# Engine Oil for W8 and "VW 503 01"



## bennett (Aug 20, 2002)

In the owner's manual book 3.2 page 36 it states that the term VW 503 01 "must appear on the oil container singly or in combination with other designations." The W8 is the only Passat engine that requires this term.
My dealer says any 5W-30 will do and even the VW help line is adamant that you can use any quality 5W-30. However, the term VW 503 01 only appears on oils like BP Visco 7000 Special 0W-30 (a full synthetic not available in USA) and on Castrol SLX 0W-30.
What is the right answer?


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## av_audi (Apr 5, 2001)

*Re: Engine Oil for W8 and "VW 503 01" (bennett)*

quote:[HR][/HR]However, the term VW 503 01 only appears on oils like BP Visco 7000 Special 0W-30 (a full synthetic not available in USA) and on Castrol SLX 0W-30.[HR][/HR]​The Mobil site has recently been updated to show that Mobil 1 0W-40 meets the VW503.01 spec http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## bennett (Aug 20, 2002)

*Re: Engine Oil for W8 and "VW 503 01" (av_audi)*

FYI - The W8's owners manual (book 3.2 page 36) requires a motor oil with VW 503 01 in addition to API SJ, ACEA A2 or A3, and one of the following VW 502 00, 500 00, or 501 00.
VW's Technical Bulletin C170202 dated May 16, 2002 for "Passat with W8 (4.0L Engine Code BDP)" describes the "Engine Oil, Specification and Capacity."
It states:
"If topping up or changing engine oil use the following specification: 
ACEA A3: SAE 5W-40, SAE 10W-40, SAE 15W-50"
It goes on to say -
"Some Oils which meet ACEA A3 specifications: 
VW part No. ZVW 352 540S 
Valvoline synthetic blend 5W-40, 10W-40, 15W-50
Castrol Syntec 5W-40, 10W-40
Castrol Syntec Blend 10W-40\
I assume this release was in response to the dearth of oils that met 503 01 back in April 2002 when the W8 was released. It took some persistence and loads of misinformation from VW to track this down so I thought I would share it.


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