SL 320 Engine Oil

[ge055447]

Any advice please on the correct oil for this engine. Thanks.

 

[television]

Any advice please on the correct oil for this engine. Thanks.

I use the best fully synthetic oil that is on offer in my SL320, I change the oil and filter every 6-7k miles, right now I am using Magnatec as it was on offer at £14.50.

Malcolm

 

[ge055447]

Thanks Malcolm.
GSF Car Parts are selling Total fully synthetic 5W40 (5 litre) for £14.50.
Ed

 

[television]

Thanks Malcolm.
GSF Car Parts are selling Total fully synthetic 5W40 (5 litre) for £14.50.
Ed

Sounds fine to me, that's good for 5 lt, I only got 4lt for the same money.

Malcolm

 

[oilman]

Magnatec is not a fully synthetic, it is in fact a mineral oil.

For your car I would recommend you look for a 5w-40 synthetic, not a semi.

Cheers
Simon

 

[television]

Magnatec is not a fully synthetic, it is in fact a mineral oil.

For your car I would recommend you look for a 5w-40 synthetic, not a semi.

Cheers
Simon

The GTX magnatec is a fully synthetic, in fact I was using that, now (just found invoice ) using Formula RS ow40 at £12.98 for 4 litre's.

Malcolm

 

[oilman]

I'm sorry but the Magnatec is in fact a petroleum based oil not a proper fully synthetic (manmade). I am a Castrol Dealer as well as 5 other brands.

Cheers
Simon

 

[230K]

Hi

I am of the opinion that Magnetec is a semi too, I use Mobil 1 full stop in both my diesels.

230K

 

[oilman]

It is in effect a semi but it's a petroleum based oil, not a proper synthetic (Group IV or V) Mobil 1 is a proper fully synthetic (Group IV).

Basestock categories and descriptions

All oils are comprised of basestocks and additives. Basestocks make up the majority of the finished product and represent between 75-95%.

Not all basestocks are derived from petroleum, in fact the better quality ones are synthetics made in laboratories by chemists specifically designed for the application for which they are intended.

Basestocks are classified in 5 Groups as follows:

Group I

These are derived from petroleum and are the least refined. These are used in a small amount of automotive oils where the applications are not demanding.

Group II

These are derived from petroleum and are mainly used in mineral automotive oils. Their performance is acceptable with regards to wear, thermal stability and oxidation stability but not so good at lower temperatures.

Group III

These are derived from petroleum but are the most refined of the mineral oil basestocks. They are not chemically engineered like synthetics but offer the highest level of performance of all the petroleum basestocks. They are also known as “hydrocracked” or “molecularly modified” basestocks.
They are usually labelled/marketed as synthetic or semi-synthetic oils and make up a very high percentage of the oils retailed today.

Group IV

These are polyalphaolefins known as PAO and are chemically manufactured rather than being dug out of the ground. These basestocks have excellent stability in both hot and cold temperatures and give superior protection due to their uniform molecules.

Group V

These special basestocks are also chemically engineered but are not PAO.
The main types used in automotive oils are diesters and polyolesters. Like the group IV basestocks they have uniform molecules and give superior performance and protection over petroleum basestocks. These special stocks are used in all aviation engines due to their stability and durability. Esters are also polar (electro statically attracted to metal surfaces) which has great benefits. They are usually blended with Group IV stocks rather than being used exclusively.

It is common practice for oil companies to blend different basestocks to achieve a certain specification, performance or cost. The blending of group IV and V produces lubricants with the best overall performance which cannot be matched by any of the petroleum basestock groups.

Cheers
Simon

 

[growla666]

Does this mean then that using oil like Magnatec is likely to result in increased wear in your engine? Having just looked at the maintenance manual it seems that 5w-40 and 5w-30 can be used although nothing about fully synthetics such as 0w-40 appears in the handbook. So question is , is it safe to use semi-s such as magnatec or not and if you do will there be any lasting damage? Sounds like sticking fully synthetic in is excessive......

