Originally Posted by Trav
Mobil Germany also recommends the ESP 5w30 as first choice for this engine, 0w30 ESP second and 0w40 FS third. For long OCI 30K (18K miles) they say ESP 5w30.
VW just didn't pull these specs out of their backside, they were introduced to address possible lubrication issues that may arise using non spec oils. For oils in the Mobil program the ESP is the best for this engine according to Mobil themselves.
https://www.mobil.com.de/de-de/reco...fsi_quattro_saloon_185kw_FawEcWSvH/1/b2c
Click on service plan in the page.
I run ESP 5w30 in all my cars except the Viggen 2.3 it gets a HDDO with a short OCI and have no issues whatsoever with cam wear or engine noise.
According to your link, they also recommend 0W-20 for long OCIs. Fill it with the dexos1 Gen 2 Super Tech 0W-20 and call it a day, and as a bonus you get LSPI protection that you don't with the current Euro oils.
Honestly there is a lot of overthinking here. Audi is recommending anything from 0W-20 to 0W-40 and anything from mid-SAPS to full-SAPS, which means these engines don't really care about oil as long as they are high-quality oils. All major-brand dexos1 Gen 2 oils, especially the 0W-20 grade, are high-quality, and you wouldn't notice a difference in longevity in comparison to using OEM-approved Euro oils.
All this said I would probably not use a full-SAPS oil such as the Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 -- 1.34% sulfated ash (SA) -- in direct-injection engines without secondary port injection to keep the intake-valve deposits at bay. A mid-SAPS Euro oil in comparison has 0.8% SA, sometimes even less, and a typical ILSAC oil has 0.8 - 1.0% SA.