Synthetic Oils & Changing Intervals

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

So I took the E55 to the stealership today to get that oil leak checked out and fixed. Got to talking with the service representatives and she claims that, as long as you use a Mercedes approved oil (MB 229.5) and filter, oil change intervals are 10 months/10,000 miles.

Given that dealing with stealerships and their asshattery ranks one notch below "getting anally probed" on my "Things I Enjoy" list, I came here to seek council.

So basically: bullshit, maybe, yes? I honestly haven't a clue.

[mbarber25 29]

10,000 miles?

[Mac N Cheese 90]

So I took the E55 to the stealership today to get that oil leak checked out and fixed. Got to talking with the service representatives and she claims that, as long as you use a Mercedes approved oil (MB 229.5) and filter, oil change intervals are 10 months/10,000 miles.

Given that dealing with stealerships and their asshattery ranks one notch below "getting anally probed" on my "Things I Enjoy" list, I came here to seek council.

So basically: bullshit, maybe, yes? I honestly haven't a clue.

you just reminded me i needed an oil change...THANKS

[Spencerk 4]

Yeah I have heard the same thing about other cars...Supposedly the clam that 3000 miles is when you should change the oil is only to benefit the oil and service industry's. My father is the CFO of the company I work for and he has be able to see many things in his career including the R/D rooms of ALL of the big three and a few smaller Italian companies. Supposedly they (for limits tests) have run motors at 4k RPM for thousands of hours non stop, tore the motor down and have seen minimal wear to cam lobes, mains, bearings, rings, lining of the sleeves, etc. I personally change my oil in my ford every 7500 miles and shes got 150,xxx on her and she runs like a top, when I adjusted the timing chain the cams had minimal discoloring due to carmalization and NO wear at all. I totally believe that you could go 10k on a single oil change.

[shakes 2]

Oil has come a long way since it became standard operating procedure to change every 3000 miles. Oil will continue to lubricate, it's the additives that begin to break down. If you do mostly highway driving and the car doesn't idle much I wouldn't hesitate to change it every 10k miles. I usually run my oil 5-6k miles depending on conditions, obviously more frequently in the winter because of the increased idling and richening of the fuel mixture in colder weather.

In short, 10,000 miles is a long time to go between changes on an old "looser" motor with dino oil, but a more sophisticated, newer motor I personally wouldn't be too bothered by it. Take it for what it's worth, but I'll tell you right now I'm the proprietor of a "stealership".

[Duran 387]

Change closer to every 50,000 miles

[Thumpper 266]

I had a few really expensive motors in some past rides and ran full synthetic oil

I would change the filter at 3,000 miles and add 1 litre to make up for the loss with the filter change and change the oil every 6,000

..never a problem..my last engine redlined at 8500rpm's and I drove the $hit out of it all the time

one thing I noticed is that the aluminum bearings out lasted the tri metal..other than that it was all good

[topgun 262]

With modern engines, oil, and highway driving I wouldn't hesitate to go 10k.

Think how far engines and oils have advanced in the last 40 years, and how long has that 3,000mi motto been around.

[dem beats 1,223]

I would say it doesn't sound like BS

The next gen E55 when I was inches away from blowing my load they said only 1 time a year. This was part of the maintenance to keep it under warranty.

It held something insane like a 2 gallons of oil or something insane for a sedan but it makes sense. Porsche oil change times are similar BTW if you look it up.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I would say it doesn't sound like BS

The next gen E55 when I was inches away from blowing my load they said only 1 time a year. This was part of the maintenance to keep it under warranty.

It held something insane like a 2 gallons of oil or something insane for a sedan but it makes sense. Porsche oil change times are similar BTW if you look it up.

Our 5 series can seem to go 6-7k before we get into the last yellow marker light. But I usually try to get it in when we are down to one green as it is not worth pushing it to me. Apparently, the sled is supposed to make it some 7-10k between changes, but I keep it under 5k at the utmost. My mechanic, who specializes in German only, always looks at me funny when I put nothing by M1 in it and I change it shortly after the 3k mark is passed. I think one time I did push it to 6500 or so, but that was a one time thing.

[dem beats 1,223]

I use only fully synthetic in my truck too actually.

It makes me feel better when I can't change it at exactly 3000. I switch up brands too. M1 I have used R Purple before... I tried some other brand from nappa recently and I didn't like it.

[///M5 2,833]

Depends on how you drive. If you aren't breaking down the oil you don't need to change it very often, if you are then do it more. I personally wouldn't go 10, not because you can't but because overkill is better IMO when it comes to something that expensive to replace.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

well I've been reading through various MB tech documents and it does seem 10 months/10,000 miles is the recommended oil change interval

[MKader17 332]

I run the truck 3-4K then change a filter, and top off, then change completely at 6-8K

On the car I prefer a filter change every 5K and oil at 15K, or every year...

