So inside my engine bay, on the airbox it says "Recommended Use Mini Sythetic Oil" but I thought to myself "Eh, all synthetics are about the same, just different heat resistance."

I went to a local Mobile 1 and got an oil change, they used a High Intensity Heat Synthetic oil and slapped a sticker on to get it changed it 5,000 miles.

Here we are 2,000 miles into the oil change and when the turbo spools up I get this burning smell, and when I went to check my oil dip stick, my oil is almost black!!!

So is this "Use Mini Synthetic Oil" true??? Or should I be using something else??

Please give me advice!

 

My BMW/MINI independent uses Castrol Edge 5W30. Never had any issues and change it every 5K.

 

this is what I used and still recommend to those I do work for



Did you check the owner's manual? MINI says "full synthetic" .....

IME, the oil changes color well b4 the factory recommended change interval. This never concerned me.

IMO the 'full synthetic' is needed to support the long change interval ..... my cars that use dino' oil still say something around 5000 and my ST that recommends a synth blend says 8 to 11,000 depending on use . . . .

BTW, I changed oil in my 02-S per the computer (15,000) and it never burned a drop .... sold it at 90,000 miles . . . .

 

Ok, maybe I'll try using that next time I do my own oil change - I'm thinking the Mobile 1 quick lube shop I went to may have used a synthetic blended with dino, rather than a full synthetic... could be why it's turning black after 2,000 miles.

Has anyone experienced a burning smell at high RPM's while the turbo is spooling up quick? I don't notice it while really getting on it of course, but once I slow back down I really notice a burnt oil/exhaust smell.

 

You have the wrong oil in your car.

Did you have the odor prior to changing oil? If no and only thing that changed is the oil used .......well u have ur answer

Also check for leaks at oil filter housing and drain plug as the filter change could get messy

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As far as I know I did not have this burnt smell before the oil change, but then again I've only owned the car since June 1st 2015.

I drive a lot right now, I've put almost 5k on it in 2 months due to it being my daily. It's still under warranty until October, or for another 14k, does Mini change oil as part of the manufacturer's warranty?

 

Maintenance warranty is 3 year 36k. Defect warranty is 4 yr 50k.

If I were u I would change the oil. Turbos put tremendous pressure on the oil in this car and it's sub systems.

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Well you can't go wrong with the recommended Mini Synthetic... That's the main reason I do my own oil changes. Dealership would be way overpriced, I just buy the mini stuff by the case online.

If you do run a non-OEM oil, getting an occasional used oil analysis wouldn't hurt. - that's the only way to truly know if it still has life left (not checking color).

 

Most recently I used amsoil 5-40 as I was advised to because of the summer heat. Previous oil changes I've used amsoil 5-30. Both fully synthetic. I think the 5-40 is the "European Blend". I've been changing every 6000 miles and using amsoil products for a while now.

 

welcome Colt45!

I think in general, as long as you are using a reasonable grade of fully synthetic oil you can't go wrong. The only recommendation that I would give would be to get your oil changed around the 5k mark and not wait for the car to let you know that you've gone 10k. If you happen to go past 5k, just check the oil level, for if you have the turbo, it might burn a little as the mileage increases.

 

I prefer Italian grown olives, Extra Virgin cold press. Used it in my Ferrari GTO and no issues.

 

I'll double down on the recommendation that you use Mini Synthetic. Its available online from several sources at a very reasonable cost, and its a high quality oil. I suspect its manufactured by Castrol, but I can't back that up.

What I can say is that I had several oil analyses done in the 2010-2012 time frame that really showed great numbers with that oil. I no longer have the papers to post, and I can't guarantee that the oil hasn't changed, but I think its a very solid option.

 

Amsoil now has a 0W-40 European Blend that is designed for A3/B3 and LL-01 properties (although not officially certified). I usually used Mobil 1 0W40
in the past but changed to the Amsoil 0W40 when Mobil 1 changed its formula a year or two ago.

 

Used the MINI 5w30 oil (Castrol version) old silver MINI bottles, now the 5w30 (Pennzoil/Shell) Black MINI bottle version and at one point used the 0w-40 euro mobil 1 back in the day. Now at a little over 270K on the 2005.

Pics of the new bottle.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...f56-tools.html

 

Mini recommends using Castrol full synthetic oil. Why not go with this winner?

 

The actual oil brand is less important than the spec it is rated to. I choose oils matching the weight called for by the engine (5w30), meeting BMW LL-01, which the OEM oil is rated to. A3/B4 is acceptable as well (and may be easier to find). If you're only going 5000 miles, though, I'd be less concerned. Full synthetic is a must, and you really should use properly rated stuff.

 

LL-01 and A3/B4 are actually separate categories of certifications.
LL-01 has to do with suitability for extended use, and A3/B3 has
to do with suitability for severe operating conditions.
An oil can have one or the other or both or neither.

 

Thank you for correcting me. Looks like I have more to learn!

 

Went to Liqui Moly 5/30 and loving it

Made for high performance German Engines

 

I don't really trust any local oil change place, unless I can see what oil they are actually adding. I always recommend that no matter where you get your oil changed, that you check the oil level yourself, before you drive off. It's the only way to get a benchmark oil level and to see what color the oil is originally. The biggest reason to check is to make sure they have replaced the oil in the first place.

My wife drove her car home one day after an oil change. The next morning on start up, it sounded like a diesel... I had her shut the engine off. There was no oil on the dip stick and ended up adding a total of 4.5 quarts of oil. The oil didn't leak out, since there was no sign of oil on the new filter. They just forgot to add oil after draining it. I'm sure that doesn't happen very often, but it did that time. Lesson learned.

I really prefer to do my own oil changes. It's a pain, especially during Winter, but at least I know it's done well.

 

Just did a 600 mile oil change on my new 2019 MCS. After a ton of searching in local shops and online, I ended up using 0W-20 Castrol GTX. My dealership could only recommend 0W-20 or 0W-30, and the auto stores only had 0W-20 listed for the 2018 model (2019 isn't in their system yet). It seems crazy, but apparently with a new engine that operates pretty tightly they don't want anything like a "stickier" oil bogging down the engine's performance. Castrol was an easy choice, as their logo was on my 2013 R56's stock oil cap and I'm pretty sure they still make all of the BMW LL oil.

 

Shell has been making the MINI/ BMW oil
for about 4 1/2 years now.

 

aka Pennzoil EURO L 5W30.👍🏼

 

Yep, BMW/Mini oil is rebranded and bottled Pennzoil. If I was so inclined to do my own oil, I would use Pennzoil and OEM filters for the Mini.