That's possible too. Hard to say. Not sure how they came up with that number.
Mobil 1 ESP - 12,000 miles / 1 year
- Thread starter buster
- Start date
I just edited my previous post. It's almost 20,000 km.
People ask for trouble driving more than that, imo.
People ask for trouble driving more than that, imo.
Patman
Staff member
I don’t think so. From what I’ve heard it’s a lot more common for Europeans to do much longer OCIs (10k+) than shorter ones. They laugh at the silliness of the 3000 mile interval that North Americans have clung onto since the 1970s, Europeans don’t like to waste money.
Believe me, no person who cares about his car drives more than 20K km, the longest and only with specific oils. People mostly do 10-12K km. I know a few personally. The longest OCI are recommended by a few manufacturers and people don't dare to follow them. There are facts that people who drive 20K km and over have engine issues even on new bought cars. Do you know somebody on here who drive 12K miles on the factory oil?
They laugh because they don't know that oils in North America are mostly hydro crack. In Europe don't consider those full synthetic. In Europe hydro crack oils are indicated as HC or something like that on the label. Also, in poorer European countries the major oil brands like Mobil, Castrol, Motul, Shell are often counterfeit.
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edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Bcs. they recommend for vehicles oil is made for. Generally they all have 10,000mls OCI.
Patman
Staff member
Lots of people dare to follow them actually. Like I said, it’s more common over there for them to do longer OCIs.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Yes. But in Europe. And not all countries in Europe.
O.K. But 12K miles is double the OCI of what most people here do. How much more than that? 15-20K miles?
People in Europe (and here too) who laugh at shorter OCI, sooner or later have a major repair to deal it. Most of the time they won't tell you about that.
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edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Some, SOME, countries in Europe have 30,000km OCI.
Which is 18,641 miles. Look, Mobil 1 ESP is a great oil, IMO, maybe 5000 to 8000 miles tops here.
Does Europe have different gasoline than what we have here?
Haris junozovich from XOM has said esp x3 was good to 30,000km before
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
To pass MB229.51/52, BMW LL04 and VW504.00/507.00 oil has to be able to do 18,000mls OCI.
Yes, gas is of much better quality in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and some other countries.
In many European countries, OCI is between 10-15,000mls. Some Eastern European countries (Russia) it is 7,500mls.
The 30,000km OCI was introduced in 2004 for diesel engines is those several countries and 2009 for gasoline. But, this is big BUT, time OCI is 2yrs.
Where did you see this? In the Porsche club talk? Or did you reach out to him.
I know TBN isn’t the end-all but I can’t see going more than 10k on ESP ever.
from 2004 untill now a new marketing idea came up from sellers from german cars. there was a rumour in European market that german autos were very expensive to maintain. also new rules restrictions or environmental instructions were suggested ,so start and stop, dpf and longer OCI were the the new things that were introduced at that period. so longer OCI 30.000/ 2 years was very attractive for a new client who wanted to buy a german car.what happened ,the answer at next quote:
so when years go by, long gone from 2004 many german cars whose owners stayed with constructors advice to follow a 2 year/30.000 OCI now 24.000 -29.000 depends on the country, started having problems.so people weighted longer OCI and engine problems and started to go back to what they know,10000 km tops.but there are exceptions.new owners who buy a german car for first time are new victims and leasing cars ,why an employee whose company will replace his car in 5 years will be interested to make a yearly OCI or a 10000km ? this car will change ownership after 5 hard years on oil as a second hand used car, but with a very bad used ebgine.
better in north European countries mostly, worst in south European countries.in north countries there is a different use for cars. people who work in town ,dont use their cars daily. only for groceries, and some trips on weekend.but people who work far away from home they drive hard on big roads.thats good for engine ,the german ones,they need to beaten up to maintain good,once they are warmed up nicely.but these owners make 30000 /year so the yearly limit is reached ,the engine is running in full oil and on highways so its the best condition for a german car.german cars are made for highways, not for short trips ,especially the new ones they are very sensitive to that use.
exactly .dont forget that southern countries in the mediteranena ,they have to face more dust and humidity and salt from the sea and of course hotter temps yearly.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
I remember that. But take into consideration that fuel in some EU countries is really, really good. Also, ethanol is not as widespread as here, plus they mostly utilize sugarcane ethanol.
I believe it was the porsche club talk IIRC
How is this tested? Do they put cars on a dyno for 18,000 miles? Or is there some surrogate test they use that they feel replicates 18,000 miles? If on a dyno, what are the miles like? Just straight highway? Any miles with stop and go traffic patterns?
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Big blenders can buy an additive pack and just submit documentation to VW, etc. Small blenders will have to submit samples. The manufacturer will establish limits during actual tests. When I was involved in developing VW504.00/507.00 oil, around 2004/2005, we were doing actual testing on the road before sending oil for testing to VW. Today, it is more common to just submit documentation if Blender is known to the manufacturer.
They did long time ago (before these long drain intervals) actual testing. Now it is done on test rigs if actual testing is done.
Take into consideration that OCI of 18,000mls is confined to very few countries with exceptional fuel quality.
Mostly, OCI's are 10,000mls, some countries 7,500mls and I think Russia etc. are still 5,000mls due to sulfur in gas. But, oil has to be able to pass 18,000 interval as set in case manufacturer test it at their facilities.
This is how test rig looks like:
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I never tire of watching that video of the Porsche engine on the test bed. I just think it's so freaking cool!
