xW-40 vs xW-30 for Mercedes V6 M272?

[edyvw]

Besides Ravenol I can get all of those at walmart or AAP/AZ. The SL castrols are much harder to come by now. Even the meh 5w30.

My point is that the market has pushed 30 grades towards lower ZDDP because of broader approvals. They have to compensate for that in other ways. Thus the historical broad appeal of M1 0w40, which has just about everything you'd want, short of being low/mid-SAPS. Which is IMO still irrelevant to OP's concern.

Castrol 5W30 and 5W40 are readily available in Wal Mart. No Low-SAPS Castrol is available in Wal Mart (stores, not sure online. DId not check nor I plan to).
ESP is readily available in Wal Mart (more so than ESP 5W30) and has ZDDP levels on par with average Full SAPS oil, if not more.
Castrol Edge 0W30 is readily available in AZ/AAP and is now even available in 5qt jugs, which means it is here to stay.
Mobil1 5W30 FS is readily available in AZ/AAP and has same additive pack as 0W40, hence API SL.
In MB V6 Low-SAPS oils were used by Mercedes since 2009. That engine in EUrope was coming with MB229.51 once Europe moved to ULSG. There is nothing there to prevent him using ESP 0W30.

 

[scrllock]

Castrol 5W30 and 5W40 are readily available in Wal Mart. No Low-SAPS Castrol is available in Wal Mart (stores, not sure online. DId not check nor I plan to).
ESP is readily available in Wal Mart (more so than ESP 5W30) and has ZDDP levels on par with average Full SAPS oil, if not more.
Castrol Edge 0W30 is readily available in AZ/AAP and is now even available in 5qt jugs, which means it is here to stay.
Mobil1 5W30 FS is readily available in AZ/AAP and has same additive pack as 0W40, hence API SL.
In MB V6 Low-SAPS oils were used by Mercedes since 2009. That engine in EUrope was coming with MB229.51 once Europe moved to ULSG. There is nothing there to prevent him using ESP 0W30.

Low SAPS castrol is all I can find at autozone/aap locally. I cannot get edge 0w30 anywhere but amazon, unless I pay $12/qt at advance to have it shipped. Your local market is not universal to the US.

 

[Hohn]

Have you thought about Rotella? Probably that's what I would use if I had your MB. Should not be an issue to find 5quart jugs

Rotella in a Mercedes? I won't even run it in my mower.

 

[Hohn]

Seems like the vast majority of owners run Mobil 0W40 FS, but I'm not impressed with the new formulation lacking PAO and esters.

So even though Mercedes, BMW, VW, etc all consider the new SP formulation to be acceptable, it's not good enough to meet your standards?

The single biggest reason to run a 40 grade is immunity from all the "energy conserving" and "ilsac" grade stuff that guts the oil robustness. GF-6a only applies to 30 grades and lighter, as does energy conserving.

So the 0w-40 M1 gets you the best of both worlds, you get effectively a 0w-30 (in shear) but with all the add pack limitations of 30 grade removed.

Buy the FS and run it. It's still great oil. Or run the PP Euro competitor-- both have lots of stringent certs and are both excellent oils more than adequate to the task.