Hi folks,

I've just recently completed breakin on my 2005 MCS, and I decided that an oil change would be in order (I plan on doing 1250, 5000, 10000, 15000, ...). I have one scheduled for tomorrow at a local shop but have not decided what type of oil to use yet.

I know there is info floating around about this but I can never seem to get a good answer for my needs. I live in Northern California, where 90% of the time it is above 50 degrees, and in the middle of the night in the 'depths of winter' it can get down to freezing or slightly below. In the summer it gets as hot as 100 or so, but not too often, usually in the 80's or 90's, tops. I drive somewhat aggressively.

Given all this, what viscosity, etc., would you recommend, and what brand should I go with? I have no problem spending money for the right stuff. In the past I have used Mobil 1 without a problem, but would also be happy to go with an even better brand if it would be worth it.

But my main question is what viscosity should I use? Thanks!!

-mike

 

Use what it calls for in your owner's manual. 5W-30 full synthetic. I understand that 0W-30 would also be acceptable but I have not seen that in writing from MINI. Why second guess the engineers that designed your engine? Use what they recomend and keep your warranty in effect. You definitely do not want to use a thicker oil than recommended. Thicker is not better. If you are worrried about protection, remember that synthetic oil has about 700 times the "shear strength" of conventional oil. "Shear Strength" is a measure of how much pressure it takes to squeeze the oil out from between two parts that it is supposed to protect. Higher viscosity does not make the oil any stronger, it just makes it harder to pump through the engine. Back in the old days cars needed thick oil to take up the space around the sloppy clearances in the engines. With today's engines being built to much closer tolerances this is no longer needed. It is more important that the oil flow quickly to all of the parts needing lubrication, thus the requirement for lower viscosity oil than was used in the old days.

 

5W-30 full synthetic is all you should ever need to run. Your favorite brand may vary, Mobil 1, Castrol, and Amsoil are a few of the most preferred (and recommended) brands that people here at NAM use.

The elevated oil temperatures that especially the Cooper S engine encounters will break down a conventional oil in short order, leaving your engine vulnerable to serious damage.

 

I should have made it clear that I was definitely planning on full synthetic. Which also means no Castrol Syntec, hehe. I was looking at Redline 5w30, any reason I should consider a different brand like Amsoil?

-mike

 

Why is it that you trust the BMW engineers to tell you what kind of oil to run but you don't trust them to tell you how often to change it?

I gotta buy more Jiffy Lube stock.....

 

I guess to each his own... I'm with you, Mike... will be doing the oil change once I get past break in. Am planning to use Mobil 1 or redline (if I can find it here)..... in the past, with my 03 MC, I changed the oil at 5k and it still looked pretty fresh (not dark at all).... but I guess with the SC (and some aggressive driving) it would be different.... :smile:

 

Redline vs Amsoil? For some of us the Redline is more expensive or the Amsoil is harder to find but they will both work fine. You can change oil more frequently and it won't hurt to do so, the MINI service intervals should be considered the longest recommended times given that the warranty period is four years.

For some of us that want to keep our MINIs for more than double or triple that time we might want to change oil twice as often. It's fairly cheap to do.

Too bad the dealership will want to put in Castrol Syntec everytime they do an oil change.

 

I use redline 5w30. Great stuff. Go for it. Royal Purple is also top shelf stuff:smile:

 

I guess you haven't been around long if you're surprised - a whole lotta people think it's a good idea to change more often than every 10k, myself included. And by the way, I don't trust BMW to tell me what kind of oil to run - that's why I'm asking here - if I did, I'd have just gone out and bought some of that crappy Castrol 5w30 they recommend. The BMW engineers aren't the ones who put the "We recommend Castrol" sticker on the car, it's the BMW businesspeople who probably have a deal with Castrol, the pseudo-synthetic makers. And you swear I would ever take my car to a Jiffy Lube. You get what you pay for.

Thanks for the help folks, I'm off to get some Redline 5w30.

-mike

 

Like I said...they got U 2

Gonna buy more Jiffy Lube stock I am...

Do some research....there are folks out there that have shown, with lab tests, that the differences between "decent oil" at 20k and 3 k are minimal....

If you don't buy the 25cent a quart stuff, the difference between name brand and '1ST QUALITY" is unmeasurable.

But like I said....you want to pay the money?...the dealer and everyone else in between will be happy to take your money. Including me, a stockholder.

