Here's a simple but hard to decide question. Royal Purple vs. Amsoil and why?

Thoughts anyone?

Regards,
David

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Auto sport= Royal
DD or don't care = Amsoil.

 

Huh?

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Which specific products?

 

Redline > Royal Purple and Amsoil

In real practice I just run plain jane Castrol Syntech Edge or what ever it's called and dump the oil every three months. My MINI sits a lot and only gets driven about 100 miles a month.

My gearbox does have Redline MTL in it.

 

I'm in the Royal Purple camp

 

What you use isn't as important as how often you check and change the specific fluid.


I use:


Engine, Mobil1 0-40 euro or MINI oil, every 7500 miles. (Blackstone Lab analysis proven)
Tranny, Redline MTL every 30,000 miles.

 

Like picking grape coolaid or Hawaiian punch.....
Pick you flavor..
But one word of warning...
NEITHER MEET BMW/MINI SPECS EXPLICITLY.
Both are "MADE" OR "ENGINERED" to be good oils and satifify many requirements... But the companies have not spent the $$ to have the oils tested or vetted....
both are good oils, both would likely meet if tested...
But neither has been tested ..think if you have an engine issue, even if it is not the oils fault you might have an issue? Why chance it...
Me, I use mobil1 euro...it explicitly satisfied the BMW/mini spec's.....
If under warrenty, I would do the same.
Once the warrenty is over...use whatever you want....

 

Amsoil 5W40 Euro is recommended for the MINI.
It meets A3/B3 and LL-01, but is not certified for those specs.
100C/40C viscosity are 13.6/83.3, so cold starting viscosity is a bit
on the high side of oils suitable for the MINI.

Royal Purple API doesn't list applications, but
the API 5W30 is a little light, doesn't meet A3/B3 nor LL-01
viscosity is 10.42/60.62.

Royal Purple API 0W40 meets A3/B3 at least, and
viscosity is 14.3/79.9

Royal Purple doesn't list any specs for its HPS oils that I could find.
Their 5W30 would be the logical pick here.

By comparison, Mobil 1 0W40 Euro Formula is A3/B3 and LL-01 certified and has
viscosity of 13.5/75

I'd pick Mobil 1 0W40, then RP API 5W40, then Amsoil 5W40 in that order and pass on
RP API 5W30 and RP HPS 5W30.

I'm skipping the other Amsoil offerings since they give a vehicle specific recommendation of their Euro 5W40.

 

Since someone mentioned Redline, they recommend their 5W30,
which meets A3/B3 and LL-01, but is not certified.
viscosity is 11.9/71, which are reasonable numbers.

 

Yikes!! Wish I would have read this sooner. I went with RP 5w/30 4.5q with the MANN replacement filter. Should I dump that oil and redo it with the ones suggested? I don't want to ruin anything.

Also, anyone know how to reset the oil maintenance due meter?

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You don't have your location in your profile, but I think you're in Florida.
Given that, I'd go for either the Mobil 0W40 or the RP API 0W40 (the former
if you're still in warranty and have any concern about the rare possiblility
of a problem where this might weigh in).

There are also a very few other mainline choices that are A3/B3 and LL-01 certified
for the MINI in appropriate weights (I think I have most of them correct here, best
to check for the certificaiton on the bottle when you buy as sometimes things change) :

MINI brand (Castrol) 5W30
Castrol Edge 0W40
Castrol Syntec Euro 0W30
MINI brand (Shell) - coming soon
Shell Helix Ultra 5W30 and 5W40
Valvoline SynPower 5W30
Valvoline MaxLife 5W30
Pennzoil Platinum Euro Formula 5W30

anybody know any others?

 

where do you live ? Climate makes a difference as well. IMO Amsoil is good stuff, allways had low wear on my motorcycles that use it. After mobil made changes to their formula I stopped using it. I had documented increase in wear with my chevy 5.3L truck , I mean like 25-30% increase and switched to Quakerstate and my wear went back down, I'd use Q if they made a suitable oil for our cars but they don't that I can find. I use MINI/BMW since it is priced right and my cars are under warranty and my lab results look good with it.

 

Yes, I live in Florida. I mean, here we are in February and it's 72 outside. Really!?!? What happened to the winter? 7.5 years to retirement (30 years in government) then we're off to North Carolina.

Guys, now I'm worried. Should I dump that 5w/30 RP and go with one of the others mentioned? I don't want to ruin anything. I should mention (could be placebo), but that engine sounds awfully quiet.

Also, anyone know how to reset the oil change due thingy? It's telling me I'll need to change it in 2k miles. :(

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Ugh!! :(

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Here:

 

I'm happy with RP here in California. Where I live it'll be 110 in the summer and well below freezing in the winter. (I don't live in the beach area )
Nik

 

Awesome report. Wow, your MINI has that many miles and still going strong? Amazing!

@ Cristo: Thanks for the informative link on the reset. I just did it and it worked flawlessly. It reset to 11,000. Will this reset the dealer's computer also when they insert the key in their computer system?

 

I'd be concerned with running a non-LL-01 oil if you're sticking to the OEM oil-change intervals.
If you're changing oil every 5-8K, it really should not be a problem.
I'd be concerned with running a non-A3/B3 oil if you run your car hard. This would probably apply
to most people posting here.
I'd also be concerned in either case if you want to avoid any chance of an engine warranty issue.

 

+1
If you do mostly highway miles, and drive sanely, in moderate temps, you might be OK with an approved oil for the default mile limit, easpecilly under warrenty.....
If you did 5000-7500 mile oil changes any good syenthic oil should be fine out of warrenty....
My choice of mobil1 euro was based on it being the cheapest, most available "approved" oil on the list....why chance it?
Sure I am out of warrenty, and do 6 month or 7500 mile oil changes, but why chance it...an oil that "should" be OK, vs tested and approved....
IMO nothing is gained vs the risk of using a more $$ harder to find oil....

