For those of you who's been using Mobil 1, please advise which grade is best for this model year and please explain why. My car has 71K miles and according to info from internet this model year '96 E320 has notorious head gasket problem and I wonder if with a proper use of correct Mobil 1 grade it would help preventing this problem from happening. Thanks

In my personal experience the old wives tale about synthetic oil being more prone to leak seems to be true. I would think you're more likely to have a head gasket problem with synthetic than with regular oil, and more likely with lower viscosity than with higher. But frankly I'm just guessing.

MB specs Mobil 1 0w40 for the M104.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Oil, synthetic or mineral oil, has nothing to do with headgasket problems.
It is just a poor design/material of the gasket itself.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

It's a poor design that results in an oil leak. Different types of oil have different leak tendancies. Having given this more thought I would probably put in high miles regular oil, which has leak inhibitors, in a higher viscosity. The more important point is probably to avoid temperature extremes - i.e. dont' let the car get really hot. But it is a design flaw and it's going to get you eventually.

Try Valvoline’s MaxLife Full Synthetic oil, there is a $29 rebate for 5 quarts valid until July 15. I would use xxW40 grade for your car. Mercedes recommends 0W40, but if you do not live in colder climate like in So. Cal., then 5W40 or 10W40 would be okay.

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'00 E430 Brilliant Silver/Ash