What oil do you use for your Mini? Do you change it yourself? If not, where do you go?

 

I buy my oil and filter from my MINI dealer - it's about the same cost as aftermarket and it's what they use - so it must be OK. I also feel that as long as the car is in warranty I won't have any "issues" on repairs if I need something fixed.

I do my own oil changes, twice a year or every 7,500 miles.- I drive about 15K a year.

 

Castrol Syntec European Formula 0W-30. Definitely get the Euro Formula. It should be available at Pep Boys or Autozone, I can't remember now. I haven't changed the oil myself yet, considering the oil filter housing can bit of a hassle. Someone I autocross with works at a shop, so I took it to him to have it done.

 

Other than the dealer provided oil changes under the 36 month maintenance period, I change the oil myself. I used Valvoline 5-30W which I purchase at Walmart. You might look at sewellparts.com for oem filters at a reasonable price.

 

1st.change at 1,000mi then every 5,000 rotella t-6,mini factory filter.

 

0-40W mobil 1 europeon formula. Normally, WalMart has it.
The filters I buy in a package MiniMania but going to look around
for better pricing. I do stick with Mini filters.

 

I've used the MINI branded oil, Royal Purple, and just recently switched to Pennzoil. Since the MINI provided maintenance period ended I've done all the oil changes myself.

 

bmw/mini have their own spec for oil, it is LL-01 or LL-01FE

mini oil is made by Castrol as BMW private labeled oil.

i found a web page on bmw site:
http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...ngineOils.aspx

beyond some other info, it says these oils meet LL-01 in the US market:
Castrol Syntec European Formula SAE 0W-30
Mobil 1 SAE 0W-40
Pennzoil Platinum European Formula Ultra SAE 5W-30
Valvoline SynPower SAE 5W-30

on the Castrol USA web site i found that Castrol EDGE with SYNTEC Power Technology – Full Synthetic meets LL-01 in the weights of:
0W30 and 5W40

on the Valvolene web site i found this:
Synpower MST 5W30, Synpower HST 5W-40/5W-30 meet BMW LL-01

on the Mobil web site, only the Mobil 1 0W-40 (European Car Formula in North America) meets LL-01

No Shell oils meet BMW LL-01, including the Rotella products

No Pennzoil oils Meet LL-01

Amsoil recommends several of their oils for Mini, BUT NONE CARRY LL-01 APPROVAL

Redline reccomends their 5W30 synthetic oil, but it DOES NOT CARRY LL-01 approval

Chevron/Texaco recommends HAVOLINE® SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL SAE 5W-40 for BMW/Mini, and states it meets LL-01

there are probably more LL-01 oils, but this is what i found so far

i am going to use LL-01 oils only and keep receipts and a log of any oil changes i do myself so that BMW/Mini cannot deny a warranty claim based on using non-LL-01 oil

scott

EDIT

Royal Purple DOES NOT CARRY BMW/MINI LL-01 approval

 

First, the dealer can't deny you warranty because of the manufacturer of oil that you use. Please stop spreading fud.

I use Amsoil in both of my cars and have been for a few years now. No, it is not LL-01 certified but it actually exceeds those requirements so it is really kind of pointless. The signature series is a long life (25K) oil that can and does meet the demands of your MINI. There are many oils that exceed the LL-01 spec that don't get tested for various reasons which I would imagine revolve around cost. Certifications are not cheap and don't really mean much other than branding.

Lastly, there are a ton of threads on what oil to use. I highly recommend a search on the topic and enjoy all of the reading you will have.

 

Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5W40 meets the LL01 spec. From what I can tell, it is the successor product to what MINI lists on their web site.

Castrol has also rebranded their lines. iirc, Syntec is no longer a line unto itself.

I think at one point I had a source showing RP 0W40 finally got LL01 certification, but can't verify right now.

Alas, MINI's web site is becoming quite outdated with regard to their oil recommendations. I'd focus more on ensuring the oil meets the ACEA A3/B3 spec. Wouldn't be so concerned with LL01 unless you are going to do 10k+ mile OCI. ymmv.

 

If you use the MINI oil (which costs the same or less than some of the more exotic choices listed here) you cannot/will not have any issues with warranty.

Same with the filter. Those are not expensive, and a lot of dealers offer a club discount, making them even more affordable.

I spend approx $35 for oil and filter from my MINI dealer.

The factory filter also comes with a new o-ring for the cannister and a new crush ring for the drain plug.

Changing your own oil on the newer cars is even easier than on the R53, I'm sure there's a how-to somewhere on the site.

 

mini cannot deny warranty if the work is done by other than mini, but it is up to you to prove it was done to their standards.....

one of their standards is LL-01 motor oil.

i asked this question specifically of the service manager because i will be doing a 1200 mile oil/filter change followed by 5000 mile changes myself ... i plan on keeping my mini for at least 15 years, my current p/u truck is 16yo with 287,000 mile and have only used gm spec oil the whole time

i was advised to keep a log with receipts for the oil in case of a warranty claim

if you have an engine warranty problem you better be able to prove you have been using LL-01 oil

but this is a free country ... do what you want

i know what i will be doing and what oils i will be using

scott

 

Where do you get this stuff? No, it is not up to you, it is up to the dealer to prove that it was. The only time I have heard of a dealer denying warranty on an engine (and I have been around the MINI forums since 05 and cars and aircraft a lot longer than that) was when it was run dry of oil. Even then they did a good will gesture on several that I know of.

You don't have to prove anything!

I'm glad that you "feel" like you need to run LL-01. If it makes you happy then I say go for it but quit making things up and trying to scare people. I was running the BMW rated oil in Germany and the car was burning it. Now I run Amsoil and the car runs smoother and doesn't burn it up. I have also had the oil tested in my 06 and it was well within its limits. Many here have run it with zero problems from the car or the dealer and many of us use oils that are not specifically LL-01 certified. So, your preference is LL-01, we got it and it is always sound advice to recommend what the dealer recommends, but the rest of what you posted is wrong, so please stop.

 

Jim, as you can tell you've touched on a subject that has stimulated dozens of threads and thousands of posts here on NAM, and with the generic thread title you're going to get almost as many opinions as there are passionate posters. And as you can see, it's already devolved into a spirited difference of opinion.

There is a great and well traveled "how-to" oil change reference thread that, while long, has enough information in it for you to weigh the opinions and make an informed decision. Here it is:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...with-pics.html

With this reference link in your hands, I'm going to close this thread. Our club forum isn't the best place for non-club members to debate issues.