uberwgn

Munsabin, you're mis-using the jargon. The oils are "502.00" which is an old standard from the 1990's. The newer standard is "504.00" for gasoline and "507.00" for diesel power.


Someone on TDIClub has maintained an elaborate retail listing of 504/507 oils:


VW Oil and Fluid Sources - TDIClub Forums


The 504/507 oils had always been 5W30 exclusively. I think there's a 0W30 oil now as well.


My discussion is specific to N America and the fuels available.

minmet

Couple post earlier I mentioned that 0W40 and 5W40 fall into 502 spec. Look for "European Formular" print on the front. As the matter of fact, 0W40 is specifically developed and used in Europe before they have the newer 504 standard 5W30 came out.

munsabin

Thanks so much - yeah I completely missed that. I appreciate you writing that out again. Cheers

salvadorsantana

adg44

Your car is factory filled with 0w30 (504). You can use that or 5w40 (502) and either will be fine. Your dealer will fill with a 5w40 oil during scheduled maintenance.

gguy

I think that we all get pretty obsessed over oil, me included. I'm on a Subaru and Chevy Trailblazer forum too and it's exactly the same over there. From what I can tell, just use a good synthetic oil and follow the recommended viscosity by the manufacturer and you will be fine. There are several brands of very good synthetic oil out there. I'm more concerned with whether or not the 10k change interval is good advice. I realize that Audi thinks it is more than adequate but 10k is a lot of miles for a car to go between changes. We had a Toyota that had 10k intervals too and when I first asked to service manager about it he said it was fine and they were not seeing any problems with it. The last time I talked to him he told me that he was worried that it was too long and that now they are seeing more higher mileage Toyota's that have been on that 10k schedule with oil burning issues than before. I think I will go to a 5k schedule and do the middle one myself.

airb320

gguy, that is exactly why I am asking... I just bought the extractor and will be doing a "5000" service myself.
I have 2600 miles on the Car now and have always changed the original Oil in any car at half the recommended interval since the initial breakin period creates more "metal shaving" than normal and it serves the engine well, imho.
I'm just looking for the best Oil to use... thx!

gguy

Again, I'd stay with 5w-40. Personally, I decided to go with Castro Edge Professional. You can get that for $7.71 a quart with free shipping at ecstuning.com, which is a great price on a very good oil. I wouldn't hesitate to go with Castro Edge or Mobil 1 either but there are other good ones out there too. I just bought the extractor too, so the oil changes should be really easy.

minmet

True, no need to obsess over oil. However, whoever want to do the oil change themself has to be informed. For European cars, especially turbo charged cars, we do have to use oils meet European manufacturer's standard. All European synthetic oils are group IV stock based while most US synthetic oils are group III stock based. Plus, the additive packages are different. People used US "Synthetic" oil and followed manufacturer's change interval!! That's the reason why Audi/VW, Mercedes as well as SAAB cars developed sludgy in US a few years back and generated multiple class action law suites. Granted, you can just use US spec synthetic oil and change it often. The question is, how often? You are on your own in that regard.
For me, I take care of each car myself and use the oil meets particular manufacturer's oil spec. I do alter oil weight slightly according to seasonal climate condition though.

gguy

I understand but after extensive reading I just don't agree. I looked into in every way that I could and what I saw just didn't support that. Having said that, the Castrol 5w-40 Edgeprofessional is a European oil. So, I guess I'm safe. But I asked an awful lot of people, including Audi support people and they said Mobil 1 was an "excellent oil" that could be used in the A4 with no concerns at all. Again, I did read people who said what you did but I just did not find any "professionals" at all that supported that.