Hey all,

So I am getting close to needing another oil change (been about a year) and I am having a bit of trouble figuring out what weight oil I should be using. In the other cars I have done changes on it has always been 5w30 mineral oil, however I am seeing recommendations for the MINI ranging from 0w-40 to 5w-30.

I do a lot of short drives, around 3 miles so my oil maybe gets up to full temp maybe once a week (when I go out and drive hard on weekends). So I am looking for better "cold" protection. I am guessing that the 0w will accomplish that part. A thinner oil will start to lubricate faster. But what about the upper end, does it make more sense to with a 30 or a 40? The 40 is thicker, but is that really what I want or does it not make that big a difference?

I am in the northeast so the temperatures are all over the place. The car is driven year round so having an oil that works in most temps would be good. So, 5w-30, 0w-30, 0w-40? I cant decide despite looking up what it all means.


PS: Probably going to use mobil-1 synthetic and switch to a 6000mi change interval (even though that is close to years worth of driving).

 

you have opened the perdervial Pandora's box on this subject.There is a libray of information on this and everybody has a different opion.
I use 0w-30 M1 myself.