I change the oil in my classic every 3k cuz the crankcase shares with the sump. And I follow the factory recomendations on my 02 s ... so far, once every 12 months....

 

hehe, alright man, to each his own.

-mike

 

I first changed the oil at 3500 or so miles right before my big trip to CT.

In that time I had burned a little over 1/2 quart of oil.

I put Amsoil 5w40 European car formula in my MINI since I wanted to try it out and my Amsoil rep had some damaged label stock I could have for free.

I had also wanted to try out 0w30 amsoil but since he had the free 5w40 on hand I went ahead and used it instead.

I am just about to hit 7000 miles on the MINI and I have not burned a drop of oil.

5w40 is one of the recomonded viscocities in the owner's manual so I figured I would try it out for an oil change or so.

 

changed my oil at 6500, w/mobil 1 5w-30

 

$20 bucks is cheap insurance, IMHO, for an oil change. Who cares how often he does it? Don't buy that case of beer one week and you have pretty much the entire cost of an oil change.

Personally, I have seen the results of various oil analyses and such, but I have also had my share of head gaskets go, where an oil change earlier would have caught it. I have also poured out quarts of water out of my crankcase before, no oil changes, never would have caught that, either.

 

I am sticking with Castrol that Mini puts in. It is the same that they use in the John Cooper Works Challenge, so I feel safe, plus it is the Mini brand and no one has had any problems with it.

 

I'm in Houston and I use Mobil 1 0W-40

 

We use the 5w40 euro blend by amsoil here on all of our cars...it's really good stuff. Due to their strict online policies, Amsoil requires vendors to link to their crappy website for online sales...that's why you don't see it in our cart...and probably why you don't see it on other's websites as well.

 

Keep an eye on your oil consumption. The castrol Syntec has some of the highest volitality ratings around. I forget the exact number but it is very high. If you are going to use the syntec and stay with the 10k to 15k oil changes then you need to keep a close eye on the oil level.

I burned a half a quart in only 3500 miles of driving. Now if you take that all the way out to 10k you will be about 1.5 quarts low. That is well out of the safe range for the engine.

 

what's with all this castrol syntec bashing?

i think some of you are confusing castrol (dino oil) with there synthetic. There is also a Synthetic Blend syntec which is not a full synthetic.

go with full synthetic. I used castrol syntec in my 89 bonneville. It's at 180,000 miles and going strong, at 5000 mile change intervals

Syntec is good stuff IMO.

On the other hand I'm a straight amsoil guy now. Found a good local dealer. You pay a little more, but the oil holds up longer, reccomending you change the filter at 6000 miles. I still won't trust any oil for more than 5000 tho.

I found redline to be comparable to amsoil. The engine seemed to rev a bit freer on redline vs. amsoil.

 

I have been usng Redline for many years and (obviously) think its the best oil on the market, especially for extended drain intervals. Redline starts with a pure ester base stock which is more expensive to make but allows you to easily go 10-15K between changes. If your going to change oil every 3-5K miles, most any syn. oil will do.
Down side is, its more difficult to find (seems Advanced Auto stores stock it)and, cost. However, cost can be easily off-set by extended drain intervals.

 

You need to do some research - Castrol's 'synthetic' changed formula some time ago, and is no longer a full synthetic by the industries definition

Castrol went to court to maintain the synthetic branding on the product, even though it now uses a non synthetic base, unlike AMSoil, Mobil 1 etc etc.

Search online and you'll find a ton of articles about it.

Chris.

 

thanks for the update.

No more Castrol Syntec for my babies.

 

If you give the dealership your own fully synthetic oil, they'll use that instead of the Castrol when they service your MINI.

So you can choose what goes in your car, which seems fair.

Personal preference is Mobil 1, and changing mid way between service intervals.

WalMart have the 5 qt jugs of Mobil1 5W30 for about $21 here in CA, bargain!

Chris.

 

The problem with trusting any oil used in racing, is that it's a really different situation than your normal driving.

The race oil will be changed out at every race meeting, possibly even after every qualifying session and race.

So it's not there for an extended mileage, unlike the oil in your MINI.

Chris.

 

This is probably a really dumb question but...

my oil level is a little low. I was going to buy Castrol to top it off. Is there any reason I can't top it off with Mobil 1? It has the Castrol in it currently. Is there a problem with mixing the oils? Like I said, probably a really stupid question but I have no idea if it would cause problems or not.