The problem is, the R56 is already proving to be pretty hard on oil. The tests that have been posted here have shown significant degradation by 6k miles (or even sooner), to the tune of the flashpoint being reduced by 100 °F or more, TAN overrunning TBN, serious fuel dilution & viscosity reduction, etcetera.

If someone was planning on keeping their car for a long time and didn't want to do periodic oil analyses, I couldn't recommend any "safe" interval for the MINI oil longer than about 5k miles. At that point, a 9-10k mile interval with BioSyn starts looking pretty attractive, even with the higher price.

Also, the per-quart price drops significantly if you buy it five gallons at a time. I live just down the street from you, and BioSyn is only $39.50 per gallon shipped if I buy five gallons of it.

For my personal situation, doing the multiple analyses makes a little more sense because we have two identical MINIs, and will probably be keeping them for a combined total of 350k-400k miles, so 10k intervals would end up saving me a significant amount of money in oil & filters over the long run, but I realize that it doesn't make sense for everyone.

 

Hi ya Neighbor,

Scott, I agree we can't go long between changes, and I too am not gonna chance it, as I'm doing 4k..

For what it's worth, a few at Bob's forum don't like the 0W-30, and they have a concern about batch to batch changes.. but I don't think the amount of testing/samples they've done is enough to come to solid conclusions yet regarding variances. I'd like to see Bob post a sample(s) of the 5W-30, just to compare his to the ones here.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1042236

BTW, I'm calculating 49.36 per gallon for the 5 gallon pail shipped to 93950..

Renewable Lubricants, Inc.
Bio-Synthetic Super High Performance 5W30 5 Gallon
Total $137.67
Shipping UPS Ground $59.80
Grand Total $197.47

Do you have a coupon your using?

Thanx,

Bill

 

No - that's the same price I'm getting shipping it to 93906, but there are *five* gallons in a five-gallon pail, not four, so it works out to $39.50 per gallon, not $49.36.

 

Damn, I can't believe I just did that ..

I'm a quart kind of guy in a pail world..

Bill in P.G.

 

Sounds like something I would do.... and I was a national merit scholar in Math .... getting old sucks.

 

For those that don't read the R56 forum, here is the most recent UOA for comparison.

Here is our 2nd UOA. Here is the oil change history based on the odo (the MINI is currently 10 months old):

2K DIY oil + filter Pennzoil Platinum 5W30
8K UOA
12 K DIY oil + filter PP 5W30
18 K MINI Service oil + filter OEM oil 5W30, + air filter changed
27 K UOA
27K DIY oil + filter BioSyn 0W20

The UOA were both performed by Dyson Analysis.

Odo.....................8K........................ .....27K
Oil miles...............6K ............................8K
Brand...................Penn Plat....................MINI oil
Grade..................5W30....................... ...5W30

Iron ....................31............................ ....29
Copper ..............19................................11
Tin ..................... 0...................................0
Lead ...................1.............................. .....0
Chrom ................1................................. ..0
Nickel .................1................................ ...1
Alum ..................41.............................. ....12
Titan .................. 0....................................0
Silver ..................0............................... .....0
Cal .....................2205......................... .....1986
Magnes ..............286................................. 30
Zinc ....................978........................... ......1081
Phos ...................882............................ .....984
Barium ............... 0.....................................1
Moly ...................126............................ ......167
Antim ..................0............................... .......0
Silicon .................24............................... .....7
Sodium ................8................................. .....18
Boron ..................31.............................. ......55
Potass ..................0............................... .......0
Vanad ................. 0......................................0

V40C ...................55.4........................... ......67.5
V100C .................9.6.............................. .....10.6

TAN ....................4.3........................... .........2.83
Flash ................... 305...................................340
Oxid .....................27........................... ..........24
Nit ........................12........................ .............13
KF ....................... 788...................................347
TBN .....................3.8.......................... ...........2.8
Fuel ......................1.42........................ ............1.12

Soot ......................0........................... ..............0
Glycol ....................0............................. ............0

Vis Idx ...................160............................ .........147

I think the data looks pretty good. Wear metals are decreasing. Although probably not low enough for me to throw a party (what's with the elevated Fe and Al? Do I have a coolant leak?). Viscosity looks solid. Acid neutralizing ability is pretty much depleted. Fuel dilution is a little better. I think MINI/BMW Castrol oil looks pretty good compared to Penn Plat.

The OBC is indicating another 12K miles before the next oil change. I note that at that point the MINI service plan will have expired. So basically I got 1 "free" oil change.

 

(Finally) updated the first post with the results of the BioSyn 10k mile test.

 

Looks good. I might have to give it a try once I've used up my stash of Redline. I know the guys on the BITOG forums really like this oil for it's stability in engines that are hard on oil.

