Good Job! The cost to you sounds right in line with what I paid for the entire oil change, including the cost of the filter wrench

 

Hmmm....now I am a bit worried...I used Castrol Syntec 5W-30 oil and the trend here seems to be using 0W-30 oil. I hope there will be no negative results as a consequence of using 5W-30

 

My personal opinion is that if you change oil at least every 7,500 miles you will be fine.

But give a call and ask the service manager at your mini dealership his thoughts. I have found the service manager at my dealership very helpful. I have discussed many of my mods with him and I know where I stand (some good - some not so good) -- but I know, and I have made an informed choice.

 

Sounds good to me...will do!

 

The difference between what you used (ACEA A5) and an LL-01, ACEA A3 oil is that the latter maintains a higher viscosity at operating temp. Exactly how that affects your engine, I don't know. If you are doing any hard driving (AutoX, track, or spirited) I'd be more comfortable with an A3 oil.

 

Most of my driving is city (on a freeway) so hopefully I will be ok with the ACEA A5. I am 2 months away from my 1 year oil change so I am not worrying too much. I must admit that this forum has increased my interest in the intricacies of oil!

 

Considering how easy it is to do a MINI Cooper Oil & Filter change, I could not see driving 5-6 hours back to the dealer (there will be a local dealer within the next year), so I just did a twelve month service DIY. I found a twenty year old DETECT™ pre-paid Oil Analysis Kit to send in a sample (this would only be of value if you did it every time and watched for 'trends').

Odometer is now at 4616 miles or 3366 miles since my 'post-break-in' oil/filter change one year ago, no oil had been added. Drain was just over 4 quarts so oil consumption has been negligable and oil still looked clean. The vew inside the filler port shows no sign of any sludge or varnish and old oil filter looked completely serviceable as well.

For those who don't want to bother with a torque wrench (darn hard to see when wheels are on 2" wood blocks) it was exactly ¾ turn past 'finger-tight' NEW copper crush ring contact to 22 ft/lb.

The filter was two turns past 'O' Ring contact to 'snug' and then 1/8th turn to 18.5#, but it is easy to read the TQ Wrench for this.

 

Wha??? Get out and start motoring!

 

Yeah! I have only had the car since May 09 and i am at 6500 miles already.

 

I was happy to save the 270 mile RT Motoring to the MINI Dealership by DIY my annual oil/filter change.

For me, MINI is the best way to get to the airport, I did fly 49,919 miles during the same time period, so it's not like I don't get around much.
Put a few hundred miles on the boat too.

 

I'm with you all the way, Mike ! There is a lot of silliness being perpetrated on some folks who have not had the years of experience with cars that others have had. I've used 5W-30 Castrol Synthetic in my 01 BMW with 117000 miles, my 07 Mini with 37000 miles and my 335i with 24000 miles. Not a whimper of trouble yet and the oldest car doesn't use a drop of oil in 5000 miles.

 

In case you hadn't noticed, your 01 BMW has a different engine than an R56 MINI. Your years of experience should have told you that different engines can have different requirements. What was good for your BMW has no relevance to what is good for a MINI.

The Price engine was designed for an A3 oil. The Castrol 5W-30 sold in the USA has a lower viscosity at operating temps than an A3 oil. However, the MINI oil, is made by Castrol, if that's what you mean.

Oh, and as has been said many times, there are other other A3 oils available. The MINI brand just happens to be one of the least expensive.

 

Thanks so much for posting this! This was very helpful specially in locating the oil filter!

 

Sorry mate, but I disagree. Unless you are a petroleum engineer then I'll keep using what I've been using. Do you honestly think that Mini would insist upon using a very specific oil and then not honor a waranty if it wasn't used. I don't think so. They are in business to make money and that engine will probably accept without problems any oil with the specificity required as noted in the handbook/manual.

 

Are you looking to just have the warranty honored, or what is best for the engine?

You need to sign in to the Owner's Lounge for this:
https://ol.miniusa.com/auth/Warranty.aspx
All of these are ACEA A3 oils. The USA Castrol 5W-30 does not meet BMW LL-01 requirements.

You can do what you want. This thread is for folks wanting what is best for the engine, and skeptical about the 15,000-20,000 mile oil change interval.

