Is there any place to buy MINI brand oil besides the dealership? I've searched the forums and looked at vendors but can't find anything. I know a few that used to sell BMW's oil years ago...
I am just finding it difficult to get all the way to the dealer. I've been meaning to do it for weeks. And I don't want to switch oils back and forth because the next one will be done by the dealer under the free maintenance.

Thank you!

 

Castrol Syntec 5W-30 is what Mini of Nashville tells me they use. It doesn't say "Mini" on the label, but it's what Mini uses.

 

Syntec 5w-30 isn't A3 rated so I'm pretty sure it's not the same. But thanks anyway. Nice rx7, I like those. Once I am out of the free maintenance period I will switch to something else....

 

+1
This one is specifically mentioned in the manual as "recommended oil"...

 

I started using Castrol 0W30, which is an European Formula that is recommended by Mini. They also recommend 0W40 Mobil One.

Just to give you a few more choices depending on your driving style.

 

yup i just bought 3 cases of 0w40 European Formula Mobile One Long as it says A3/B3 on it it meets spec. Ill be trying it out this week, so we'll see!

 

They are mistaken. The MINI 5W-30 is specially formulated for BMW by Castrol. As jason09R56 said, it has an ACEA rating of A3. The USA Castrol Syntec 5W-30 is rated at A5.

A3 has a higher rating for "Viscosity at high temp. & high shear rate" than A5.

The UK version of the MINI owners manual says that MINIs should use A3 oils. The USA manual says:

This could be interpreted to mean that API SH (a much less stringent spec than ACEA A3) can be used for oil changes. It could also be interpreted to mean that in an emergency to top up the oil level.

If your MINI dealer is too far away, and there is a BMW dealer near by, I believe that the BMW branded 5W-30 is the same stuff as the MINI branded. However, some BMW dealers charge a few $$ more for BMW oil than MINI dealers charge. I paid $5.40/qt. at MINI of Mountain View.

There are a few A3 rated oils in the USA. Some of them are labeled as "European Formula".

 

Both Mobil One 0W40 and Castrol 0W30 are A3 rated.

But the oil I use for track Redline 5W30 is not A3 rated and I think that it may be the best oil under extreme conditions.

 

It maybe that Redline just has not spent the $$ to get it rated for the European ACEA system.

 

I stock MINI brand oil. But we don't ship it due to hazardous shipping. But if your coming to the mod party this weekend I can bring you some, just let me know ahead of time.

WAY

 

Isn't there a ORM-D exemption for oil? I don't have my IATA/DoT book on hand, but I think you can ship it without a hazardous declaration.
My base arguement....it didn't get shipped to you as a HazMat.

 

I tried to go this route and yes, the BMW 5W-30 is the same. My local BMW dealership wanted nearly twice as much as the $5.40 MINI brand oil for some reason. I just decided to make the 140mi/rt and bought several filters and oil to last me until my first covered service.

 

Maybe someone reading this thread will appreciate an alternative view. I use Walmart oil. Yep, the cheap supertech synthetic 0-30 gallon jug on our just-a-cooper. I don't like single-source, premium-priced stuff.

Most the time, our Mini is driven easy to save on wear to enjoy the high gas mileage. Now that we are beyond the warranty, I'm planning a change every 10k miles - 10k intervals make things easy.

I've been a car nut for 35 years and every time I start to think about something like BMW Oil, I ask myself: When is the last time you spun bearing on a gently-driven, well maintained, car? Never. Same goes for rings, rods, cams, cranks, valve guides, etc.

But then, I don't drive a car that hard anymore and I never forget an oil change. I'm not particularly a fan of Walmart, but some of their prices are good. We've got 180k miles on a Camry that has only had supertech dino (non-syn) oil every 5k. Runs great, no problems, and I'm keeping it. My other fun car is a Corvette w/ 65k miles. I was expecting to get blasted for admitting I use walmart oil on the Corvette Forum but owners generally agreed saying - 'if you are not driving on the track, any synthetic is probably fine'.