2012 Passat - VW 502, 503 and 504 valid?

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mark pruett

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Just recently bought a new Passat, and the owner's manual says 502,503 and 504 in the engine oil specs section.

Do they mean any of the 3 are acceptable? Is there any real reason I'd want 504 over 502, considering that 502 is a lot more common in the US?
 
Maybe the same manual is used in different countries? Our gas is not "compatible" with the 504 oils as far as I know. (it will work, but isn't optimal)

503 is deprecated anyways, last I checked.
 
Nice car! What engine did you choose? Are you planning to do your own oil changes? Are you going to let the dealer do their three free oil changes?
 
2.5l inline 5 cylinder (the standard one)

Apparently the 3.6l v6 and 2.0l turbo diesel are scarce as hen's teeth; the dealerships we visited in Dallas and Austin both told us that it would be a multiple month wait for either of those.

I plan to do my own oil changes after about 30k miles (the first 30k is free)

The manual is the "Passat U.S. Edition Model Year 2012", and seems to cover all the 2012 Passats, including the TDI models.

It's pretty clear that the TDI models need 507.00- that's the only spec listed, but the gas models have the 3 specs listed, so I'm still trying to figure out if all 3 are valid or what.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: mark pruett
Just recently bought a new Passat, and the owner's manual says 502,503 and 504 in the engine oil specs section.

Do they mean any of the 3 are acceptable? Is there any real reason I'd want 504 over 502, considering that 502 is a lot more common in the US?


Congrats on the new VW!

I have the 2.5L in my Jetta.

VW502 is what you should look for.

After researching the oils that meet the VW spec, I decided Mobil 1 0w40 was the best, all around, option. It's a great oil, you may want to check it out.
 
Originally Posted By: mark pruett
Just recently bought a new Passat, and the owner's manual says 502,503 and 504 in the engine oil specs section.

Do they mean any of the 3 are acceptable? Is there any real reason I'd want 504 over 502, considering that 502 is a lot more common in the US?


Good luck with the car, sounds like a nice one.
I wouldn't blindly trust your dealer to put the right oil in during your "Free" maintenance period.
My dealer put in the wrong oil for the first 20k miles and it cost me a camshaft. Be advised and diligent.
 
Originally Posted By: mark pruett
Just recently bought a new Passat, and the owner's manual says 502,503 and 504 in the engine oil specs section.

Do they mean any of the 3 are acceptable? Is there any real reason I'd want 504 over 502, considering that 502 is a lot more common in the US?


503 is a flexible OCI spec, which the US vehicles are not configured

US vehicles are fixed OCI, so 502

504 supercedes both 502 & 504 AND is suitable for both flexible OCI & fixed OCI

Any real reason to use 504? Probably not. The TBN on 504 is almost half of 502 --- just something to consider.
 
I saw a 3.6L Passat yesterday, had some letters after the 3.6. Thats a sharp car.

Did VW ever update their oil spec past 502.00 or 507.00? That engine IS new, IIRC.

Acceptable substitutes?

I see Motul and Fuchs as well as a Castrol on a UK site here for VW 507.00. http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-754-vw-50700-oil.aspx

Quote:
The oils in this section meet the VW 507.00 specification. These oils are suitable for almost all VAG diesel engines from 2000 onwards with extended service intervals, unitary injector pumps and also Pumpe-Düse ("PD") engines.

Excludes V10, R5 engines and VW Commercial vehicles without fitted DPF (diesel particulate filters) – these must use a 506 01 specification oil.
 
Originally Posted By: 45ACP
I saw a 3.6L Passat yesterday, had some letters after the 3.6. Thats a sharp car.

Did VW ever update their oil spec past 502.00 or 507.00? That engine IS new, IIRC.

Acceptable substitutes?

I see Motul and Fuchs as well as a Castrol on a UK site here for VW 507.00. http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-754-vw-50700-oil.aspx

Quote:
The oils in this section meet the VW 507.00 specification. These oils are suitable for almost all VAG diesel engines from 2000 onwards with extended service intervals, unitary injector pumps and also Pumpe-Düse ("PD") engines.

Excludes V10, R5 engines and VW Commercial vehicles without fitted DPF (diesel particulate filters) – these must use a 506 01 specification oil.


the 3.6L isn't a new engine.

it still needs 502.00 in the us (or 504.00)
 
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
mark pruett said:
504 supercedes both 502 & 504 AND is suitable for both flexible OCI & fixed OCI

Any real reason to use 504? Probably not. The TBN on 504 is almost half of 502 --- just something to consider.


There have been umpteen threads on this issue. Basically, 504 meets everything required by 502 and then more, and there is evidence (in the form of a published study available at the Lubrizol website) that the lower-SAPS LL03 504 oils result in far fewer intake deposits on direct injection engines.

So yes, if you have a DI car then there is a good reason to use a 504 oil.

In addition, TBN depletion is not linear, nor are the additives in 504 oils necessarily the same as 502 oils. If you're running something like a 5K mile fixed interval, it would seem very unlikely that TBN depletion would be an issue in a 504 oil.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: oilnub
Nice, hows the 2.5L go? I have an R36 for my daily drive, the 3.6 is pretty nice but it can be thirsty.


It's a decent little engine. It's in my wife's car, so it doesn't really get very many miles in any given week. In driving it around a little bit, it's decent, if not stellar. Gets decent gas mileage though; right at 21 mpg in city driving so far.

I'm thinking I'm going to use the M1 0w-40, unless my local Vatozone has GC 0w-30. Need to check if they have the oil filters- my Wal Mart does not carry them.
 
Anyone use the Fram in their 2.5? I've seen it, but havent really looked at it. I've got a nice stash of filters now, but if this is decent and will do 5-7.5k OCI, I know the price is right.
 
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
Anyone use the Fram in their 2.5? I've seen it, but havent really looked at it. I've got a nice stash of filters now, but if this is decent and will do 5-7.5k OCI, I know the price is right.


I use MANN filters. But I have heard the Fram's are good.

Do not quote me, but I think I heard they are even built in Germany. . .
 
Originally Posted By: rg200amp
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
Anyone use the Fram in their 2.5? I've seen it, but havent really looked at it. I've got a nice stash of filters now, but if this is decent and will do 5-7.5k OCI, I know the price is right.


I use MANN filters. But I have heard the Fram's are good.

Do not quote me, but I think I heard they are even built in Germany. . .


The last (and I mean last) FRAM I bought was technically not my purchase, but that of my sister. It was for her 330i and ended up being made in China. We won't be buying another.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: rg200amp
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
Anyone use the Fram in their 2.5? I've seen it, but havent really looked at it. I've got a nice stash of filters now, but if this is decent and will do 5-7.5k OCI, I know the price is right.


I use MANN filters. But I have heard the Fram's are good.

Do not quote me, but I think I heard they are even built in Germany. . .


The last (and I mean last) FRAM I bought was technically not my purchase, but that of my sister. It was for her 330i and ended up being made in China. We won't be buying another.


That's cool I guess??

Here's the FRAM in question:

1z4x0ux.jpg
 
I've also seen some made in china 9911's. Sill look fairly nice. Not as nice as the M1 filters I have, but not bd.
 
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