lexixel

As titled.
I'm having difficulty finding 5w30 oil not designed for fuel economy around here (yes, online). Some 5w40 and 0w40 oils seem to have interesting numbers (higher ash, TBN, HTHS, VI). I looked at the owners' manual, and it appears that besides the "Preferred 5w30", 10W30, 15W40, and 20W50 are also listed. Since it doesn't really go below freezing here, I'm wondering if 5w40 could be a better fit.
Anyone has tried that?
What oil do you use?

I've been using Mobil 1 ESP always (the only M1 available).

RRocket

I run Amsoil Signature Series 5W30 in my car. I have absolutely zero concerns about the quality of this oil. Have owned 5 Lexus V8, including an IS-F, and have used it in all of them. Have even done oil analysis after long drain intervals which confirmed the quality of this oil.

As with most things in life, everyone will have a favorite oil. Mine is Amsoil. Others will be something else. But rest assured, if you run a quality synthetic your engine will easily last for many hundred of thousands of miles.

I don't think this is something you need to overthink for Lexus V8s. These are very robust engines and even on conventional oil would last a very long time indeed.

Bgw70

i know Europe runs different weight oil and if the owners manual list the other oil types, I would use them.
if it were me, I would use the 5w40 if that is a common weight oil.

here is a link to Amsoil International...I don’t see a dealer in France but there are dealers in other countries near you.
https://www.amsoil.com/international/distributor/

DshngDaryl

I would go with this Castrol Edge from French Amazon. I trust the Castrol name and if it is rated for 5W-30, I believe it is 5W-30.

I think Castrol is the recommended oil for BMW's and the ad also says something about Mercedes.

https://www.amazon.fr/Castrol-Edge-T...848802&sr=8-13

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

The cold weather rating is what is more important. Our engines are very well built with quality parts but the general rule is you want to keep to an absolute minimum the amount of time it takes for oil to circulate. Particularly when you live in colder climates. Experts say they as much as 90‰ of engine wear over the lifetime of the vehicle happens during cold starts. Oil with high additives, moly, tend to adhere to the parts better and reduce engine wear.
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Because of availability, quality, and cost I have found the extended life or performance version of the mobile 1 synthetic to be very good oil. And when I was doing my Blackrock UOA about 7500 miles was the ideal OCI with this 10k mile rated oil. Actually the oil did not have a problem so much but carbon in the oil gets a bit much. Dirty oil creats sludge. No matter the oil I have used over the years I have also found MMO to be a fantastic cleaning additive. Keeping the engine clean also promotes faster oil flow. I use MMO about 500 miles before my oil changes. In all my cars over these years. Audi, Kia, Subaru, Ford, and Honda. Put in 1/2 a quart and drive as normal. It was interesting to hear other A8 owners basically clear their cold start clatter using the it as I mentioned on the forums. Love the stuff for $4 at Walmart.

If you start your car in the morning and hear valve clatter you need to clean the engine. Even if you don't I still recommend it. New oil is not nearly as effective. Marvel Mystery Oil is fantastic. It's not an engine flush. You want to add it into whatever you use and run as normal for it to do its job effectively. Also works nuts as good for keeping the gas tank and injectors clean.

Good oil too

lexixel

In fact, just recently I started hearing some ticking on the driver side on start-up (goes away in a couple of minutes). I've been using 5w30 Mobil 1 ESP (the only M1 available) on a 4000-mile OCI.

The most available are Castrol (BP, no like from me) and Shell. Manufacturers' recommendations probably say more about their marketing / BD team than the product.

It seems that reviews aren't very positive. Castrol Edge 5W30M seems to be better than 5W30C3, which may be for small diesels.

From my search, it seems that Motul 8100 X-cess 5w30 could be an interesting alternative, but I can't find it anywhere. In the end, I got some Motul 8100 Eco-lite 5w30. It at least has API SN Plus & ILSAC GF5, so probably better for non-euro engines.

I also found Valvoline SynPower XTR MST C3 5w30, but it's quite expensive (Motul is cheaper than Mobil 1).

I'll report back how the Motul is.

lexixel

Interestingly, I just noticed that Mobil 1 ESP 0w30 has higher viscosity than the 5w30 (assuming the website is reliable---the numbers are different on their English sites):

0w30: 67.8@40c, 12.2 @ 100c
5w30: 62.6@40, 11.8 @ 100 (this could be wrong because it says VI 187, while somewhere else I've seen 16x)

On EN site, 0w30 is 63/12; 5w30 is undisclosed/11.8, again the 0w30 is maybe more viscous.

Mobil 1 also sells FS 0w40 here. It appears to have the same numbers as shown on the EN site. Could it be that ESP has a different formula?

lexixel

I changed the oil last Saturday. No obvious difference. The color of the Motul is lighter than the Mobil 1.

I still get a ticking noise for 10-20 sec after cold start. Still haven't located where it comes from, but possibly towards the end of the engine, likely around the valve train on the driver side, although sometimes it sounds like the passenger side.

iamthenuke

5W 30 Royal Purple for me. 10,000 mile intervals