hardy annual ...engine oil and filter
 

my FL 3.7 is currently filled with 5-30 long life oil and an OX 160D filter which looks to be a pretty basic item
only done a couple of thousand miles since installation [ been in the barn ] but I decided to formulate a strategy for when I move to southampton and no longer have the access to a well equipped workshop next door [ and a neighbour who was a mechanic in his youth ]

my current strategy has been cheap and often eg my motorhome gets new oil and filter every spring , annual mileage about 5K ... cost ? 6 litres fuchs oil £15 ...filter £5 ;once run in used about 1 litre of oil between changes , 13 years old , still the same , so that seemed to work , will be able to sell with a clear conscience

but in the future , with only a lock up garage [ no electricity ] , it looks like this is something I will have to get done ...using cash money ; so what strategy ?

doing some research it seems that the real limiting factor in oil life is not the oil but the filter ; with an expected annual mileage when down to the audi only and living in town [ bus pass ! ] of 5K there seem to be 2 possibilities

long life oil plus long life filter which , if I understand correctly would last 4 years as audi currently say change every 20K with these materials ; 2 objections to this ...I have no experience of these filters and am intrinsically an annual change type , also if I go somewhere that does cheap oil changes they don't fit this type of filter eg kwik fit will fill with mobil1 which would be acceptable to me but a cheap filter which isn't

alternatively a standard 10w-40 semi /standard filter annually

either way is obviously going to cost more tha my current £20 pa , but which is best for the life of the engine ? and is fuel consumption better on the long life ?

at least my wife will stop complaining about the time I spend playing with vehicles !

would appreciate any comments / histories on the subject

What ever you do, don't leave oil in for more than year. On the longlife service there is 30k km distance which translates to 18k miles and 2 year limit, lot of places round it up to 20k but car will ask for service after 18k anyway. I don't recommend leaving it for 2 years if you do a lot of short trips as the oil gets contaminated faster with shorter trips. If you do lot of motorway miles and get 18k miles a year then it's fine to leave it for 18k, filter is the same regular or longlife service.

Both of my cars A6 2.5TDI and S8 get Quantum Longlife III oil and get it changed once a year which is 2-3k miles on S8 and 10-12k on A6. On the A6 because the oil filter is on the top I do not even have to go under the car, just suck out old oil through the dipstick tube.

Low mileage and town driving are a bad combination and would, i suggest, be best dealt with by an annual oil change using non-long life oil. I would recommend looking out for cheap deals on the right spec oil (Halfords were doing a deal on non-longlife 502 spec oil a few weeks back -see another thread) and then getting a £7 Mann filter and doing the job on the driveway - if thats possible.

Don't skimp on the filter (Genuine/Mann/Mahle) and a quality 10w/40 will suffice, IMO.

Maybe worth stockpiling the oil when offers are on (Tescos, Asda, Opie Oils)

sounds like my usual strategy then , cheap and often !

won't have a driveway though living in an apartment ! come to think of it my daughter has though

but it's not the usual spin on filter is it , how difficult is that to do without a lift , the undershield has to come off presumably , would a pair of ramps make it possible , drain oil / change filter , put it back down to fill ?

someone mentioned a £29 kwik fit job for filter + mobil1 semi , is that still about ? would save a lot of hassle even though it would need an eagle eye in the process !

You do need a 36mm socket and a 8 (or 10mm?) hex drive to remove the filter. I do mine on standard height ramps. Some garages can do good deals for the job but I would need assurance that they are using the right oil.

And assurance that they don't over-tighten and ruin the drain plug, or filter housing, or filter housing plug. Last thing you need are stripped threads, or torn seals.
How many of these places like quick fit actually use a torque wrench?

being doing a bit of research ¬

when I had my first audi 25 years or so ago the stated oil change interval was 15k Km/ 10k/ miles; when VW introduced their own specs mid 1990's their recommendation [ iirc ]for my 5 cyl 20v was 501.01

but when they introduced long life servicing in 2000 the spec for that was 502

so what was the difference between the oils ? apparently an additive to increase the resistance to oxidative thickening so that it was capable of operating to the new service interval of 30k Km which 501.01 was not

on that basis I intend to use oil to the 501.01 specification , and , bearing in mind the time element and type of use , change as suggested elsewhere here on an annual basis at 5k miles

502 was NOT intended for long life (variable service interval) but was the successor to 501 spec.
"VW 502.00 - Oil for gasoline engines. Successor of VW 501.01 and VW 500.00 specification. Recommended for those which are subject to arduous conditions. It must not be used for any engines with variable service intervals or any which are referred to under other specifications."

Not sure what year your 3.7 is but -
" VW 501.01 - Conventional motor oils suitable for some VW engines built before MY 2000. This is an “old” oil specification and is applicable to engines built before model year 2000 (up to August 1999). Oils with an approval made post March 1997 were given an alternative, later VW specification."
Source; "Oil Specifications.org" See http://www.oilspecifications.org/volkswagen.php

the link you give confirms what I intend on the flow chart which can be accessed ; the 501.01 spec is suitable for standard change intervals ie 15k Km on the following engines ..R3, R4,R5,V6 ,V8 but as I won't be doing that in the one year period required it will be changed at half the mileage mentioned

note however that on VR5,VR6 ,W8,W12 you cannot use the 501.01 even for standard change interval ; no idea why