I would suggest an oil meeting the ACEA A3 specification. Mobil 1 0W-40 meets some of the most demanding European OEM specs like M/B 229.5 and ACEA A3/B3 and B4. The German Castrol Syntec 0W-30 meets ACEA A3/B3 and B4 and the older M/B 229.3 spec. If you decide to buy the German Castrol Syntec be sure that it says ACEA A3/B3 and B4 on the back of the bottle. Don't buy the old 0W-30 Castrol Syntec 0W-30 that only meets the weak ACEA A1 requirements. In my humble opinion if you want the best oil for any car ignore the API specs and get only oils that meet the latest european specs like ACEA A5/B5 or A3/B3/B4 but don't get an oil that only meets the ACEA A1/B1 or A2/B2 specs as I think they are very similar to the API SL or CF specs.
Other very good choices would be Valvoline Synpower 5W-40, Chevron Synthetic 5W-40, Havoline Synthetic 5W-40, Pennzoil European Formula 5W-40. All the above oil are $5.00 a quart or even less on sale. Amsoil 5W-30 and 10W-40 as well as redline 5W-40 are all great choices but Amsoil and Redline do cost a little more.
[ October 25, 2003, 12:34 AM: Message edited by: Sin City ]