I've used Castrol for the first year and then changed to Redline for the last 4 years with no problems. I change oil every 4500 to 5000 and do not experience oil wash problems or residue from thin oil. I have Royal Purple on hand now. I also use the MTL Redline in the tranny every 20,000, seems to be working good after 5 full seasons of SCCA Solo, PDX, and Time Trials. Could be too of my 1/2 the distance and time of doing maintenance.

 

Agree with Jagfixer above - redline has been serving me fine for track and street driving, but it's changed frequently, especially after track use. I've seen some very high temps on track, but there's nothing that says the RL isn't protecting at that point.

So to give a novice's perspective on the original question - no, I don't think using RL will harm your R53. At least I really hope not, cause it'll harm mine then too!

mb

 

Redline oils make great race oils, but some feel it's not as great when used strictly as a street car oil. This is mostly due to the chemicals used to make up their group 5 base stock, which doesn't react as favorably with repeated moisture exposure.

There are several oils that meet BMW's LL spec. And there's also quite a few cars running BMW approved oils that have horrible crankcase sludge build up... don't think that the approval alone is a gold star.

For the guys running Royal Purple, I've been tempted to try them a couple times, but I hope you know the stuff you buy in the local stores is NOT pure synthetic. It's a blend... only their race oils are pure synthetic. I just don't trust them as they swear they have a new chemical breakthrough that beats everyone else, but the UOA's from a few people I've seen run Royal Purple had scary results that don't back up that claim... and, if you've ever talked to their "tech" guys, they don't seem to know anything about oil.

Personally I've run Mobil 1 or Amsoil in most of my cars. The Mobil 1 5w-30 and 10w-30 are NOT great oils. The 0w-40 Euro Spec is better according to the UOA's I've seen from multiple people run it in multiple cars. However, I decided to put my Mini on Amsoil 5w-40 Euro formula (ran Amsoil in my BMW with great results, and my Z06) last year (formerly Mobil) and it runs noticeably smoother for a much longer period of time. It's as if the ring seal has suddenly increased... also I only added about 10oz of oil in a year of driving (about 10k). I also had a UOA done and it has lower wear reading. I'm sticking with Amsoil, and I track & street drive the car.

 

Any idea regards to using Amsoil 5W 30 on my 2002 Mini?

 

If you go with amsoil, go with the 5w-40 euro blend.

Personally I'm a redline 5W-30 guy with frequent oil changes....Seen too many guys on the track running it, figure they must know something.

 

According to Royal Purples website, their oil is a full synthetic

 

Is there any reason folks aren't doing used oil analysis to back up their 'projections'? If I were wanting certainty about a particular brand, I would run a change of the new brand for 5,000 miles and then send a sample out for analysis. If the sample came back in good shape, then I would go another 2,500 miles and send another sample in for analysis. From the 7,500 mile point, I would sample every 2,500 miles until I got to a point where the oil was about to fail the baseline specification for the Castrol oil that is recommended by BMW/MINI. Then it would be time to change. Expecting an oil (even the factory recommended Castrol) to go 10,000 (or 15,000 or whatever) miles regardless of service environment is basically rolling the dice - you may win; but you may lose.... And the cost of all of those used oil analysis reports is far less than the cost of a blown engine.

 

Mark, be careful--the specs were relaxed a while back in the U.S. on what you can call synthetic--not sure about Royal Purple, as I don't use it, but I'd make 100% sure that it's 100% pure synthetic....

Caminifan, what you wrote about oil analysis is spot on for someone trying to find the sweet spot for an oil change (although that's going to vary from time to time depending on how the car was driven during a particular interval). For me, it'd be a waste of money--I change it too frequently for an analysis to be of much help.

 

I haven't started doing oil myself as i'm under my 36k. i used redline in the past and was happy. got it at racer parts wholesale in indianapolis..cheapest price i've found