I recently brought my 2004 BMW for service at a local shop. I know they are honest because I haved aske them to provide services which they determine to be unnecessary or I can put off. A dealership once told me I had a transmission leak that my local shop said did not exist.
However, I noticed they use Wolff’s head synthetic oil not Mobil 1. Are there any differences between brands of oil?
Are there any differences between brands of oil?
As long as they both meet the same API standards…then there’s no difference. Or sure you could possibly find some obscure analysis that says one oils is better then the other…but in real world situation…“NO DIFFERENCE WHAT-SO-EVER”.
Any brand is OK as long as it meets whatever specification is written in your Owners Manual.
Take a look at the bottle Wolff’s Head comes in.
You should be fine, but if you had one of BMW’s turbo motors you’d need to make sure the oil met the very stiff BMW specs for oil used in that motor.
Agree with others; as long as the spec meets the BMW requirement, any type of synthetic is OK. Having saiid that, VW and BMW require a much higher spec thany your basic Chevy. That’s why YOU have to see the label on the can and make sure it meets what is specified in your owner’s manual.
There are inexpensive synthetics that would be OK for my Toyota, but would not be suitable for a turbochrged VW or Audi.
I think Wolf’s Head is now Quaker State under a different label. Wolf’s Head used to be its own company. A mechanic who had a shop where I mowed the grass and did cleanup work 55 years ago sold Wolf’s Head motor oil. As long as it meets the specifications for your BMW, I would “Run With The Wolf”. (That was the slogan for Wolf’s Head motor oil).
I think Wolf’s Head is now Quaker State under a different label
Actually Amalie owns the brand name.
MikeInNH–thank you for the link. I bought some Wolf’s Head oil three or four years ago at Menards. The article you supplied said at that time the trade mark was owned by Pennzoil. I think I confused Pennzoil with Quaker State.
I didn’t know until I looked it up. I thought they were independent. I knew they were a Pennsylvania oil (or at least use to be). Never used the oil before…but heard of it growing up in NY.
Back in the 1950s, my dad used MacMillan oil. I haven’t seen that brand for years.
40 years ago, i used wolf head oil. it was known as the best in the east coast but the costs were high. Most people used it in muscle cars. I think everybody is right about being quaker state now. My concern would be the quality of quaker state products today. I would further reseach this before I changed brands.
Several years ago, Consumer Reports tested motor oils and found that the same brand of motor oil purchased in different parts of the United States would test out differently. My guess is that one refinery may bottle the same oil under different labels. My guess is that this is the reason that all bottles of oil have the same shape. The same is done with canned foods. I had a distant relative that was a chemist for Stokley-Vancamp. They not only put out their own brand, but put the Hunt’s label on some of the cans as well as other labels.
Triedaq; it has more to do with the bottle-filling machinery. True that some companies buy there oil from a major manuacturer with a specified additive package. You would be surprised how few lube oil plants there are in the USA. Far fewer than the number of different bottles on the shelves in an auto store.
All car companies buy their “Genuine …” oils from oil companies.
A lube oil company can either have the whole thing done, including packaging, by a major, or they can buy the “base stock” and then blend in their additives.
Years ago I worked for a company that made centrifugal machinery. We had a “special” oil for these; it was the right viscosity and had very few additives, much like turbine oil. Our oil room was a needless expense, and a custom blender could do it a lot cheaper and faster. There was no secret formula to our oil.
I also helped a marine engine manufacturer develop a low ash oil that would not foul the plugs, especially on ski boats. Castrol turned out to be the most competent and competitive. But our name went on the can since we specified the additives. Now you buy generic low ash oil in most automotive or boat retail outlets.