Both vehicles I run Mobil 1 5w-30 Extended Performance

[Gioia69 30]

well from my auto class in high school, my teacher told me that oil companies advertised that you should change your oil every 3,000 miles, but it was only actually neccessary to change every 6,000. But you should really play it by ear. You should be checking your oil regularly to make sure its topped off, so you would be able to see how dirty it is. If you drive your car hard or in harsh conditions/enviornment, your oil is going to get dirty faster. Brown oil isnt bad, but once its black or close to it, its time to change. And with a mercedez benz that costs 40k+, i think a 10 dollar oil change more often than not is totally worth it, right?

EDIT: the reason that auto companies advertise a 3,000 mile oil swap is to sell more oil

Edited February 4, 2010 by Gioia69

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

And with a mercedez benz that costs 40k+, i think a 10 dollar oil change more often than not is totally worth it, right?

mine was 12.5, and oil changes are about 60 bucks a pop

[Adrian_D 520]

Judging by the color of the oil really doesn't fly with diesels. Put new oil in, run it for 2 mins and it's black

[Jakethesnake 0]

Ay 144dbfibl15- I truely back up your story. My dads oil salesman turned me onto this "Shaefer" 100% synthetic racing oil, the oil is actually green its so blended. He (Jim the salesman) told me to run it in my truck for about 8-10,000 miles and send in my sample of the oil when Im done...then my second turn of the oil change put 12-15,000 on it. He says the oil is based to last that long; and he also said that oil companys are screwing us for not only Gas prices but for the oil changes to. He stated that conventional oil can last 5-6 thousand miles easy without harming your engine. Its all just a sales "b!tich" to make US buy more STINKIN OIL. I believe him 100% and my truck runs way better with this oil in it. Can't talk sh!t about other oils, but Castrol.....pennzoil and all others aint got sh!t on this oil. They have been around since 1839; case closed end of story haha. Post away!

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

ALL VERY GOOD replys in here.

Like the "old redneck" use to tell me, "grease and oil is cheap, parts ain't".

[ChaosWarlord26 5]

Straight out of my Wifes Volkswagen manual. (2006 Passat 2.0T) Oil change every 10k with approved volkswagen oil or equally rated oil. I use Castroil Full Synthetic since it is approved by Volkswagen and change every 10k on the dot. No probs. I run the samething in my Dodge ram but change it every 5-7k. I also drive my truck harder then the wife does her car.

[snail05 0]

i usually go about 4500- 5000 miles then i change it.

pen. platinum and whatever filter is there at walmart, about $24 total... most srt4 guys feel like they drive lambos and change their oil way too often lol

someone mentioned royal purple??? that stuff is overpriced crap imo

also ive seen more turbo failures with the royal purple than other oils, something about it wears down the seals really fast... i just dont trust it anymore... with n/a or f/i motors

[KU40 173]

Well I wouldn't trust Pennzoil anything in my vehicle. Never had any experience with royal purple.

[snail05 0]

whats wrong with pennzoil??

the new stuff is great, ive heard of problems back in the day but ive researched and found nothing but praise for it now-a-days

[HiFonicsHorder1 5]

Well let me start off by telling you all I build and tune race cars for a living and have been doing so for near 10 years now. Until you actually do a UOA YOUR PISSING IN THE WIND!

UOA is a Used Oil Analysis

Oil filter quality makes one hell of a difference in oil life also!

Royal purple is garbage! Look at one of there bottle and notice how there is NO designation for SE,SD,etc because it doesn't meet ANY. They have stated it is because it exceeds all those but WTFE.

Penzoil Platinum fully Synthetic is about the Best over the counter oil. The base that they came up with a few years ago EVERYONE has now copied. The only difference is the manufactures additive packs. Amsoil is VERY good but not so easy to get.

The comment about Penzoil. . . . . . Yes they WERE Shit back in the day with the wax base. I worked in machine shops for 5 years and you could see right off the bat a Old School Penzoil block because the lifter valley would be filled with a 1"-3"s of sludge.

There is a Lab we use called Blackstone Laboratories to analyze our oil. If you go to their web site you can get the first one for free and the second is around $20. That is the only true way to figure out how long your car AND your driving kills the oil. We use these Small hour meters on All the race cars. Once we figure out how many hours it take to kill the oil we know when to change it.

Now on the filter tip WE have done Extensive testing on this and the Best filter that is easy to get over the counter is a Napa GOLD. It is made for them by WIX. The only filter we have had better results with is the Amsoil oil filters which surprisingly enough are Also made by WIX but to a higher standard.

One of the WORST oil filters out there is a FRAM!! AVOID BY ALL MEANS PERIOD

I will post more when I have More time. It is BEAUTIFUL out I need to get in the shower and change a nitrous bottle time to go kill some imports on the street tonight!

[snail05 0]

Fram got bought out a couple years ago they used to be pretty good

Hifonics- what kind of car you got? And how big of a shot on that bottle