synthetic oil yes or no

[bhapper]

have a 88,760T96k,,90 740 97k n-t,94 850n-t stic 147k
good or bad idea to go to synthetic?to streach out oil changes
and maby quiet down slight lifter noise on the 88.I have seen
alot of guys on this and other sites that went to syn.
if syn is the way to go should it be gradually introduced,or
in one shot total oil change ,,opinions will be greatly appreciated,,,Brad

[billofdurham]

I have never used full synthetic oil because of the prohibitive price in the UK - £44.00 ($66.37) for 5 litres of Mobil 15w/50 or for real value at one of our leading chains £46.99 ($64.45) for 4 litres of Mobil 5w/30. Therefore, I can't give a real opinion on the advantages of synthetic but I am very happy with the semi-synthetic that I have used for about 20 years now.

Bill.

[buddythedog]

...my .02 but with an 88 model which i think you said you have, I think the synthetic would find every possible place in your gaskets and leak like a sieve. I switched to synthetic in my former vw passat v6 and it leaked from everywhere, never to stop again, as did 2 other cars I've owned. I'd use it from new or not at all. Look at bobistheoilguy.com and some dino oils are pretty darn good. I use the dino high mileage oil myself. Few catastrophic engine failures are due to poor lubrication. Neglect, yes, under or overfull, yes, but not due to just friction. Though I'm sure someone here could prove me wrong.

[waynej]

It leaks when you use too thin an oil in an older engine. Use a Synthetic 20W50 or 15W50 and it works fine.It will quiet your lifters,reduce oil consumption, increase gas mileage slightly and if you have a standard transmission you will notice increased low speed torque.

[DeRail]

Yeah, my own worries have prevented me from switching to synthetic on my '88 760 GLE especially because I already have a small leak that I still need to pin down. Personally, I'd stay with dino or the semi synthetic like bill said.