Smith and allan, Westway or major brand oil?

[DIYspanner]

I got a 5L tub of Smith & Allan of DW40 last year and it works splendidly. Have run a couple of our TDIs on their VW504/507 oil and ran sweet as a nut. They sell the 5L VW504/507 on ebay @ £25 and £16.65 at the counter which is a 60 mile round trip for me.

Last year I got 4x5L Mannol 504/507 for £42 on ebay.

 

[Mike Hut]

I've used Castrol, Millers, Granville, Tradetech, Smith & Allan, Quantum (both Castrol and Fuchs), SCT (Mannol and Fanfaro labels) Mercedes Benz (Daimler AG) and I've not yet had a complaint of a seized engine.

If an engine oil brand was selling rubbish, how long would they stay in business?

I quit using Mannol as my cars which are both high mileage burn it. Once I switched back to a better oil it stopped happening. Mannol has also been caught listing ingredients that aren't present and dot 4 brake fluid that isn't to spec from what I understand.

 

[Scally-Ho]

I've always been happy with Millers oils and since changing to 0W-20 for my wife's Suzuki, Millers still seem to do the job for home delivery

Millers Oils Trident Professional 0W-20 0W20 Fully Synthetic Engine Oil 5 Litres | eBay UK

This product is suitable for the latest engine technology as well as providing protection against low speed pre-ignition (LSPI) and timing chain wear. Trident Professional 0W20 is specifically suited for Asian vehicles including Acura, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, MG, Mitsubishi...

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[JohnD]

I quit using Mannol as my cars which are both high mileage burn it. Once I switched back to a better oil it stopped happening. Mannol has also been caught listing ingredients that aren't present and dot 4 brake fluid that isn't to spec from what I understand.

Do you know if those rumours are actually true?

 

[Belle427]

Some info on Mannol here.

Mannol | Verification of Lubricant Specifications

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Wonder if the OP took heed of all the good advice on here? Anyway,

I'm another vote for Mobil 1 being a good quality brand for sensible price - even at Halfords. Have only used Millers gearbox oil, but this brand and Fuchs always seem to get good reviews.

Another consideration with oil changes is a reasonable quality filter. Some of the brands have been rationalised and manufacture farmed out and apparently (Eg. Bosch) are not what they were. I always try to get Mann or Mahle filters.

 

[Belle427]

The motor oil geek channel on you tube is worth a watch if you have time on your hands.
Goes a bit ott but some good info there.

 

[Avocet]

I've used Fuchs before - good stuff. I haven't used Millers but it has a good reputation. As others have said the manufacturer's standard (usually "ACEA" and then a letter and a number, like "C3" or "B4") is important. For VW Group cars, it's often a manufacturer-specific standard, (like VW 507.00 or 504.00). For Peugeot group engines I think it's a number like "B71 2312" or something like that. After that, the viscosity (20W40 or 5W30 etc) is what matters.

 

[dishman]

I have the same engine as the OP.

These modern diesels really do require oil that is to manufacturer spec and the correct weight. That is the first key thing.

My garage, which is a Citroen garage, switched to Millers oil (of the correct spec/weight) once the warrantee period ran out.
In the grand scheme of things, as long as it met the spec and weight, I don't think it would be an issue.

However, as modern diesels are very suspensible to carbon/ash build up and DPF issues, I looked into oil types and comparisons between the differing oils of the same specs. I found a study that showed the Total oil, as recommended by Citroen for this engine, had very low ash properties compared to other low ash oils. From what I remember from the study the Total oil was slightly unique in that regard and therefore beneficial for this engine.

So on my next service I asked them to switch back to the Total brand spec.

Sadly the webpage for the study seems to have gone off line, but I could find one of the graphs

The Total oil is the Orange or Yellow bar I think. The one before that is a much older spec low ash oil (I seem to remember) but that sacrifices other beneficial properties to get that low figure. The Total oil still has all the modern benefits but still has a lower ash content.

In the scheme of things it may be very minor, but anything to keep the DPF in good condition and reduce carbon/ash build up is worth it in my opinion.

 

[Avocet]

I have the same engine as the OP.

These modern diesels really do require oil that is to manufacturer spec and the correct weight. That is the first key thing.

My garage, which is a Citroen garage, switched to Millers oil (of the correct spec/weight) once the warrantee period ran out.
In the grand scheme of things, as long as it met the spec and weight, I don't think it would be an issue.

However, as modern diesels are very suspensible to carbon/ash build up and DPF issues, I looked into oil types and comparisons between the differing oils of the same specs. I found a study that showed the Total oil, as recommended by Citroen for this engine, had very low ash properties compared to other low ash oils. From what I remember from the study the Total oil was slightly unique in that regard and therefore beneficial for this engine.

So on my next service I asked them to switch back to the Total brand spec.

Sadly the webpage for the study seems to have gone off line, but I could find one of the graphs

View attachment 384587

The Total oil is the Orange or Yellow bar I think. The one before that is a much older spec low ash oil (I seem to remember) but that sacrifices other beneficial properties to get that low figure. The Total oil still has all the modern benefits but still has a lower ash content.

In the scheme of things it may be very minor, but anything to keep the DPF in good condition and reduce carbon/ash build up is worth it in my opinion.

That's a good find - thanks for sharing! I absolutely agree that on DPF cars, low ash oil is very important - and only gets more important as the engine wears and starts burning a bit more oil! That said, my wife's Skoda diesel bloody drinks oil (well, about 1.5 litres between services, so roughly 10,000 miles for 1.5 litres). Quite a bit for a "modern" (2017) car, yet we've never had a minute's bother from the DPF, so I wonder how sensitive they really are to oil consumption?

 

[dishman]

This should work, I found the analysis saved in the wayback archive.

Comparison of 0W-30 engine oils

The low viscosity 0W-30 engine oils enjoy a growing confidence among car manufacturers. The German manufacturer BMW also relies on the high-performance 0W-30 oils and legitimized their use by introducing the BMW LL-12 FE approval. The associated BMW TwinPo

web.archive.org

It's an interesting analysis. The total oil was the orange bar.

 

[orac7]

Indeed, Millers and Fuchs are top tier. Fuchs currently have the contract for blending Quantum's oil. Quantum LL3 is stocked at my local VW dealership garage.

Just out of interest, is a 2016 Citroen Berlingo Blue HDI quoted for 5w30 or 0w30?

I used millers, EE Performance C3 5w-40, in my bmw 20d x3 for years now ,its great stuff recommend it

 

[aveatry]

If the berlingo has a wet belt then you may need the Total inos one that is developed for the engine.