The specs of the oil are what counts. Look for ACEA A3/B3 AND BMW LL-01. The only Castrol oil that meets that here in the US is German Castrol 0W-30, (and the OEM fill we get in the car when it was purchased). When you buy the 5W-30 Castrol from the dealership, it only indicates the ACEA A3/B3 spec. Not the BMW LL-01.

Mobil 1 0W-40 also meets teh ACEA A3/B3 & BMW LL-01.

 

don't use crappy made in usa castrols..
German Castrol all the way.
Cheaper than mobil 1 cheaper than royal, cheaper than most of other so called 'good' oils.

 

On the "MINI Full Synthetic Motor Oil" available at dealers, don't you think the lack of "BMW LL-01" on the label could just be a labelling issue? I'd be very surprised if the oil MINI dealers recommend and sell does not meet their own standards for their recommended service intervals.

 

Could very well be. At "bob's the oil guy" website, they gave the BMW dealer oil 5W-30 good marks. Better than the US 5W-30 you find "off the shelf".

I do use the dealer supplied oil. When I take the MINI in for a free oil change. But I generally keep that oil for around 4-5K miles, then change it out with the GC 0W-30.

No confirmation, but I've heard the dealership buys their 5W-30 in the large barrels, (55 gallons), and it's the European blend. (With both specs). In Europe, you can buy 5W-30 which clearly lists both specs on the bottle. Just not here!

 

i changed my oil to MOTUL 8100 Excess 5w-40 today.

at 3000 km's.

There was small metal bits in the oil and the filter after brake in, would this cause issues in the long run? I guess i will never know.

 

In another thread, someone with a bottle of BMW branded oil said that (like the MINI branded oil) it did not mention the BMW LL-01 rating. So, I suspect it is just a labeling issue. Perhaps they assume that everyone would understand that their own oil meets their own specs.

Both the MINI branded and BMW branded oil bottles say Made in the USA from domestic and foreign components.

 

Redline Power Pak

 

Is there an ACEA rating for Redline 5W30? I couldn't find one.

 

I don't have a bottle in front of me at the moment but Redline is definitely at least ACEA A3/B3.

 

Actually, I've had three oil analyses done (with a fourth coming up next month), and I don't think the factory/dealer oil is suitable for much more than 10k-12k miles. That's for my R53, though - I haven't seen any results from the new direct-injection engine, although the DI engines from some other manufacturers (Audi,VW) have recently been shown to be *really* hard on oil, even top-notch synthetic stuff.