All I can find in the owners manual or the Bentley manual is the mini part number. On my head cover is a sticker stating Mini recommends Castrol but not the weight. I know they use synthetic but what weight?

 

It's 5W30 Castrol Full Synthetic. Let me know if you need anything else

 

Yes, Castrol Syntec 5W30 is what the dealers use and what MINI recommends.

Some of us also use Mobil 1, Redline, Royal Purple, or Amsoil in the same weight.

Just under 5 quarts. Get your oil filter and O-ring from the dealership.

 

All,
thanks for the quick replies. Question answered.

 

I just changed the oil on my MINI and it was possibly the easiest oil change I've ever done. Just make sure you have that filter and o-ring (easy to get at the dealer or on the net), along with the 36 mm socket for the canister and the 13 mm for the drain plug. There are some walkthroughs on the boards. It was much easier than some of the walkthroughs made it look. There was some talk of difficulty with the filter canister, but I had zero trouble. As everyone said, go with 5w-30 full synthetic and let it rip.

 

Was doing some searching on this to get some questions answered.

The MINI of Yaletown Dealership in Vancover told me that the Castrol Syn
used in Our MINIs is diferent than what you can buy at you local parts store.
He said that it was a BMW specific for longer life.
Any one know if this is true?
I would rather buy at Shucks not from the BMW dealership 360 miles away.
Cheers
Shawn

 

nolimit - who ever you talked to at MINI of Yaletown is full of bull defecation.

I for one, use Mobil 1.

 

Exactly what he said

Mobil 1 here too.

 

Your dealer lied to you. bp (Castrol is only a brand now, not a company) provides all the factory fill oil for BMW and MINI. The MINI/BMW Genuine Oils are rebrands of Castrol Syntec with NO formulary changes. Tell your dealer to do some homework next time before he gives you faulty info.

 

Actually, I know of many very well informed and top notch BMW and even Miata folks who say that the Castrol that BMW uses is actually "German Castrol" and is formulated differently than the Castrol Syntec commonly available in the US. It's even a different color than the Castrol Syntec. They say that many AutoZones carry it. It doesn't have a different bottle, but on the back it will say "Made in Germany"

 

I just changed my oil last night and everything went smoothly! No spills or messes to clean up. I installed a fumoto valve instead of the drain plug to make my oil changes easier. A trick that other people are saying for the oil filter is to unscrew it until you break the seal. I do this when all the oil is drained, when its drained and you unscrew the filter next, you will hear that the seal will break from the block and more oil will start to poor out of the drain plug. This will allow for a no mess very clean task! I had to unscrew the canister a bit until the seal started to break away. But you will know and hear the more oil come out. Its best to wait for the oil to complete drain until you do the filter. Makes things easier.

Garrett

 

To some degree you are correct...however, all MINIs/BMWs that are destined for America use the exact same formulation as the Syntec sold in America. It is true that the formulation for Syntec varies depending upon where you are in the world (same with Mobil 1). Matter of fact, Syntec isn't even called Syntec in some parts of the world. Mobil 1 is the only true global brand, but even its formulation differs from region to region.

Trust me on this as my pay stub has a big, yellow and green Helios on it...

 

doesn't BP Solar in Frederick use a big yellow and green helios for their logo??
:smile:

 

Castrol makes a FULL synthetic, and they also market a Synthetic / dinosaur BLEND. Read the bottle, they look very similar.


J. D.

 

Yepper...gotta diversify the portfolio so consumers see "green" with "black gold." gotta start somewhere i suppose...

 

check out www.bobistheoilguy.com

this site has all the oil info you'll ever need.. to find out what is the BEST oil for your mini is to do a UOA "used oil analysis". Also, 10000mile oil changes it might be interesting which brand, type, etc would be BEST for our little four bangers..

 

I've done more reading and searching and decided to get Mobil 1 0w-40w

Due to the cold nature of living this far north and the extremes -50 to +90f
I thought it to be a good choice. IF I read the API on the bottle along with it passing against Bmw specs. IT should be alright.
Anyone think not a good idea, I have not changed the oil yet and could exchange it for Castrol 5w-30w.
Thank you
Shawn

 

indeed.. it should ok.. remember, most 40weight oils shear down to 30 weight anyway when being used in gasonline engines. 0w40 is like a good 30 weght because of the base stock used...