For those ultra concerned about what type of oil to use, viscosity, etc, etc.
I send samples of my oil changes to blackstone (link). They've always given very good feedback in the comments, as well as a breakdown of the oil.

This is far more valuable than what some guy on the internet says what oil you should use. You can see my most recent oil report in the attached PDF.

Point is: run whatever oil, get an oil analysis... see how it works with your use and engine. Then adjust accordingly. I had good success with Mobil 1 previously and switched to Rotella since my other vehicles use that oil and wanted to keep everything similar. It appears the Mini will be fine using the Rotella, albeit the viscosity will suffer slightly. Meaning, if I continue to track/autocross the Mini, I should increase my OCI or switch back to Mobil 1.

YMMV

 

Awesome ... thank you for taking the time to post that up.

I've been using them for years from monster heavy industrial diesels down to my dirt bikes... and the Mini's.

I see that you are using a high ZDDP-level diesel oil... Are you not running a catalyst on your car?


.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks for posting this report. 12K intervals are pretty close to the Mini oil service interval.

I’ve also been using the Rotella 5w-40 for the aged fleet of cars as well and have also had no issues with any of them.

Maybe stretch intervals to 10K miles instead of 5?

 

I've ran Rotella in various cars, Cat and no Cat, no issues.

I thought about it, but since it's been a year, I figured it was time to do an oil change. Otherwise, I would have ran it out further.

 

I’ve had issues with ZDDP diesel
oil fouling catalyst in my Toyota... Rotella and Delo400 ... replaced the cat... fouled again ... replaced cat .. changed back to non ZDDP oil ... no issues for 80k more miles. Only change was oil.

Modern Cats are the reason they pulled the ZDDP out of gas engine motor oils

Some people though have zero, perceived, issues with diesel motor oil in their gas/catted engines like you mention.

I stick with good, low-NOACK, full synth 5w-30 (for my climate) ... favs of mine are Redline and Penz-Ultra Platinum for those reasons.

I run the Rotella/Delo400 Diesel in many diff vehicles though ... and buy it by the 5-gallon buckets from local heavy truck dealer. I run it every other oil change in my customers boats ... and in all large diesel generators for its higher detergent properties .

this particular tested oil of yours.... catted or de-catted ??

 

I don't see this being a 'high-Zink' oil at all. It's mid-SAPS actually.

Thanks for the UOA. While I'd use a more advanced oil personally Shell Rotella is still working great in your case.

 

Catted.
Also ran this oil in a S2000 which was catted as well. UOA always came back good. I'll be running this oil in an AMG car soon, and I'll see how it works with that engine.


Which is the main point... don't trust what people say, trust what an UOA says. Mountainhorse has had issues running this oil in his gas vehicles. I haven't, with the UOA as evidence.

Everyone's use-case will be different -- which is why having UOAs are important to determine what oil works best for you and your vehicle, even if the vehicle is identical.

 

Again, thank you for taking the time and effort to post this info !!

its what this forum is all about !!

 

This is something I need to do, get an UOA and monitor how it looks.

In the meantime I'll revert back to personal anecdote and say how impressed I am with Motul 8100 X-cess 5w/40 --- I only have 4500 miles on it as of right now (just started using it with my last oil change) but I'm highly impressed with how it has quietened valvetrain noise as well as maintained proper level with no burn off.

Previously when running Amsoil Euro or Liqui-Moly in 5w/40 they both required topping off around this time due to burn off, but the Motul has not.

However,
I am somewhat concerned about the high-SAPS aspect with regards to cat life and since that topic was brought up in this thread thought I'd ask here...

...should I be concerned that in the long run my cat will become clogged?

I found this pic of an Audi with clogged cat which looks like deposits:



Is that what a high-SAPS oil will do over long term use?

 

While I prefer Castrol for gear oils both Amsoil, Motul, Ravenol and Redline do some incredibly great engine oils. Not all of them are excellent though. Currently I'm running Ravenol REP on all my vehicles. Since it comes with an BMW LL-04 approval I use to take it to the dealer for the oil changes. It has some excellent specs, e.g. low Noack (~6%) and highest HTHS of 3,7 for a 5W-30 (same as Redline which lacks approvals). I'm not able to back it up with own UOAs, however many have done UOAs with great results.


Amsoil SSO seems to work better than Amsoil Euro anyway:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-oil-test.html


That's certainly not because of SAPS levels but due to excessive oil burning instead. Zink and phosphorus aren't clogging the cat, they poisen the cat if your engine happens to suffer from excessive oil consumption. Generally speaking SAPS level is a non-issue with port injected engines as long as oil consumption remains normal/low. However many DI engines, as they can be prone to LSPI effects, may prefer low-to-mid SAPS oils (and reduced calcium levels btw). Current iterations of VW 504 00, BMW LL-04 and MB 229.5 are reflecting this.