Havent seen, much less had the time to look, but neways. What do you all recommend for oil in my car. I know there is a recommendation of Castrol and there is even a Stock Number for a certain oil from MINI. What interval and what brand do you recommend. I do drive "a little over the speed limit" from time to time, and love going down curvey roads at "5mph" over the speed limit. Well thanks for any info. One more week of school, yay me.
V/R
SSG Phillip Batson

 

Hi,

I tried "oil change recommendations" in the search function at the upper right on this page. There are lots of threads and opinions on oil brands and change recommendations that you might want to look through.

The MINI recommended oil is Castroil Synthetic and there is a "MINI" labled version available at MINI dealers.

Congrats on finishing school.

 

You can't find a page on this forum that doesn't discuss oil...
Go to the dealer, then you won't have to bother searching here... just in your wallet.

 

I switched to Royal Purple Synthetic.
I have seen a lot of discussion on various forums about the Castrol Synthetic available in the US not being full synthetic so I stopped using Castrol Syntec. I do not know how true are the stories about Castrol, but Royal Purple has a good reputation. Royal Purple is a little hard to find but the Pep Boys near my home has Royal Purple.

 

I jusr switched to Royal Purple in my '03 MC. $6.99/qt. at O'Reillys. I'm sure it's just me...but my MC feels a bit zippier since I changed to Royal Purple.

 

We are not on the bleeding edge with our motors like F1. Thre are multitude of good quality oils that suit our vehicles well. To some oil brand is like religion, it's their way or you will blow up. With any of the following in no particualr order you will be more then protected with a reasonable interval between oil and filter changes.

Redline
Royal Purple
Mini branded Castrol
Amsoil
Motul

 

I use Mobil 1 and nothing else. I won 5 quarts of castrol at a car show last weekend and traded it for a quick detail spray.

 

redline or amsoil

 

Any 5w-30 full synthetic that makes you happy!

 

Check out...
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/
Ive run the MINI Castrol, Mobil 1, and am most happy with Penzoil Platinum 5W-30. Also, the people recommending Royal Purple and Redline are right on! Those are incredible oils with excellent thermal resistancies and a very low break down even under high performance hard driving applications. But Penz Plat is right behind them and is less expensive and more accessible. If your changing every 3-4000 miles (and NOT the INSANE 15,000 miles that MINI recommends...makes me cringe everytime I think about that), Penz Plat is an accessible option that performs as well as any comparitively weighted Redline or Royal P. Numbers are ridiculously close.
Also, if your interested in knowing how your oil is doing after 15,000 miles...
have blackstone labs test it for you. The results will make you want to cry!!!
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

Why would the results make me cry????

What would you predict?

 

After 15000 miles? Lots of contamination.... still decent lubrication, but lotsa metals and some combustion by-products. Check some of the threads if you search on oil change (or "interval").

(which reminds me, time to order the oil change kit/wrench/filters... heard the mini oil isn't any more/less difficult to change than any other...)

 

I change my oil every 5k-7k miles with Mobil 1 full synthetic...

 

mobil1 once a year (driven about 5k miles per year)

 

Ken, you only put 5k miles a year on your MINI? If so, you need to get out and motor!

 

I use Elf Solaris 5w-30. It feels a bit better than the Castrol Syntec I used before. I try and change my oil every 7-8k....I'm bad I know....But like gnatster said....we don't have F1 motors in out cars, so really almost any 5-30 synthetic should be fine. Just pick your brand!

 

Any of the oils that have been listed in the prior posts would be fine. Also most of the change intervals suggested are good as well.

Personally I use the Mini oil because it's recommended as well as being cheaper, at least around here, at the dealer than any of the other brands that have been listed.

I also change oil and filter every 6 months, right around 5 thousand miles, with out fail. No exceptions, no excuses.

And yes I am old school. Hell I'm older that dirt so I'm entitled to, as some would say, waste my money.

Hope this helps...

 

Correct, the Syntec is not 100% sythetic, but is able to claim it because of the outstanding properties which are on par with "true" synthetics. Its still a very good oil.

I am currently running Castrol Syntec 0W-30. It is the european formula which meets BMW's long life oil specs and is even labeled as such on the bottle. I change about 5k miles.

There's lots of good oils out there. I have tried many of them.

On my BMW M Roadster I have tried many oils, but have prodominantly used Syntec (of a few different weights). My last oil report showed my S52 (3.2L) engine wearing exceptionally well and no signs of any warnings at 92k miles.

 

Thanks all. I am looking at Mobil 1 Synthetic or the Castrol Syntec 0W-30. Where can you get the European Blend? And one more thing, what is Elf Solaris 5w-30? Never heard of them.
V/R
Phillip

 

Autozone sells the European blend

 

Decided to go with the Royal Purple Synthetic. Everything went off without a hitch. I dread the next change, hearing how the canister can be a pain next time around, but no worries though. It will be a blast. Thanks everone for your help.
V/R
SSG Phillip Batson

 

WOW!! Royal Purple for $6.99 a quart!!! I pay $7.40 a quart for Royal Purple for my cars. I haven't used it yet in my Mini cause of the whole free maintenance thing with the warranty or whatever