10w40 or 5w30 for E320 (W210)

[M.A.94]

As the title states what would be a better option for a E320 cdi (w210)..

would 10w40 cause any problems throughout the winter months?

 

[alabbasi]

0w40 this side of the pond.

 

[coneybiller]

I'm currently running valvoline Synpower 10W-40 with no issues that I'm aware of.

I would say depends on mileage really. I opted for the thicker grade due to my W210 320cdi having 160k and rising. Not noticed any difference!

On the other hand I do between 600 and 1050 miles per week travelling to work and back. Its always on the motorway! If your doing a lot of short journeys and stop starting often, then probably go with the thinner grade IMO.

 

[The Dude]

...10w40...I would not put a thinner oil in these older motors unless you want a noisy,leaky engine?

They were not designed for thin fully synthetic oils...

 

[190]

If the the manual says 5W30 is permissible then it will be OK. MB's have been designed for at least semi synthetic oil since the 80's. I ran fully synthetic on my 26 year old 190e with no problems. And as I keep saying, unless you are paying in the region of £40+ for 5L, any oil marketed as fully synthetic is highly likely not true synthetic. It will be a highly refined group 3 mineral oil or possibly GTL derived from gas. Even most of the Mobil 1 range is not synthetic any more. This myth about synthetic oil being a problem will die out in another 20 or 30 years.

Having said all that, 10W40 won't cause a problem in the winter especially if the car is garaged overnight. To put some viscosity numbers on it there isn't a huge difference between a 10W and a 5W oil where as going for a 0W oil is more worthwhile.

at 0 Deg C

10W40 will be approx 870 cSt
5W30 will be approx 700 cSt
0W30 will be approx 530 cSt

 

[renault12ts]

I used 0w40 in mine for years...it was rust that killed it...the motor was sweet.

 

[M.A.94]

If the the manual says 5W30 is permissible then it will be OK. MB's have been designed for at least semi synthetic oil since the 80's. I ran fully synthetic on my 26 year old 190e with no problems. And as I keep saying, unless you are paying in the region of £40+ for 5L, any oil marketed as fully synthetic is highly likely not true synthetic. It will be a highly refined group 3 mineral oil or possibly GTL derived from gas. Even most of the Mobil 1 range is not synthetic any more. This myth about synthetic oil being a problem will die out in another 20 or 30 years.

Having said all that, 10W40 won't cause a problem in the winter especially if the car is garaged overnight. To put some viscosity numbers on it there isn't a huge difference between a 10W and a 5W oil where as going for a 0W oil is more worthwhile.

at 0 Deg C

10W40 will be approx 870 cSt
5W30 will be approx 700 cSt
0W30 will be approx 530 cSt

What I understand from this is both 5w30 and 10w40 have little difference. However 0w30 is beneficial over 10w40. Am I right? Feel a bit dumb now haha

 

[M.A.94]

...10w40...I would not put a thinner oil in these older motors unless you want a noisy,leaky engine?

They were not designed for thin fully synthetic oils...

My car tends to get driven around the city the majority of the time, with this in mind would you still recommend 10w 40. Cheers

 

[mick5]

Mine is W203 2005 Cdi want to change the oil always uses Mobil1 5w30 but not ***** shall i stick with Mobil1 5 w30 or go for 10w40?
Car has done 110k.

Thanks

 

[190]

What I understand from this is both 5w30 and 10w40 have little difference. However 0w30 is beneficial over 10w40. Am I right?

The thing is if you look at the viscosity table in the owners manual it will more than likely say any of your proposed oils are acceptable. So it comes down to either personal preferences or concern for easier starting when very cold. If you have some reason to prefer the 10W40 then there is not enough difference between a 5W oil and a 10W oil to worry about particularly if your car is garaged.

If the car lives outside and you envisage a sub zero winter like the -16 C we had in 2010/11 then 0W oil being quite a bit thinner becomes the obvious choice. My car never lives out overnight but if it did I'd use a 0W oil.

I'm deliberately ignoring the running viscosity (30 or 40) part of the equation, just pick whatever your handbook recommends.

 

[hotrodder]

Somewhere near the back of the owners handbook will be a viscosity chart for engine oils that looks like https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/224.1_en.html but it might have MUCH lower upper ambient temp limits for silly thin oils. The odds of anywhere in the UK mainland getting too cold for a 10wXX are pretty long. Even longer odds for temps to drop that low for any length of time

While many modern engines are designed around much thinner oils much of the reasoning is to do with extended service intervals and fuel economy with the later probably being less about the real world and more about the numbers achieved during type approval/official fuel economy tests... a small improvement can result in a lower tax band etc just like speccing some drug dealer wheels on a new car can push it into a higher CO2 tax bracket due to the extra rolling resistance of wider tyres on bigger, heavier wheels

 

[coneybiller]

The valvoline oil i used is supposed to be fully synthetic which is why I chose it. Opie Oils is a good website, with a good level of detail into the oil "ingredients" that they sell. Balanced between price and functionality, with the many miles I do, I preferred a thicker oil.

Like has been said, you probably won't notice a difference. Just balance, price and alleged functionality and tell yourself your oil is as good as it can get and you'll be happy

 

[M.A.94]

Loll brilliant. Thanks for the advice I surely have gained a lot of information from this post

 

[alabbasi]

Is the 30 weight a diesel rated oil? Typically (or at least in the US) The xw30 is used for gasoline engines and as a result, the formula is low on ZDDP. High levels of ZDDP can damage catalytic converters but critical for diesel engines. As are the detergents in diesel rated oils.

 

[The Dude]

...myworkaday car is a 2.4 Tec Honda Accord (my 4th in a row) and this gets 0w20oil...which it seems to like and improves fuel economy...

 

[190]

0w20 sounds impossibly thin but it's becoming very common in the US largely driven by fuel economy targets.

As if SAE20 oil isn't thin enough the SAE J300 specification has been extended to include 16, 12 and 8. that means we could see engines in the future running on 0W16, 0W12 or 0W8 oil.

I believe it was Honda that first requested the introduction of these very thin oil grades.

 

[The Dude]

...bloody hell, 0w8 would essentially be coloured water!

And Honda's push for 0w20 is economy driven, sure is thin though!

 

[190]

...bloody hell, 0w8 would essentially be coloured water!

You would think so but not quite.

If I just put my anorak on I can tell you that at 100 Deg C the viscosities are:

Ow8 approx. 5 cSt

Water will be 0.000294 cSt (water gets thinner when hot too even before it turns to steam)

And for comparison with current oils 0W30 approx 10.5 cSt