jimxms

I'm a C7 owner from the UK and I've searched high and low for the bog standard Mobil 1 5w30 Dexos1 certified oil that you guys use in the USA have been told to use.

The only Mobil Oils I can get are:

5w30 ESP Formula - This is Dexos2 certified which apparently has a low ash content but is designed for Diesel and Petrol rather than just Petrol.

5w30 Super 3000 - this is just Mobil not Mobil1

My car is just out of warranty so I'm wondering if I may as well just buy this:

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-1001-red...oil-5w-30.aspx

Red Line 5w30 with Dexos1 certification

Thoughts?

RussM05

You should be good with a name brand synthetic 5w-30 with the Dexos certification.

juanvaldez

What about the 0w40 Mobil 1?

jimxms

tbh I thought that matching the required viscosity was the most important thing?

Maxpowers

This is good advice. Guys go banana's in this forum over Mobil 1. Its a great oil, but there are lots of other arguably just as good ones out there.

juanvaldez

Not really. I think European C7 come with 0w40. I use it in mine.

RonC7

What does your European owner's manual say?

jimxms

I've just checked and both my manual and oil cap say that it needs Dexos2 5w30.

So, should I just buy this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5w-30-GENU...kAAOxy3zNSl1E7

Or push the boat out a bit more and get something a bit more race inspired..

jimxms

UPDATE:

Stuff it, I've decided to use Royal Purple HPS 5w30. Gets great reviews and although its not dexos compliant, it is much better in tests than a lot of the dexos certified oils.

Kracka

There are much better oils available than Royal Purple. As one example, since you mentioned it above and seem to like the boutique oils, Redline. Also pretty much any synthetic from Mobil 1, Castrol, Penzoil, etc.

Another big concern about Royal Purple is the purple color of the oil. If you were to have engine troubles, the dealership would likely deny warranty coverage once they drained the oil and noticed it was purple (as you said, it's not a Dexos1 oil).

jimxms

I have no warranty so that's not really of concern to me. As for Red Line - I did look at that, but this test put me right off:

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

Worst of the batch!

Kracka

That article appears to be about a decade out-dated. SM was the newest standard from 2004-2010 (then was replaced by SN).

jimxms

True its old, but its hard to find a test where the product has been purchased directly from store shelves, and not provided by the manufacturer or tested by the manu. themselves.

I've looked at plenty of other tests where Royal Purple is Good, but not the best. But consistency is what I look for.

For an oil company to ship a crap product at any point in the past, they know exactly what they are doing: Relying on their name to sell a sub-par product.

TGO

1) He's out of warranty.

2) That **** don't stay purple.

DAFFYDRUNK

Oh man, I'm gonna get soooo blasted for this...

My opinion is people over think oils a bit much on here and is Mobile One really that great? Not sure what comes in the car from the factory, but I've never put Mobile One in it. I use Northland Synthetic oil or recently house brand Blain's Farm Fleet synthetic in my cars. Both Dexos approved. Wix filters or Napa golds. $25 oil changes. Even tracked the C7 with Northland in it last summer. Oil gets changed every 5k. C7 hasn't blown up without Mobile One yet, and doesn't sound like it's gonna any time soon.

Out of warranty I wouldn't even worry about the Dexos rating. Pretty much any 5w-30 synthetic will be fine if you change it at regular intervals.

jimxms

In the short term, and if you are performing regular changes I mostly agree that the make/model/specs of the oil doesn't really matter all that much. You could probably fill it with vegetable oil and go a few hundred miles without too much drama.

However, changing the oil every 10k and racking up 100k miles I think you would see a difference in engine wear between a budget and premium oil

vettl83

Amsoil or Castrol here, no issues with the oil in the 14 Vettes I've used it in.

jimxms

Amsoil would have been my first choice - I've even got 5L of it in the garage. For some reason they seem to have pulled out of the UK though as I cannot get it anywhere :/

fourmat

http://www.performanceoilsltd.co.uk/ordering.html

vettl83

Well BMW seems partial to Castrol synthetics I am sure it would do fine.