 

[oilman]

No the Mangatec will not damage a stock normally used engine, compared to a true synthetic over the life of the car, yes the mineral based oil will produce more wear.

Synthetics are the quality route, mineral based oils are the cost option, a mineral oil will last around 5,000 miles and a good quality synthetic will be happy to go 10,000 miles+.

Cheers

Simon.

 

[Jetset]

Given the reasonably quick pace of change in the world of engine oils and the fact that this topic hasn't been updated in 4 years, would a fully synthetic 5w-40 oil still be your recommendation for the 320SL oilman?

Whenever I've done my own oil changes (on non-MB cars) I've mostly used Mobil 1.

 

[oilman]

If you are referring to the same engine, then yes, I would stick with a 5w-40. If it's a newer engine, let me have the year and I'll check the details.

Mobil 1 is a good choice in a lot of cars.

Cheers

Tim

 

[InJapan]

Is the Castrol RS 10W-50 a "full synthetic". The canister definitely says fully synthetic. It happens to be a very popular brand and viscosity for motorheads here in Japan.

On a similar note, Fuchs seems to go at a 50% premium when compared to Castrol RS. Is it really any better?

 

[oilman]

RS 10w-50? Not seen that one. Do you mean the RS 10w-60? If so the RS brand in europe was discontinued in Europe a few years ago and its all now branded Castrol Edge.

The Castrol RS 10w-60 or in its current name the Edge Sport 10w-60 is made from a group III base stock, essentially 100% minera base and not a true pao or pao/ester blend synthetic.

Cheers

Guy

 

[Jetset]

Thanks Oilman, it's a 1997 car.

I checked out the Mobil 1 website and there's a few different varieties nowadays, none of which are 5W-40 :

New Life 0W-40
ESP Formula 5W-30
Turbo Diesel 0W-40
Extended Life 10W-60
Fuel Economy 0W-30
Mobil 1 0W-20

On the main ExxonMobil website I can find two 5W-40 types :

Synt S
Super 3000 X1

Help!

 

[InJapan]

Castrol Japan sells RS 10W-50 Full Synthetic. It's widely available in auto parts stores and even department stores.

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/productdetailmin.do?categoryId=82927407&contentId=6500287

It's a little frustrating to find out that a product which claims to be fully synthetic actually is not. Are there not labeling laws that cover this?

 

[oilman]

Thanks Oilman, it's a 1997 car.

I checked out the Mobil 1 website and there's a few different varieties nowadays, none of which are 5W-40 :

New Life 0W-40
ESP Formula 5W-30
Turbo Diesel 0W-40
Extended Life 10W-60
Fuel Economy 0W-30
Mobil 1 0W-20

On the main ExxonMobil website I can find two 5W-40 types :

Synt S
Super 3000 X1

Help!

There isn't a Mobil 1 5w-40 currently, just the above oils. The Mobil 1 oils are all PAO synthetics to my knowledge, so pretty good oils. The Synt S and Super 3000 are hydrocracked oils, so not as good as the PAOs, but still pretty decent. Unless you are using the car hard all the time, the Synt S and Super 3000 will be fine.


InJapan,

Shame that the oil isn't available over here, we could sell loads. The problem with the hydrocracked oils is that they are all labelled as synthetic and it's perfectly legal. The best way to find out is ask us as a lot of places will only know oil as mineral, semi-synthetic and synthetic. They just don't know that synthetic means a variety of things. Another way of checking is price, cheaper synthetics are always mineral based, but the problem is so are some of the expensive ones too.

Cheers

Tim

 

[InJapan]

Not sure about Europe or North America but Mobil 1 5W-40 is available in Japan.

http://www.mobil1.jp/products/product_5W40.aspx

 

[oilman]

If only we could get some of the Japanese oils over here, we could really shift them. Same applies in reverse I guess.