Mobil 1 ESP X3 0W40

[4WD]

Yep. The rumor from our MIA friend Argentum was that this oil contains some kind of novel VII that had exceptional shear resistance.

There are many VM’s out there - but:

 

[chris719]

The star VII that HPL uses isn't really "novel", just expensive, lol. And yes, insanely shear resistant.

I don't think the implication was that X3 uses star VII, but something proprietary to Infineum/XOM reserved for this product. Obviously there is no way to prove that. It is one of the only >200 VI oils that gets promoted for track use though.

 

[edyvw]

Thanks.

A high VI tends to point to high quantities of VII (Viscosity Index Improvers), which are not desirable, as they can lead to deposit formation, and the kind used in most oils are prone to experiencing some shear in service, which means permanent viscosity loss.

I wouldn’t give too much thought. X3 got out when BMW excluded 0WXX oils from LL01 and LL04 approvals. The question is whether Mobil1 plans to replace X3 soon and with that go also BMW approval now that BMW is approving those oils again.

 

[travis8352]

I don't think the implication was that X3 uses star VII, but something proprietary to Infineum/XOM reserved for this product. Obviously there is no way to prove that. It is one of the only >200 VI oils that gets promoted for track use though.

I see alot of XOM lubricant composition patents and infineum patents as well as shell lubricant composition patents that talk about "comb polymer VM"

I dont know anything about them other than the name

 

[chris719]

I wouldn’t give too much thought. X3 got out when BMW excluded 0WXX oils from LL01 and LL04 approvals. The question is whether Mobil1 plans to replace X3 soon and with that go also BMW approval now that BMW is approving those oils again.

X3 will be replaced with X4 that has API SP but still no BMW approvals. I think there are no BMW approvals for deeper reasons than the 0WXX fiasco. I think VAG and MB partially funded development of this oil. BMW also won't produce any new engine that will specify a non-FE grade so there is no reason for Mobil to go past ESP 5W-30 for BMW. In the US, LL-04 never caught on so they can just continue to sell the FS.

 

[OVERKILL]

I see alot of XOM lubricant composition patents and infineum patents as well as shell lubricant composition patents that talk about "comb polymer VM"

I dont know anything about them other than the name

Here's an Infineum patent for one of them, has a very thorough description:
US20220169947 High viscosity index comb polymer viscosity modifiers and methods of modifying lubricant viscosity using same (wipo.int)

 

[OVERKILL]

I don't think the implication was that X3 uses star VII, but something proprietary to Infineum/XOM reserved for this product. Obviously there is no way to prove that. It is one of the only >200 VI oils that gets promoted for track use though.

Looks like there are several sources of comb VM's, I really doubt there's any "proprietary" VM, though Infineum has produced some tweaked-out versions of existing VM's and I'm sure they keep certain versions of these for internal-only use.

Found an old thread on VM's from back in 2013 that @buster shared that mentioned comb VM's produced by a company that wasn't infineum.

 

[buster]

I have no idea. The VI for some of their 0w40s is very high, which in theory isn't great, but who knows. If it's tracked vetted by Porsche and XOM I see no reason for concern especially if it's better than the prior SP 0w40 oil. Unfortunately, there is no definitive way to know. However, as we all know when your playing by the rules-based game for approvals, you're also restricted in some sense, so you never know where the compromises are being made. That is where your boutique brands come in to play.