Just purchased a 1987 328 GTS and the shop said they changed the oil with Mobil One Synthetic 15W50. People have told me this oil is too heavy, whats your guys thoughts?
The question would be who are the people telling you this? Since it is multi-viscosity they are essentially telling you that 15W is too heavy. Are they suggesting 5W?
Image Unavailable, Please Login Oh boy. Another oil thread This is what I currently use. However mine is a ‘79 308. Previous threads usually indicate that synthetic oil seeps through seals. The Mobil oil in your car is definitely a heavyweight for synthetic though. There is tons of reading on this topic if you use the search function
Oils are not the same as they used to be. Hard as it is to believe there have been technological advancements. I use 0-40 or 5-40 in mine and all of my clients cars of that period.
I use the Original 10W40, see below picture. This is for Euro 328's. Changing oil means changing viscosity that together with additives of full systhetic oils can cause that oil seal rings start sweating. The right viscosity likely also depends on the climate of the part of the world you are. I live in the Netherlands with a mild climate of no hot summers and no too cold winters.
5 W 60 , the stuff they put in M series BMW s fully synthetic in a 77 208 engine . This is because my techs are M series specialists and do other performance cars .Tech said something about the high rpm s and heat dissipation. There isn’t a one size fits all answer , many oils work .
Mobil One 0W-40 in my 89 328 as well. The 0W-40 is the Euro blend with a little more zinc. See this chart. https://mobiloil.com/~/media/amer/us/pvl/files/pdfs/mobil-1-oil-product-specs-guide.pdf
Redline 10W40 for 15 years on my Mondial 3.2. 10w40 per the manual, its a pretty broad viscosity range, should work well unless driving in artic conditions, then 0w40 would do, but might cause leaks. No leaks from my 10w40 synthetic choice.
It seems that if you assess all of the comments in these threads you’d have to draw the conclusion that it doesn’t matter because they all claim that brand X in XWXX viscosity worked for XX number of years with no problems.You never see a post saying that brand Y leaked like a sieve and destroyed my engine in six months.
I thought that starting another oil thread, or starting another belt change interval thread, was considered as "baiting" and therefore get you banned... Rgds
I know it is really hard to believe but technology has advanced since the mid 80's. Oil today is a very different product.
They are good engines and get relatively few miles put on them so most often the ramifications of not using an ideal product can take a very long time to become known.
Brian, I was wondering (no hidden agenda, just genuinely wondering) if, in matters "oil and Ferrari engines", we do have such examples indeed with enough evidence to say that "this oil has indeed been responsible for this, or that, problem"? (such as bearings, bushings, piston rings, rods etc...) Without naming the brand, of course...but it seems that many top-tier oils from any reputable brand, in the correct viscosity bracket, are indeed doing their job of protecting these engines? Rgds
Well we may have but it would be a small sample. The other problem is I see so many failed engines badly diagnosed and bad information distributed it really muddies the water. The good news is modern name brand oil is really excellent and you can get away with doing a lot of dumb stuff. This thread is a great example of the problem. Oil, gasoline and and coolant have all changed dramatically since the cars were built and using what was suggested in 1975 is not what is in your cars best interest in 2019. I spend a lot of time staying on top of the changes in these products and am pretty familiar with the specific needs of these cars and change pretty regularly the products I use to keep my clients cars working and trouble free. Gasoline though is a real issue and we can do little about it. Our cars were not designed to run on what we now call gas. That is a situation that will not get better.
Another problem we have is the factory change recommendations. They are usually mileage based and do not take into account time. A lot of additive packages have a life span based on the calendar and if it takes you 10 years to put 15,000 miles on your car the gear oil died about 8 years ago, earlier if you live in a humid climate. I live in Austin, far from the most humid place in the US. I have a tester that shows water content in fluids and I can tell you brake fluid and gear oil do not last 2 years here. Imagine being in Miami and doing the same test? Antifreeze with the correct additives to protect a wet liner engine until just a couple of years ago was good for 400,000 plus miles.......as long as you did that in 1 year. That additive was dead in less than 2 years. None of it matters if you sell the car in a few years. If you plan on keeping them a long time it is a very different story. And when you sell it, just what story is it you want me telling a prospective buyer? I don't care how nice a guy you are, if you didn't take appropriate care of it I'm not lying for you.
