Synthetic or not
 

I have a 560 sel wanting to start using synthetic Motor oil.Looking for reccomendations on brand.

Mobile 1 or castrol are good brands. But I dont suggest using it if you have oil leaks since the molecules are small and will go all other the place and make your engine quite messy and dirty.

Mobil One is recommended by Mercedes. Here's the Mobil One webpage...
http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Car_Care/Vehicle_Chooser/VehicleChooser.aspx?option=2

:laugh3: Yes, you don't want molecules all over your driveway . . .

Mobil 1 silver cap - usually on sale at walmart every other month or so.

Gold cap is about 30% more expensive. I have no idea why or what benefits of the gold cap oil.

Let me enlighten you. ;)
The " Gold Cap " oil is an " extended performance " oil, for oilchange intervals of 15 k miles.
Just another way of Exxon pulling a couple more bucks out of your pocket. :D

I will chip in my 2 pesos here, I think from what I read synthetic oil for the Benz is not needed , unless you live in HOT, or COLD climates, Now with saying this I live in Oregon and I use 5-40 Shell Rotella T Synthetic that is used for diesels, I also use dello 15-40, If I owned a over head cam engine of any sort I would use synthetic, mainly because of the quickness the oil gets to the top half of the engine, in all sorts of climate conditions. And If this was my case and I had a very expensive Benz, Lexus. or any other rig which I dont , I have a cousin that works for chevron Gas, and he told me that the oil that everyone uses in the oil refineries...is Mobil 1 DELVAC 5-40 SYNTHETIC diesel oil, they use this in there gas engines, and from what I hear it is suppose to be the best motor oil in the world FOR BOTH ENGINES. You can not just pick it up anywhere I have seen it in TRUCK STOPS, and a few other places, I would try it if I had a lot of dollars in my cars.

Delvac 5w40 is a great oil, but it's now called something like "Truck and SUV Heavy Duty" oil. Heavy Duty being the identifier for the synthetic (regular Delvac 1300 has been rebranded "Truck and SUV.")

In a motor that old/over 75k-ish miles you should go with the thickest oil to prevent leaks. You really don't NEED synthetic, but a great type for older motors is Mobil 1 15w50 with supersyn. Some Walmarts have stopped selling it because most cars and trucks are running such thin oil now. Look for it; it's usually about $20/gal

And when all else fails, look at this table of M-B recommended oils:
http://www.whnet.com/4x4/oil.html

You have to be carefull with Mobil 1. The 5w40, 0w40, and 15w50 are the only real synthetics they sell. The 5/10w30's are just dino.

I keep hearing this. Is it really true? can anyone here say that they switched to synthetic and got more leaks as a reward?

Manny, there's actually a big difference between the two. Problem is as you noted is this 15k oil change idea is a bust.

Under no circustances should you drag around oil for 15k miles in an MB. You have GOT to get the dirt out of that motor, and the oil change is the only good way to do it short of dismanteling and physical cleanout.

On big sumps like the 12's and big 8's the oil will hold a good amount of dirt in solution - most of which has bypassed the filter. But it's got to come out of the motor sooner rather than later, IMHO somewhere around 4-5k miles.

Sludge, intake clogs, valve guide clogging, EGR clogging etc ALL have to do with natural dirt and combustion mess in the motor that can't get out.

True, the oil itself is remarkable and will not break down prior to 15k miles. But the dirt it carries around will wreak havoc with your motor, regardless of size, compression etc

That, sir, is some good thinkin'! ;)

As for brand, there is Mobil 1, weight as recommended by MB. I use Elf brand oil which is also an excellent synthetic.

As for the whole switching from dino to synthetic argument, I went from dino in my 1989 300E to full synthetic without the slightest of problems. I had 198,000 Kms on the clock when I started using synthetic, and it made it to over 333,000 Kms, all original motor. Car still being driven today and I'm guessing it'll do 500,000 without issue. :D

If you change oil every 3K then regular oil would do. But if you are lazy like me, then use Mobil 1 and change every 8-10K miles. I've changed my '87 Camry every 3K miles using regular oil and now it has 200K miles without any problem. This engine in very very reliable. I've switched my '96 E320 to Mobil1 3 years ago, no problem.

So Mobile1 0-40 would be good for my 600SEL 1992? No engine leaks till now...

Continue to use regular oil in your 117, change per the service manual schedule with a proper filter element. Synthetic is a waste of your money. For extended change intervals you’ll need an extended change (‘fleece’) filter element. Running synthetic on a standard filter element is a waste of synthetic.