I've been reading from the forums in Bob's the oil guy and here and I would like to get opinions and information if using Redline will harm my engine. I am thinking of using German Castrol 0W30 from Autozone. It's on sale for $25.99 for 5 Qts and filter.

 

I've heard nothing but good about both. The RedLine is probably going to be a little more and a little harder to find but might be worth the trouble even though the Castrol is good. Me personally, i'm a Mobil 1 person. On my next change, it's getting 0W40 although I'd give the Euro Castrol a shot if I can find it.

 

yea red lines good stuff, Moss MINI sells a kit for about 100 bucks thats got the fuel system cleaner, the trany fluid and oil...not a bad deal...although i get the luxry of living about a 5 min drive from moss so i get it pretty easy

 

I run nothing but 0w-40 in my BMW and Mini. I will wait til my warranty is up on the Touareg to start with that one. I dont want to pay for a $20K motor because they did an oil analysis and found out I was running something else....

 

What I read so far is that Redline is the only group V oil, which is the best for synthetic oil base stock. The issue with Redline is that is a small outfit and it could not get the BMW LL01 or 98 or ACEA A3 spec. There are opinions and statements on the bimmer forums that it will harm the engines that require this BMw oil spec. I store my MINI during the winter months and change the oil once per year. I only have 26k on the car, so my OCI will probably not cause any issues. I did track the car the first 4 years of the its life though. I just wanted to get the thoughts of those here. Thanks so far.

 

I use Redline 5w-30...no problems.

 

I also recently switched to Redline. Dropped oil temps by 5-10 degrees.

 

What about Royal Purple? Full synthetic and it seems easier to find than Red Line

 

The one thing to caution though is that Redline's 5W-30 kinematic viscosities are quite low for a 5W-30...I haven't run an oil analysis using it, but I usually go the other way with things -> as thick as possible without frictional losses. Protection in a hot climate, to me, is more important than the extra 1-2 hp gained by a thinner oil.

Don't get me wrong...I love Redline, but I personally think, for me, that they are a little thin for our applications, especially in hotter climates (like mine).

- Matt

 

yea royal purples pretty good, its just damn expensive

 

On sale at my local Checker (Kragen/Schucks) $5.97 a qt .

 

really...hmmm, guess my kraigens is just a joke rip off then

 

What's it cost there? It's usually $7+ a qt. here.

 

Castrol are the best oils available in the market, and the best oil of all is the Castrol Edge Sport 0W-40 for our Minis.

 

Awesome! Send some over.

 

According to/supported by what data?

It's amazing the degree of bupkis that floats around these boards.

- Matt

 

I just started using Royal Purple 5w40 because I have found that it meets the BMW LL spec, or whatever. I've always known Royal Purple to be a very good brand, and the fact that it meets all the specs of the factory oil, makes it sound great to me!

 

its like 12 bucks with discount at my kraigen, hmmmm, im a sucker i guess

 

It meets the BMW most strict LongLife (LL04), and is one of the very few oils to have 0W-40 viscosity aproved by BMW. A few folks including me used this oil, and we all had an idea that the engine ir running smoother (i had Valvoline 5W-40 full synthetic before this, BMW LL98). It is the best oil available from Castrol, and is recomended by them for sporty drivers and perfomance engines. Castrol Edge Sport Line is the same that the ///Ms are using.

 

German Castrol 0W-30 and Mobil1 0W-40 both meet the same LL specs, as do other oils...

Best is all relative as well...the best oil for an M3 is going to be in the 10W-60 range, while the best oil for the Mini is going to be in the 5W-30 to 0W-40 range. The M3 needs the heavier weight due to looser tolerances; the thick oil (when warmed) is effectively adding capability to the piston rings, and, in the early non-replaced crankshaft M3's, it was damping crankshaft vibration (again, see bobistheoilguy). This same oil would be terrible for our engines -> it would bog it down considerably, both when cold and warm.

As well, the idea that a person can tell when an engine is running smoother is near inperceptible as long as the oil has been changed on a regular basis. Only when an engine has had severe neglect and had the oil changed can close to anybody discern a difference. Wear numbers from oil analysis, gas mileage, piston sealing, bearing/crank wear, etc are the only physical ways to tell if an oil is "better" than another for a particular engine. Flashpoints, kinematic viscosities (not the variable XW-XX viscosity ranges), additives, and approvals are nice and give you a good idea, but at the end of the day it's the results that matter. As it stands, I don't even see anyone talking/posting about these things around here, which again makes these threads little more than a survey of preferences.

Oh, and approvals are nice, but smaller companies (Redline) don't feel like/have the budget to pay for approval, despite exceeding many approved oils' specs.

There is no such thing as a "best" oil for all engines, nor does such a thing exist for all climates. A 30W (warm) in northern Canada may not be appropriate for a car at the equator...it may need a 40W.

- Matt

 

what do you guys think about Amsoil? 5W40 European? Or anything else that they carry? I run only Amsoil 5W40 in both of our BMW's.

 

So German Castrol 0W30 will work fine for the our MINI's since it is closer to 40 weight at optimum temps? Redline 5W30 runs thinner than the BMW Castrol 5W30, which is on the thicker side. All engines are different in their specs and tolerances in bearings and so forth. The reason I started this thread was because I had 15 qts of Redline and I wanted to get some information on it since it does not have the BMW LL-01 or 98 or ACEA-A3 spec. Redline is a group V synthetic, which is the best base stock. I read and heard that Dino oils are not that bad as most think. Interesting.... Our MINI's require full synth because of the extended OCI's(Oil Change Intervals). Learned a lot so far from BITOG site as well as here.

 

Sounds like you're on the right track as far as thinking goes.

I use GC 0W-30 for the reason you stated above.

Yeah, many Dino oils are not as bad as many think, but all the same they due tend to have lower flashpoints and more problems over time...but the difference between them and pure synthetic is becoming more and more marginal. I like to stick with Group IV + V basestocks myself.

As far as I know, your assumption about the "full synth for long term OCI's" is the same one I hold. Many other car manufacturers seem to be doing the same thing for the sake of simplicity/cost cutting (see Honda).

- Matt

 

I've been watching this thread with alot of interest as I'm thinking of making the jump to Redline oil. Currently I have a couple options, Redline 5w30, Redline 5w40, or the equvilent in Amsoil. My cooper S is fairly new, 06, and I do live in Canada so ultra warm weather isn't much of an issue, usually the warmest is around 95-100 degrees. So what's the best choice for me?

 

Redline 5W30