What makes European car oil special......Volkswagen ratings, etc?

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Buy the 508. Don't even contemplate using anything else. If you should have an engine issue Volkswagen will pull a sample and look for the tracer in the correct proportion in that sample. You don't have it, they don't honor warranty. They will pull the sample every time.
 
VW 508 definition- fuel economy oil with long life additives.

Since you are a Mobil 1 guy.. Mobil 1 ESP X2 0w20 carries your specs.


You are stuck with the 508 until your warranty is up if that matters to you.
 
The standard for VW's specs starting about 12 years ago (since 504/507 came out) isn't that they can handle a 10k interval. It's that they can handle a 20k interval (actually, 30k kilometres). Not all markets take advantage of the longer interval due to types of fuel in those markets, or other factors. But in many markets they are approved for 20k intervals, or two years.
I've seen some Vr6 engines open after years of these 30000Km intervals with longlife oil, at 140000Km that wasn't very pretty. Admittedly, the engine was still running, ha!
 
I can't comment about what makes the 508 oil special, but on the subject of quick lube places using the right oil, when I took my 17 Jetta that called for 502 spec in for an oil change, Valvoline Instant Oil Change used gray quarts of a Valvoline product that met the spec. I can't vouch for what other places would do, but I was pleasantly surprised.
 
I have no plans to deviate from the required 508 spec oil in my car, I don't even know if I will change the oil myself in this car. When you add up the cost of the required 508 oil and filter, it is actually very close to what the dealer charges to do it. I purchased this car with the sole intention of it being a daily driver, I don't envision myself keeping it much longer than six years.....that is a big change for me since I usually tend to keep cars forever. I don't think I'm going to do the 10,000 mile intervals however, I will probably do 5,000 mile oil changes.
I was just generally curious why these oils were different, in terms of chemical composition, etc.
 
So what exactly makes European engine oil different from the run of the mill Mobil 1 5w30 that I have been using for a very long time? In the VW world there are 502, 504, 508, etc spec oils, I assume there are some major differences between them all?

It's interesting to me that the M1 0W-20 that meets 508 has higher zinc and phosphorus than any other M1 0W-20.
Most M1's 0W-20's have 750 Zn / 650 P while the X2 ESP has 950 Zn / 880 P. As of October 2019, no other M1 20 or 30 grade has this much.

Mobil 1 Product Guide pdf

Did you look at the Lubrizol Relative Comparison tool posted above and compare API vs VW specs? It's very interesting. Although, the disclaimer is that the "chart is not a literal translation of a performance specification". ;)
 
Napa has Liqui-Moly 0w20 that meets the VW 508 standards :)

part #20236 for the 1L
part #20238 for the 5L

If you buy it this week (by 7/32, you get 20% off when you buy 3 or more)

It is probably the easiest 508 to obtain and might even be the only one sold in US stores
 
VW has specific requirements. The only way they can assure they are met is by having a specification. ACEA A5 or API SP GF6A oil isn't guaranteed to meet that requirement.

Nothing at all wrong with Kirkland for a Dexos 1 Gen 2 application or WPP (not sure if Costco / Kirkland brands it) BMW LL01 or MB 229.5 . I don't believe WPP makes a VW 508.00 Spec Oil at this time.
 
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Imagine how many VW, Audi, BMW, and MB owners take their cars to quick change oil places that pump in bulk oil...
 
Nothing at all wrong with Kirkland for a Dexos 1 Gen 2 application or WPP (not sure if Costco / Kirkland brands it) BMW LL01 or MB 229.5 . I don't believe WPP makes a VW 508.00 Spec Oil at this time.
 

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Hi everyone,
I recently purchased a new Volkswagen GLI, the requires VW 508 - 0w20 oil. This is the first modern European car that I have ever owned, so the world of "special" oil is all new to me. I come from a Japanese car background (Toyota/Nissan and an air-cooled VW and an Explorer) so for the past twenty-five years or so, I have mostly run Mobil 1 5-30 with great success and much longevity. In Japanese cars oil changes are simple, in that I can buy the oil at Costco or Walmart easily.
So what exactly makes European engine oil different from the run of the mill Mobil 1 5w30 that I have been using for a very long time? In the VW world there are 502, 504, 508, etc spec oils, I assume there are some major differences between them all?
At the moment Costco has Kirkland 0w20 oil on sale, yes the weight is correct for my new GLI, but obviously it doesn't meet the VW 508 spec. I of course will not be using the Kirkland oil in my car, but it makes one wonder why the "correct" spec oil is so different. If someone put the wrong VW spec oil in a car, but the weight of the oil is correct, will the engine self destruct within a few miles? I wonder how many "quick oil change" places don't use the correct spec oil in European cars.......
I figured I would ask the experts here, because this is new territory for me.


Thank you!


Go to the Lubrizol comparison tool and compare API SN+ to 508.00 and I think you will get it.

For an oil to make VW 504.00 / 507.00 (2020) which is essentially the higher HTHS Spec version of 508.00 an oil needs 1397 hours of testing to make C3 (A much tougher standard than API) and then 1402 hours farther testing to make 504.00 / 507.00. It appears to be the toughest oil spec in existence. Of course we are not using it's 30,000 km drain certification in full.
 
Yep, heading to NAPA by the end of the month to buy another case of M1 ESP 5W30 504/507 for 6 bucks a quart. Can't go wrong at the price. I hold the Red Line Euro and Ravenol VMP in Reserve for my personal vehicle. Everyone else gets the cheaper oil.
 
Its just like D1G2 GM gets their slice of the pie they have to pay GM to license the oil and pay for the cert. What does that really do for us. Nothing more unless you enjoy Oil hype.
This kind of misinformation that floats around here props questions like that.
GM, AND ONLY GM (I guess they have to make somehow profit) takes license. European manufacturers approve oils and they are done. They do not take piece of pie etc. It is in their interest that customer has access as easy as possible to approved oil.
Average approval costs around $4,000.
 
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