Ravenol Excessive For My Needs?

[OVERKILL]

Being that the OP is in the United States price is the issue. It's priced a lot higher than comparable products from Mobil 1, Shell (aka Pennzoil, Quaker State), etc. Blauparts (aka Ravenol America) is the only distributor in the US. I imagine it's priced similar to what Redline would be in Europe.

BMW Longlife-04 - BMW Diesel Oil

German Ravenol oil for your BMW diesel oil change. The best oils designed for BMW diesel engines with formal BMW Longlife-04 approvals.

www.ravenolamerica.com

https://www.blauparts.com/bmw-motor-oil-longlife-04-5w-30-vmp-1l.html

You CAN get it on sale at Blauparts though, that's how I've purchased what I have on-hand. Takes planning of course, but for me, it's no different than waiting for M1 to come on sale at Canadian Tire or Parts Source.

 

[930.engineering]

I was just reading the Russian liqui moly blog on why they stick to group III or a mix of III/IV.

translated snippet:
"Despite the fact that oils on a pure PAO (polyalphaolefins) base remain the most advanced and resistant to harsh operating conditions, global car manufacturers recommend the use of hydrocracking oils. They are more affordable and cheaper, they are quite enough for normal car operation. It is because of the change in priorities that the developers of additives packages have been developing formulas for more than a decade, designed primarily for use from a hydrocracking base."

I think that translated excerpt from that Russian forum is simply BS.

Firstly, I've never seen any 'global car manufacturers recommending' base oil compositions.
Commonly car manufacturers recommend certifications or demand and confer approvals.
For approvals performance (after testing) is what matters, not compositions. Composition
resides with the blender.
Secondly, that post suggests that blenders using group IV and V base oils would have to
use add packs designed for group III. That's likely again BS. I can't even imagine that. There
are still enough applications where PAO is widely used (many VW 508 00 btw), and of course
Infinium, Lubrizol, Vanderbuilt and all the others will provide appropriate offerings.

Being that the OP is in the United States price is the issue. It's priced a lot higher than comparable products from Mobil 1, Shell (aka Pennzoil, Quaker State), etc. Blauparts (aka Ravenol America) is the only distributor in the US. I imagine it's priced similar to what Redline would be in Europe.

Exactly!

Feel free to see prices in Germany (ignore language, specs and approvals are international)
and notice the wider variety of affordable oils (many of them group II/III) they have on offer:

Offizieller Ravenol Shop - alle Ravenol Schmierstoffe direkt kaufen

Offizieller Ravenol-Onlineshop ► Made in Germany - Top Preise und Mengenrabatte - Gratis Versand ab 39,90€ - schnelle Bearbeitung - begeisterte Kunden

www.ravenol-shop.de

Blauparts just sell a comperatively small selection of them and they seem to focus on Ravenol's
higher-end products (mainly group IV/V), which however may make some sense.
.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Exactly!

Feel free to see prices in Germany (ignore language, specs and approvals are international)
and notice the wider variety of affordable oils (many of them group II/III) they have on offer:

Offizieller Ravenol Shop - alle Ravenol Schmierstoffe direkt kaufen

Offizieller Ravenol-Onlineshop ► Made in Germany - Top Preise und Mengenrabatte - Gratis Versand ab 39,90€ - schnelle Bearbeitung - begeisterte Kunden

www.ravenol-shop.de

Blauparts just sell a comperatively small selection of them and they seem to focus on Ravenol's
higher-end products (mainly group IV/V), which however may make some sense.
.

I would've thought that the difference would have been greater. 5L bottle of VMP 5w30 is $62 vs 66€. With shipping pricing is probably the same but it's actually cheaper in the US due to the exchange rate. Man I had better buy up some product !!.

Redline 1 gallon US (3.7 liters) is priced really close at $58

 

[Sveina]

I would've thought that the difference would have been greater. 5L bottle of VMP 5w30 is $62 vs 66€. With shipping pricing is probably the same but it's actually cheaper in the US due to the exchange rate. Man I had better buy up some product !!.