 

www.focfloridaregion.com I recommend you go to this website. On the left side you will find and link to "educational info" . Read it in full. You will be amazed about how wrong most folks are about oil "weights" and lubrication properties. The guy who wrote it is an oil industry engineer. I mis-spoke. The following are his credentials:

About the author Ali E. Haas:
Dr. Haas is a physician and surgeon. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in biochemistry with honors. He studied motor oils since high school where he did independent studies on this topic. He studied the properties of viscosity.

When he was a general surgery resident in Chapel Hill he studied the flow mechanics of human blood. Today he continues his research by discussion of oil products with chemists in the field and chemists from the oil manufacturers.

 

Thanks for the link great article!

 

Interesting article. The main things I learned were that 0W-30 is probably a better choice than 5W-30, and that 0W-40 has a higher viscosity cold than does 0W-30.

From the statement, "High flow helps to carry away more heat. High pressure helps to keep metal parts like the bearings out of contact with each other (scuffing)." it seems that a balance between flow and pressure needs to be achieved.

BMW LL-01 oils, as far as I can find, are all ACEA A3 rated. The Castrol 5W-30 you use is rated A5. The main difference that I can find is that A3 is rated at a higher "Viscosity at high temp. & high shear rate" than A5. If I were you, I'd use Castrol 0W-30, which is LL-01 rated. It will have a lower viscosity cold, and meet the BMW/MINI recommendations for operating temps.

 

I thought it was a DIY for people wanting to change their own oil on an R56 MCS.

 

A search would display many Threads on DIY Oil/Filter Changes.

I have found this one to be the most comprehensive, but you do need to wade through a lot of OT (such as this exchange), but that is the nature of any forum.

The "Brand/Type" of 'Oil to use exchange' is very important, especially for those a long way from a MINI Dealer (usually the best and most economical source for oil, but not filter kits) MINI's (and others) recommendation of Castrol or Mobil-1 fails to mention that most of those 'brands' are no longer 'true' Synthetics but Blends (from Dino Oil).

NAM also has an excellent pdf series of magazines for download, see:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...liance_diy.php

First issue has a feature on DIY Oil/Filter change and NAM allows free download without paying for the Alliance Membership.

 

Which is why I'm pointing out that Robin shouldn't be declaring it to be only for those wanting to do what is best for their engine (whatever that means but in context it seems Robin is saying anyone not using LL-01 oil is not interested in what is best for their engine) and for people skeptical of the CBS intervals.

Agreed.

Yeah, I had that printed out at one point. It was easier to just find this thread when I need to reference it.

I'll just ignore Robin's opinion as to who this thread is intended for.

 

If you don't meet that criteria, why are you changing your own oil? Just let the dealer do it annually under the service plan.

 

Which criteria are you referring to? Notwithstanding that the criteria you indicated, while you connected them, are not necessarily related.

If it is the part about the thread being for people who want what is best for their engine, I'm not sure what changing my own oil has to do with it. Are you implying that people who change their own oil are the only ones who want what is best for their engine? Or, in the context of the response you posted, are you implying that only those people who agree with you regarding their choice of oil are the ones who want what is best for their engine? Or is it only the ones who don't deviate from the list of oils in the owner's manual?

Or is it the part about the thread is only for those people who are skeptical of the OBC intervals for oil changes? Maybe it is only for people who change the oil themselves at less than the OBC intervals? But those who change the oil themselves on the OBC interval don't belong in this thread (which is about how to change the oil and not necessarily at what intervals - lots of other threads on that topic)?

And you do understand that the "free" maintenance plan eventually runs out?

 

Look at the first post. This thread was created in 2007 for those who felt a new engine should not go 15,000 to 20,000 miles before the first oil change. The motivation, obviously, was the desire to do what is best for the engine, rather than merely maintain warranty. If you want to use the thread for your own purposes, fine. Just don't criticize those who have been active in it from the beginning for discussing things other than your needs.

 

I agree with this:
so this makes a 0w-30 a better choice than 0w-40 assuming the engine can create the necessary flow at operating temperatures with the 0w-30.

And If I understood the article you only need to go to a higher viscosity as your engine wears which creates the need for more viscosity of oil to maintain the flow?

So I need to forget ambient temps and only concern my self with oil operating temperature, which in most of my driving is going to be rather constant.

The exception being if I should track/race the car and create a higher oil operating temperature.

And the real concern is having a oil thin enough to protect at start-up?

Just would appreciate your thoughts- Thanks