I've always been 'religious' about changing oil at the specified times and using the correct oil etc.
True, I tend to buy from Halfords - provided they stock something which meets the specification (so far they haven only failed to do so once) but I've always been happy with their own brand oil.
I noticed today when changing the oil in Senior Management's Smart Car, using the recommended oil I happened to have 'in stock', all the spec numbers were identical to some Diesel Oil I'd bought for my previous MH (a Fiat Euro 4)- including the key Mercedes Benz one.
The oil I'd bought for the mh is clearly marked Diesel whereas the other oil isn't and, I assume, for petrol cars (which the Smart Car is).
This raised a question in my mind- is there any real difference between oil for diesel engines and petrol engines?
Needless to say, that led to another question. I use 5-30 oil as that is what is specified although 5-40 would be acceptable as the key number is, as I understand it, the 5. 10-30 wouldn't be suitable. So, if I had some 5-30 and some 5-40, could they be mixed without risk of damage to the engine?
No, I'm not trying to skimp/save money etc. I'm just curious. Penny pitching on oil changes is, in my mind, false economy. Even though we do under 5k miles per year in the Smart, the oil is charged etc year.