 

WHOA! The scientist in me says you should only be changing one variable at a time!

P.S. I'm not a scientist. So don't listen to me.

But, anyway, what are you doing to your air filter to lower fuel dilution numbers?

 

I'm trying to keep the number of variables to a minimum, but with 10k miles between oil changes, it'll take forever to get any meaningful data if I only ever adjust one thing between oil changes.

As far as the air filter goes, I was getting crappy fuel dilution results with the stock air filter and MINI oil, both on my MINI and my wife's almost-identical MINI. So I went with a large oiled-foam filter, hoping for increased airflow. The fuel dilution was about the same with the new filter and MINI oil. The dilution got a *lot* better with the BioSyn oil, but according to Terry, the numbers still look like something's restricting the airflow.

So, I'm going to put the factory airbox back on and try the BioSyn oil with the factory air filter to see how it does.

 

Has anyone tried the Royal Purple stuff?
http://www.royalpurple.com/motor-oil.html

 

Be careful with oiled foam/cotton air filters. It relies on the sticky oil to filter particulate. If it's over oiled, the excess oil could foul the MAF. If it's not oiled enough, it doesn't filter the air very well. I over oiled a K&N on an Audi 2.7 biturbo engine and it ran rich, threw several CELs and eventually killed 2 pre-cats and a handful of O2 sensors. The real kick in the nuts was that it didn't really make much, if any, performance difference.

 

Royal Purple FTW

 

I thought the SH, SJ, SM, etcetera had to do with additives that would affect catalytic converter life. I'm sure I read somewhere that this is why SM vehicles shouldn't run SL--it would tend towards cat failure under 100k, which is some sort of California standard, I think.

Apparently, it has to do with what? Viscosity? Royal Purple is SL rated, even though the makers proudly state that they recommend it for any engine and we have many on NAM that swear by it. Even Dyson told me that he thought RP was "good".

 

Yes - the SH/SJ/SL/SM ratings just certify that the oil in question meets certain requirements for minimum/maximum levels of various additives, as well as things like anti-foaming, viscosity breakdown, piston deposits, etcetera.

Not all of the additives affect catalytic converters, but some of them (like zinc phosphate or manganese phosphate) do shorten converter life, so the maximum allowable levels have been gradually lowered over the years.

All automakers have to warranty their catalytic converters for 8 years/80,000 miles, so they're pushing for reduced phosphates so that they don't have to replace them under warranty. California may well extend that to 100k - I only know about the 8/80 federal law.

In the case of RLI BioSyn, I don't even know if it's possible for a bio-based motor oil to be given an API rating such as SL or SM. I'll see if I can find the actual requirements for the API ratings, and I'll post back here with anything interesting I find.

 

I am running the BioSyn currently as well. I am 3700 mile into it on the R56. I will sample it at 5000.

I am also running it in my Subaru Outback. It is my work car, so it will rack up miles much faster although I just changed it 1200 miles ago. Iwas using Valvoline's high mileage full synthetic in it. I was getting good results up to 6500 mile interval. I have UOA from both vehicles for the oil used before BioSyn.

The UOA I did on the MINI 5W30 that I drained when switching to BioSyn showed the MINI oil depleted. It had 4518 miles on it. I have a feeling the R56 is going to be real tough on oil. I live in the south so this was summer driving.

I am keeping an eye on the air filter. I haven't found an after-market air filter, so I am using the MINI filter. Does anyone know if the OEM filter is supposed to be able to be cleaned? It looks like paper to me.

 

I don't think it's designed to be cleaned. If there's no oily deposits on it, you could probably clean it pretty well by repeatedly tapping it, blowing it with compressed air and cleaning it with a vacuum cleaner, but for $15, I'd probably just replace it.

 

Exactly what I have been doing. Would like it better if it was $5. Oh well.

I think I heard or read that Amsoil was coming out with an oil filter and maybe an air filter for the MINI. Haven't seen anything. I may check out their web site.

 

Anyone have anything to say about Wix oil filters?

 

No experience with them. Do they have one for the MINI?

 

Wix is a good brand, been using them for years with no complaints. Napa Gold filters are exactly the same thing as Wix (made by Wix for napa). so if you can't find Wix just go to napa

 

O'Reilly's auto parts said they had an R56 WIX oil filter for under $10 ea.
Glad to know they measure up well, annecdotally, also. NAPA connection is good to know. Have one just up the street. Have always thought NAPA parts were good.

Any other voices?

 

Bump for any updates.

 

I keep forgetting to send my 50K BioSyn sample to Dyson... got it bottled up, just keep forgetting to take it to the post office.

 

Any updates?
Any comparisons BioSyn v. Amsoil?