture in my oil than u do!
p.s. i just bought a 190e which needs a new engine (payed bugger all for it because of this) as soon as ive saved up the money it'll have a remanufactered engine put in it (cant be arsed to rebuild it myself , too much effort )
just incase you were wondering why i was on this forum when i own a peugeot

 

[Dave K]

Try fitting an oil drain valve instead of using a dipstick pump thingy. All you have to do is get the engine nice and hot, open the valve, let the oil drain out, and close the valve again. Easy . They can be ordered from www.fumotovalve.com