Redline 1 gallon US (3.7 liters) is priced really close at $58

VMP at 12,4 $ per liter vs Redline at 15,67 $ per liter isn't really that close, Redline is then ~25% more.

 

[930.engineering]

.
I think the main objective difference is that many Ravenol oils such as VMP,
REP and RUP simoultaneously are mainly group IV as well as do come with
approvals while a vast majority of similar base-oil composition PCMOs are
somewhat 'boutiquish' and completely lack approvals. For obvious reasons
this has to come at a price.
.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

.
I think the main objective difference is that many Ravenol oils such as VMP,
REP and RUP simoultaneously are mainly group IV as well as do come with
approvals while a vast majority of similar base-oil composition PCMOs are
somewhat 'boutiquish' and completely lack approvals. For obvious reasons
this has to come at a price.
.

REP seems like a Redline, HPL clone. PAO Ester blend with limited VII's. On an aside I haven't been able to figure out what "SyntoClean" is. Is it ester or additive?

 

[930.engineering]

.
I don't think the marketing term 'CleanSynto' has anything to do
with using esters, but additives may play a role:

CleanSynto®

RAVENOL | CleanSynto®

www.ravenol.de

PCMOs with so-called 'CleanSynto' (technology: choose CleanSynto):

Passenger car motor oil

RAVENOL | Passenger car motor oil

www.ravenol.de

USVO®

RAVENOL | USVO®

www.ravenol.de

 

[JohnnyG]

I'll take VST for $50 all day long. In fact, I just bought 3 years supply, seeing how things are going over there.

 

[FCD]

Ravenol's "top of the line" oils are good stuff, they put PAO quite generously in them, only thing i don't like is that even their A3/B4 oils could have a slighlty fatter additive package.

 

[Zack1978]

Ravenol's "top of the line" oils are good stuff, they put PAO quite generously in them, only thing i don't like is that even their A3/B4 oils could have a slighlty fatter additive package.

Is VMP 5w30 VW 504/507 oil a top of the line oil?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Is VMP 5w30 VW 504/507 oil a top of the line oil?

Based on their PDS it's above average. It's PAO based, has additional euro approvals outside VW 504/507 and very low NOACK. Perhaps on par with M1 ESP 5w30. Without access to the actual test data we're just inferring. I would buy it over say Liqui Moly unless you're getting it for free via FCP Euro.

RAVENOL VMP SAE 5W-30

RAVENOL VMP SAE 5W-30 is a PAO (Polyalphaolefin) based, full synthetic low friction motor oil with especially USVO® and proven CleanSynto® technology for p...

www.ravenol.de

 

[gogydm]

How do I pick, VST vs SSL for my 229.5 application?

 

[Marcozi]

How do I pick, VST vs SSL for my 229.5 application?

Go with SSL as it meets the MB spec.

 

[930.engineering]

.
Both SSL and VST do come with MB229.5 approvals:

RAVENOL Super Synthetik Öl SSL SAE 0W-40

RAVENOL Super Synthetik Öl SSL SAE 0W-40 is a PAO (Polyalphaolefin) based, full synthetic low friction motor oil with especially USVO® and proven CleanSynt...

www.ravenol.de

RAVENOL VollSynth Turbo VST SAE 5W-40

RAVENOL VollSynth Turbo VST SAE 5W-40 is a PAO (Polyalphaolefin) based, full synthetic low friction motor oil with especially USVO® and proven CleanSynto® ...

www.ravenol.de

VST is nower Noack and higher HTHS, so that's what I'd tend to go with.

Is VMP 5w30 VW 504/507 oil a top of the line oil?

Definitely. That's what I take to the dealer when I have them perform the OC on
my GTI. VMP is supposed to be used by LMS Engineering on their Audi RS3 LMS:

Technology

RAVENOL | Technology

www.ravenol.de

.