Another oil question
 

I have 8 qts of Mobil1 5W-30 "Fully Syn" I bought for one of my previous cars (since sold). I have an 2000 E320 that I bought new, only has 63k on the clock - wife drives, looks like new, always garaged. I looked at all my previous dealership invoices and they used Mobil1 0W-40. Any good reason why I shouldn't use this 5W-30 oil in my next DIY oil change on my MB? (I've decided to start doing maint. on it, dealer did all previous last 8 years.)

30 is pretty light weight especially if it gets hot out. I'd stick with a somethingw40 oil.

Owner's manual
 

What does the Viscosity Chart show as applicable for your Ambient Temps?

'No OM ?
'Look it up here: (Bookmark this baby)
http://www.ps2cho.net/downloads/MB%20CD/W124/Main.html

Actually I think the owners manual chart does say the viscosity is ok at 5W30 ( I live in CA, no real cold temps here but it does get hot) but I have read it needs to be to MB spec "something".

You should use a MB Spec 229.5 oil. The factory provided M1 0W/40 European Blend for the factory fill to N.A. when your car was new.

Yeah, I just read the specs in my owners manual and the oil "can" (old school). MB requires API designations SH, SJ or ACEA designations A2, A3 and none of those are listed on the Mobil1 5W-30 bottle. The viscosity numbers are ok, but not the designations. Of course the MB owners stuff was printed in 2000. Do these oil designations change over time?

Oil's improve and API certs are raised to reflect same. Your car prob came out when 229.31 was top dog....?

Not to belabor the point, but I looked up API oil designations and SM, SL/CF (on my bottles of oil) which is what the oil I have is, is supposed to be good for all gasoline engines today. Here's the link if anyone is interested.

http://www.api.org/certifications/engineoil/pubs/upload/English_Oil_Guide.pdf

L & M are indeed higher designations than H & J....

Don't get excited about "viscosity."

Just look for MB approval and yours doesn't have it.

The only Mobil 1 that does and that you can get places besides the dealer is 0W-40 European Formula.