For those that are doing oil changes yourself, do you use the recommended Castrol that is listed on the motor?? If you use something else like, Mobile 1, AMSOIL, Royal Purple, etc. does this null the warranty for not using the recommended products. I usually use Mobile 1 in everything except my Harley and keep great records for every oil change. I am a firm believer that changing your oil every 5K is cheap insurance that you are flushing out the small wear metals while keeping the internal parts moving freely......

Anybody??????

 

I use Castrol 5-30 like you about every 4000-5000mi depending how I drive and some of the extended trips I may take.I can agree with you keep the internals "clean".I have had a trouble free MCSa '07 w/60,000mi so I must be doing something right.Changed all the other fluids too.Not lifetime here....Have a smooth running little MINI because of it....

 

On My 2010 R56 S it has two DIFFERENT recommendations underhood. On the sloppily applied sticker on the cylinder head cover, it says use Mini 5W-30 oil. Then on the top of the dipstick it says use Castrol. Leaves me thinking they weighed marketing and sales $$ in here selling off ad space or some such when you see differences like that--or, they had a heck of a lot of old dipstick tubes in inventory to burn up before getting into the oil resale business!

To your question more seriously, car needs long life spec oil (at least for warranty purposes) because of the extended change cycles--underneath that is usually a more stringent additive package in the oil that can go the distance and time (up to 19K ish miles and 2 years in theory). That's the usual thing most of these frequent oil posts miss, and then miss the issue within a given oil brand as well. The specs they meet, or don't, vary by both brand and specific viscosity. If you want Castrol that meets Mini spec, look for European Formula 0W-30, usually at Autozone. Has to say "European Formula" on the bottle or you aren't looking at the right stuff. Their usual 5W-30 Synthetic doesn't meet long life specs. If you want Mobil 1, then it's 0W-40 viscosity only, and not any of the others, including 0W-30 or 5W-30. Or you can actually just go to the Mini parts counter and buy theirs in 5W-30 (which some guess may be an OEM Castrol underneath--VW/Audi sell a Castrol SLX Professional oil in 5W-30 that meets long life specs as another clue it exists). My dealer sells the Mini branded oil at $6.25/qt., which undercuts the parts store guys who are in the $8 to $8.50 (overpriced) range these days if not on occasional sale.

 

+1 Then you know you're 100%. Last time I bought oil at the dealer, they cut the price even more when I bought enough for two changes...selling it to me for $5.50 a quart. I couldn't touch this price anywhere aftermarket for MINI compliant LL oil.