It's pretty simple. Stop obsessing, stop over-thinking. Proper spec oil is proper spec oil, and you will be fine with any proper-spec oil. Some are better than others, hence some folks have seen M1 0w40 shearing prematurely. Some have not. Some prefer European oils. Some do not. It's all in your preference, your acceptance of cost, the availability of a brand and ultimately your choice. Me? I use Pennzoil European 5W-40 or Motul X-Cess, whatever I can find cheaper. As a confession, I have 5 bottles of M1 0W-40 on the shelf at home, but I am recently concerned with the reported premature shearing and the fact that it may be too thin for Maryland weather, so I just found a 5L jug of X-Cess for $43 (in-store pick-up) from RAI Motorsports. That's my next oil change and I think the M1 is going back to Wal-Mart. And by the way, my preference is to never go 10,000 miles on an oil change. I need this engine to last 300,000 miles like my last VW did.