 

Excellent advice guys. I change my oil and filter every 5k miles religiously. 5k for me is roughly every 3 to 3.5 months.

Here's a good read: http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

 

Placebo or reality.

As some of you may know, I went with RP on my oil change yesterday at 20k miles because MINI said the car didn't need an oil change for another 2k miles. They refused to change it under the free maintenance plan, unless I paid for it. Well, sorry MINI, "I choose" to change my oil with the BEST oil possible every 5k miles. I can't fathom changing the oil here in Florida every 10-11k miles. And so, I changed the oil and filter (MANN) myself using RP.

Now; this may very well be placebo, but here's what my wife and I observed.

I can coast in 4th gear running just under 60mph revving just under 3k in the tachometer. At just under 3k on the tach and 57-59mph in 4th gear the engine seems very smooth and quiet.

Normally, at this RPM and speed I could *hear* the engine asking to be shifted into 5th. However, she's smooth, quiet and purring like a kitten.

Again; could very well be placebo (although I don't think so as we all get use to how our cars sound and behave), but this engine suddenly seems noticeably smoother and quiet. Not sure why, but it's definitely a noticeable difference.

Thoughts anyone?

Regards,
David

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Email received from RP support.


Royal Purple engine oil, 2013 Mini Cooper Hardtop

Good Afternoon David,

We do have several engine oils that will work great in your 2013 Mini Cooper Hardtop 1.6L engine, but please be aware that we do not license the BMW LL-01 oil specification on any of our engine oils. The BMW LL-01 long life oil specification is more than just an oil specification, it is also a license. Such European OEM licenses require licensing fees and often require purchasing from designated raw material suppliers. We do not pay oil licensing fees to any OEM and we are not going to comply with limitations on who we use for raw material suppliers. Therefore no Royal Purple oil will be on a BMW LL-01 approved oil list. If warranty compliance is a serious concern of yours, you may be best served by using a BMW LL-01 approved oil.
Once warranty compliance is no longer a concern, listed below are the recommended Royal Purple engine oils for your 2013 Mini Cooper in order from most awesome to awesome in terms of performance and protection.

-Royal Purple HPS 5W-30 (part #31530, quart bottle)

-Royal Purple HPS 10W-40 (part #31140, quart bottle)

-Royal Purple SAE 5W-40 (part #01540, quart bottle)

-Royal Purple SAE 0W-40 (part #11484, quart bottle)

-Royal Purple SAE 5W-30 (part #01530, quart bottle)

The HPS series engine oils are non-licensed performance upgrade engine oils that offer a higher level of protection and performance than any other street oil and most of our competitors’ “race” oils. Since the HPS oils are not API licensed, they do not have to abide by the chemistry restrictions of those licenses, so there is a higher level of anti-wear additive than the SAE line, and the HPS also features our proprietary Synerlec additive technology. Synerlec increase oil film strength by 3 to 4 times, compared to any other engine oil, and this oil film strength increase reduces friction and metal to metal contact. The result of this is greatly reduced short and long term wear, and increased efficiency of operation (better fuel economy and more power to the ground).

HPS: http://royalpurpleconsumer.com/produ...!hps-motor-oil

Synerlec: http://royalpurpleconsumer.com/about...rple/synerlec/

The SAE 5W-40 and SAE 0W-40 are Eurospec engine oils that are formulated for use in passenger car gasoline and light duty diesel engines. Both oils carry the API-SM and ACEA A3/B3-04 licenses on it, and the SAE 5W-40 also contains our proprietary Synerlec additive technology. The SAE 5W-30 carries the current API-SN and ILSAC GF-5 licenses.

SAE: http://www.royalpurpleconsumer.com/p...ple-motor-oil/

The factory capacity of your engine is 4.4 quarts.

All of our products are available through O’Reilly Auto (in store or ordered from warehouse). You can also get our products from several other auto part stores that are in your area such as Napa, CarQuest, Pep Boys, Advanced Auto, and AutoZone. You can check with them to see if they can special order products that they do not carry on the store shelf.



All of our products can be ordered from several online companies.



http://www.amazon.com/

http://www.summitracing.com/

http://www.lucky7trucks.com/

http://www.jegs.com/

http://paceperformance.com/



Thank you for choosing Royal Purple, and have a great day!



Best Regards,



Cody Bartkowiak

Automotive, Technical Support

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One tip...
If you reset you cars computer, you will NEVER get your free oil change...
That's why it is usually suggested to simply cut the factory oil change interval in half or third...and then when the factory oil change is due, bring it to the dealer, get a free oil change, and they will look over your car, maybe comply with a recall or TSB...
On my car (gen1), the factory computer calls for 15,000 mile oil changes...
So I (based on seeing other folks oil tests, and the fact I drive pretty laid back most of the time) split it in half, and did a half way oil change at 7500, then let the dealer do a 15,000...then I did the next 7500 later, they did the next, etc, until I was out of free changes...
And yes, the dealer DID do a few "updates" to the wiring, etc during that time, added a trunk release, etc for free....
Important thing is just to make a schedule that works for you, and meets you and your cars needs...
Yes, some dealers have a crappy scheduling setup, and sometimes it is best to avoid them, but having a "relationship" with one is a good idea...on two other cars I have gotten SIGNIFIGANT repairs done for free after the warrenty was done cause the dealer saw the car during the warrenty period, and made notes in the cars history about something they saw/did.....

 

Thanks Zippy, I'll keep this in mind. However, I've come to the decision I'll do my own oil changes from thus day forward. It seems if the key-fob doesn't say it needs something they won't even touch the car. I'm keeping receipts and records of all oil changes I do from this day forward.