Oil Grade 0W-20 vs 5W-30

[Kechos]

Hi all,

TL;DR 0W-20 or 5W-30 for 2017 GTI?

Last year I took my new (to me) 67 plate MK7.5 non-PP GTI (no GPF) for a service with my independent.
Before my ownership the car had been serviced with 5W-30, but for this service the garage filled it up with 0W-20 oil.
His system gave VW 508 (0W-20) as preferred, and VW 504 (5W-30) or VW 502 (5W-40) as alternatives.
However, most oil selector tools (Opie, TDC, etc.) don’t list 0W-20 at all for my reg, which adds to the confusion.

I’ve since read that VW retroactively moved many EA888 engines to the thinner VW 508 for efficiency/emissions reasons 

The car has been running 0W-20 for the past year with no noticeable issues, but I want what's best for the engine long-term.
So as the next service is approaching do you experts have an opinion whether to switch back to 5W-30 or continue with the 0W-20? What are you using?

[karlos]

I may be wrong but I thought 0w20 was for the newer gen EA888 in the Mk8. Personally I would stick with 0w30 or 5w30. I don't think the W rating matters much in the UK with our relatively mild winters.

The last dealer service I had in October 2024 used Shell Helix 0w30. Before then they had used Helix 5w30.

[Rudedog]

Same here, my car has had yearly dealer servicing and they use Shell Helix Pro 0w-30, in the beginning there weren't many manufactures making it to 504 spec and the VW oil came in the same style bottles as the Shell stuff, now it looks like Castrol, Motul make it to 504 spec.

[symonh2000]

Ours gets 5w30 504 spec.

There is a school of thought that thinner oils are are more about MPG and emissions rather than engine protection.

You are hardly likely to notice much difference in the real world however, maybe 0.5mpg if you are lucky.

[Big Col]

504 or 508 spec is quoted for my 2019 GTI

according to the service history 508 spec has been used at least once. Doing DIY oil changes I've always used 504. I'll be keeping mine on 504.

I was talking to a garage considered as an EA888 specialist and 508 0w20 didnt even get a mention. It was w30 for standard engines and w40 for modded and tuned examples.