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so is mobil1 actually synthetic or not?

B

BlahBlahYouToo

Lifer
I've read on the intertubes that Mobil 1 changed their formula awhile back and that they no longer meet the standards required for synthetic oil (only 0w-40 does).

but on the bottle, it claims to be fully synthetic. so which is it?
 
Definition of Full Synthetic got changed in USA (through lobby action of course) but not in Europe.
 
M1 is Group III rather than Group IV, has been for awhile now. UOAs are still good, although I personally switched to Pennzoil Ultra awhile back.
 
Yep M1 is a GRP3 basestock now, like most US sold Syn labeled oil. GRP3 is a reworked and highly refined oil.
M1 use to be a GRP4 but after losing the fight, thanks to castrol, GRP3 can be called a Syn in the US but not europe. So with prices falling M1 had to use a GRP3 to compete on price.

I just buy the cheapest name brand Syn oil and run that now. Change once a year or 10k, which ever comes first.
 
Pretty much use only Royal Purple, another "real" synthetic. Switched to the German Castrol for this change, but engine's not really liking it too much, so back to RP next change....in about two months.
 
Meghan54 said:
Pretty much use only Royal Purple, another "real" synthetic. Switched to the German Castrol for this change, but engine's not really liking it too much, so back to RP next change....in about two months.
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How do you tell if the engine is not liking the oil?
 
BW86 said:
Why do you think I switched to German Castrol? M1 is a Group 3 while GC is a Group 4. I was burning through M1 0w40 like it was nothin. GC 0w30 has been much better to me.
I'm pretty sure M1 extended performance is a Group 4 though.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php
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There's no way to know whether "extended performance" is group 4 because they provide no data whatsoever. The motor oil business is shady as hell.
 
Marlin1975 said:
It will be 0w30 and I think is only sold at Autozone
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And Pep Boys. Pep Boys have 5 Qt Castrol Syntec + Bosch Distance Plus filter for $ 22.99 ($ 27.99 - $ 5 MIR) promotion running, and I am stocking up as much as possible (so far, 15 Qt).


Throckmorton said:
There's no way to know whether "extended performance" is group 4 because they provide no data whatsoever. The motor oil business is shady as hell.
Click to expand...

Yup. Only M1 that is guaranteed to be Group 4 is 0w 40, AFAIK. All other M1's are suspected to be something, but since XOM doesn't want to tell us what it is, we can only suspect. lol
 
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0W-40 Mobil 1 is the oil of choice - it has the European label on it. Royal Purple is full synthetic as well I believe.

Dealer charges $10.76 a Qt for it - my last oil change was a ridiculous $137, up from $100 when I first bought the car 4yrs ago! I'm buying a domestic or asian econo-box for my next ride!


http://royalpurple.com/modified-mag.html
 
Fmr12B said:
0W-40 Mobil 1 is the oil of choice - it has the European label on it. Royal Purple is full synthetic as well I believe.

Dealer charges $10.76 a Qt for it - my last oil change was a ridiculous $137, up from $100 when I first bought the car 4yrs ago! I'm buying a domestic or asian econo-box for my next ride!


http://royalpurple.com/modified-mag.html
Click to expand...

Or change the oil yourself. Dealer wanted about $160 for our Z4. I did it for about $50. I always stock up on Mobil 1 whenever I see it on sale.
 
mariok2006 said:
evident said:
how do you tell you're getting german castrol at the auto store?
Click to expand...
It will say Made in Germany on the bottom of it I believe.
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It should look something like this...

gclabel.jpg
 
Fmr12B said:
0W-40 Mobil 1 is the oil of choice - it has the European label on it. Royal Purple is full synthetic as well I believe.

Dealer charges $10.76 a Qt for it - my last oil change was a ridiculous $137, up from $100 when I first bought the car 4yrs ago! I'm buying a domestic or asian econo-box for my next ride!


http://royalpurple.com/modified-mag.html
Click to expand...

I don't trust RP for consumer automobiles, too many of my mechanic friends tell me they've seen nothing but bad bearings from RP cars.
 
crazySOB297 said:
I don't trust RP for consumer automobiles, too many of my mechanic friends tell me they've seen nothing but bad bearings from RP cars.
Click to expand...

Any more info on that - I thought that one of the main concerns was maintaining the oil film, which RP seems good at. The other main problem is dirt/contamination causing wear - were people leaving the oil changes too long or did the mechanic mention something else? RP additive package perhaps?
 
PlasmaBomb said:
Any more info on that - I thought that one of the main concerns was maintaining the oil film, which RP seems good at. The other main problem is dirt/contamination causing wear - were people leaving the oil changes too long or did the mechanic mention something else? RP additive package perhaps?
Click to expand...

Do a UOA, on the VQ motors it does not do well. GTX performs better. Just because its 100% synthetic does not make it good oil
 
Is there any reasonably priced Euro 5W-30 available? Still under warranty so I'm not considering doing 0W-50 or 0W-40.
 
Sukhoi said:
Is there any reasonably priced Euro 5W-30 available? Still under warranty so I'm not considering doing 0W-50 or 0W-40.
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I am not sure which car you are driving, but there are only few Euro-spec 5W-30 in US, and no, they are not reasonably priced except maybe one, BMW Synthetic 5W-30 (Castrol Softec TXT) at about $ 7 / Qt at dealer.
 
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