5w40 or 5w30?

[Russ_leeds]

Personally I'd use a better oil than Castrol. Mobil would be my choice.

Castrol Edge 5w30 is far superior for TFSI engine then any Mobil oil. In fact don't think any Mobil is approved for VW TFSI engines

I use mobil 1 esp 5w-30 and it meets vw standards mate 

[Kregiel]

Teutonic Tammer who is an oil expert here says the below

Mobil 1 is NOT fully synthetic, and Mobil 1 0w40 does NOT comply with the appropriate VW approvals for FSI engines - both dispite what Mobil claim on the bottle.  UB7RM nailed it!

See below thread reply 12

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,4873.0.html

Not sure if 5w30 is non compliant as well but better to check it well as this might damage your engine. Also some manufacturer give false info on the packaging which is shocking!
Paul

[Viking]

I rather think your friend there has got himself back to front somehow. Castrol fully synthetic oils are not fully synthetic in the true sense, whereas Mobil oils are.


Interesting reading for those who are interested. Here.

Take a look ate German Ebay and see if you can find any Castrol oils which are labeled as fully synthetic. They're not. They call them Castrol FST (meaning Fluid Sense Technology) and they make no mention of them being synthetic, because they're not. German law prohibits it.

Mobil 1 ESP is VW504/507 certified.

[apples12]

this is interesting...

i've been using shell helix ultra AV-L 'fully synthetic' 5w30 in my PD diesel for the last 35,000 miles so far....

is there a 'better' oil i ought to be using?

[ROH ECHT]

Here in the states the recommended grade is 5W40. Going to do a change this weekend with Castrol SPT synt. and installing a drain valve as well. Drains will just be a flip of a switch from now on.

Drain valve?  

Installing this Fumoto drain valve Saturday morning;
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_V--2.0T/Engine/Mechanical/Oil_Pan/ES2208993/

There's another option for oil that some may consider;
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-337_20AE--1.8T/Maintenance/Engine/Oil/ES2062565/

Motul has recently become APR's official racing oil supplier.
Mobil 1, Castrol, Motul, LubroMoly, and TotalQuartz are used more often than others here. Lab results showed varying deposits from each, but all showed more deposits when the change interval was greater than 5k miles for all brands. If the oil is VW502-505/504-507 specific you should use it. 5W30/40 for summer and 0W30/40 for winter or better mileage are the grades to choose from. But really, changing the oil rather often is what makes the best oil IMO. When my mkv was new I changed the oil at;
(in miles)
1k
3k
5k
7.5k
10k
Then every 3k up to 40 k and every 5k from then on.

[Tfsi_Mike]

Good idea but think I'll stick to the magnetic sump plug

[ROH ECHT]

I have that on there now. I put it on 20 k miles age when I had follower failure and bits of the follower and intake cam were sent into the motor. I will likely put it back on from time to time, maybe every 4th or 5th oil change to remove heavier deposits.

[Viking]

this is interesting...

i've been using shell helix ultra AV-L 'fully synthetic' 5w30 in my PD diesel for the last 35,000 miles so far....

is there a 'better' oil i ought to be using?

I'd not be too worried about using this oil.

[stu_no_1]

I always thought if you were on time and distance they use 5w40 and if you are on long life servicing they use 5w30

[stu_no_1]

I use quantum oil from tps it's cheaper than castrol but I think it's made by castrol lol

[Viking]

I always thought if you were on time and distance they use 5w40 and if you are on long life servicing they use 5w30

Used to be the case. But now they use (or they should...) VW504/507 5w 30 for all service regimes.

[stu_no_1]

Vw never used long long life oil in my car at the last service according to the service book

[Viking]

What did they use?

[stu_no_1]

I can only assume 5 w 40

[Viking]

If they didn't tell you what they did use, how do you know what they didn't use? 
 
Is there a part number listed on the invoice? That would tell you what they used (or at least what they billed you for). A mate took his car in for service at an Audi dealers, and supplied the oil he wanted them to use. 2 x 4ltrs of Gulf GVX 5w 30. Asked them to leave the surplus in the boot of the car for him. Got a phone call later in the day to say that there'd been a mistake and the service tech didn't know that his car should be on 5w 30 so had filled it with 10w 40.  So mate says "How can that happen when I supplied the oil?" Things continued on and the actual story was that the tech had actually filled his car with the oil he supplied, the service manager had then intervened and said it should be long life oil so they drained the correct oil out and put  (mistakenly) 10w 40 in. Then phoned him and told him they'd put the wrong stuff in so there'd be a charge for the correct oil, despite the fact that they'd drained out the correct oil to put the wrong stuff in. They then had to redo the service with the correct oil at their own expense.

When he went to pick the car up, there was a half used 1 ltr bottle of an oil which they hadn't been supplied with, hadn't actually used, and wasn't even any of the spec oils they'd made the mistakes with. So my mate was 3 ltrs of top up oil down on the deal, and still doesn't really know what oil they used.