Originally Posted By: chrisri
Hmmm, Penrite claim this oil meets ACEA A3/B3, a passenger car spec, and HDEO specification- E7. First to be seen.
Take that claim with a grain of salt. The 10w50 used by my Indy in my E36 sheared right the way from nearly a -60 to a light-50 in just 5.5K km, per the UOA I did in January. A3/B3 oils should not do that, especially in an engine like the M50 which is not at all hard on oil...
My mate seemingly uses this in his preserved Mercedes O305G bus, with the Merc OM407.955 turbo-charged engine. Given that thing will have over a million km's on it, fair enough.
Fact is though, even with the turbo, the vehicle would never go out on a such a hot day as to need that sort of oil - and doesn't run 12hrs a day /7 days a week like it did in its previous life in public transport... Where it would've received a bulk fleet oil anyway.
In any case, that engine is old enough that practically any diesel oil on the market would be leaps and bounds ahead of what was available in 1986 when it was delivered.
As I will *always* say in my posts - Follow your manufacturer's recommendation, unless there is sufficient evidence to the contrary. Don't listen to the scare-tactics marketing of some boutique lubricants company about what you supposedly need. I'm sure plenty of Aussie trucks are blaring round the desert as I speak on a bulk 15w-40.