johnatg

You may note that Magnatec 5W-30 comes in various ACEA specs - commonly A1 (which is mainly Ford spec) and C3, which is mostly everything else. The C3 version was 'developed specifically for engines requiring Dexos2 spec oil' and is also approved by Mercedes, BMW, VW etc (some for long life, others for normal maintenance regimes). Well - forget extended maintenance regimes (for any car) unless you want get rid of your car after 3 years. Dexos2 (which is a specification as well as a specific GM product) is designed for dual use in petrol and diesel engines which means it has high detergency (keeps engine internals clean), and produces few particulates (it is designed not to clog DPFs - but that's also down to how the vehicle is used) But it is also recommended for all GM vehicles except in USA (there they recommend Dexos1 for petrol engines - not obtainable in Europe). I reckon that if it will do for everything from an Adam to a 'Vette Z06 it ain't gonna do our IS250s any harm! Not that I have any particular opinions about GM cars, but they do make a lot of them and one can expect their maintenance recommendations to have some validity. Why pay more? Much of the price of 'popular' oil is down to advertising budgets - especially where the advertising, in whatever form, is going to be seen on multi-million TV sets around the world on programs which 'petrolheads' might be expected to watch!

Just over 6 litres. (6.3 officially, I think) I always use GM Dexos2 (genuine GM, with the hologram on the label and the multi-language booklet on the back). It's 5W-30 fully synthetic. Available on eBay for about £20 for 5 litres and better value if you buy 2 or 4 cans at once. And I change every 5K miles with an engine flush additive and a new filter.

That's due to the torque converter - acts a bit like a slipping clutch on a manual gearbox. Really - nothing to worry about!

It's normal - you've changed down a gear!

S4026 - at least, that's what I have fitted (2006 IS250) - double check dimensions with your fitment. £62.34 delivered from CarParts4Less. (That was in Jan 2013)

It's gonna jerk if it's switched from D to N in motion!

All you can do is to carry on driving it but watch out for cold damp mornings (or some other triggering situation)! Maybe it was a one-off ocurrence - but it could easily reappear!