I took that quote right off the ACEA web site.

i can say for sure that i have been using Royal Purple a long time. since day one in my MINI and change it as needed (68K on the car now). i tried a few other oils and the car felt sluggish and it was on an oil that was good for 50K between changes (with 10K filter changes). i changed it at 5K and felt the car come back to life. i use RP in all our MINIs, the van, and my muscle car. all have seen good things from the oil and not a single problem. i also use this oil on a lot of my customers cars, several are over 100K and one is over 150K, and we have used this oil from day one. last year i did around 106 oil changes and to date i have never had an issue.

while i use this oil. almost any oil will work in our cars. as long as you change every 5K and put in a new filter, you will not have any problems. in the end we can all beat the specs to death, but oil is needed for the engine. use what you feel safe with. it's just like the gas issue that has been around for year. the cars run better on 93 or 94, but can run on 91 or 89 if you have to. the west cost all you can find some times in 89. what ya doing to do not fill up and be stuck in the desert? lol

always here to help.

Chad
Detroit Tuned

 

Here are a couple of links that you can compare viscosity at 100 degrees C and specific gravity on some oils. Notice that the Valvoline 5W30MST and 5W30 MaxLife which are LL01 and LL04 and A3/B3 are heavier than the other 5W30's that are not LL01, etc., yet lighter than a 5W40. It is probably easier to maintain stability with heavier oil. I think Mini is providing a heavy 5W30 to maintain viscosity stability. It would be interesting to see the Mini data sheet. I may try.

http://www.valvoline.com/products/Synpower.pdf

http://www.valvoline.com/products/Ma...hetic%20PI.pdf

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/datasheetsearch.do

 

Received an email from Valvoline saying that the 5W30MST is a factory fill oil only available at a BMW dealer. Interesting. I think the heavier 5W30 is the key to the LL01, etc. rating.

 

Yep. Most 5w30 oils are right in the middle of the viscosity range for an SAE 30 weight oil. The ones with A3/B3 approval tend to be a little thicker. German Castrol 0w30 and BMW 5w30 are above a 12 as measured in cst at 100 Celcius. Midrange of SAE 30 is around 10 which is where Pennzoil Platinum's 5w30 falls for example.

That said, it isn't just viscosity that determines the ACEA rating. There are quite a few tests in that spec.

 

No, but we know they're both A3, and my local MINI dealer handed me a quart of BMW-labeled when I went in for an early life top up.

 

That is true. However, both Castrol's and Valvoline's retail 5W40 meet the spec. I didn't check other brands as Mini specified Castrol, Valvoline or Mobil 1.

 

The point I was trying to make is that one of the differences between A3 and A5 has to do with viscosity at temp. Certainly there are other characteristics in the specs, but some of them are shared by A3 & A5.

 

Hey all, Do you potentially void the warranty (or create an opportunity for same) using anything other than MINI branded filter kit/oil, like Robin Cassady did, and keeping the MINI dealer parts dept receipt for proof? Royal Purple sounds great, but is there a dyno showing real improvement?

 

IIRC I read on BITOG and elsewhere sometime last year Mobil 1 (or at least some grades of it) switched to mostly group III base stock. IMHO it matters less whether the oil is group III, IV, or V, Brand X or Brand Y. What matters most is the specific application, what is happening inside YOUR engine. Hence regular UOA.

 

I doubt the oil would be a problem. The owner's manual is rather lax in what it recommends. If you stayed within what the owner's manual recommends for oil, I think they would have a hard time voiding your warranty over that. However, if you had a warranty problem that could be blamed on the oil filter, and you have a non-OEM filter, it could be an issue. I think the chances of that happening are rather slim, unless you use a really poor quality filter.

I'd like to see some Royal Purple dyno numbers as well. That would be interesting.

 

oil will not void your warranty, not having oil will void your warranty...lo

here are a few articles i found about RP and HP. i have read several by magazines like Chevy High Performance, Super Chevy, and Hot Rod.

http://www.royalpurple.com/corvette-enthusiast.html (this one is good)

http://www.diy-re.uk.com/acatalog/Indep-testsDIY-RE

http://www.nolimitmotorsport.com/royalpurple/ (check out the dyno sheets!)

 

Interesting articles. Thanks. I wonder whether it would better to use Royal Purple 5W-40 (which meets ACEA A3), rather than 5W-30 which doesn't?

 

anyone know if Mobil 1 0-40 extended life would be acceptable, I have that or semi-synth Mobil 1 5-30 on tap.

 

Any Amsoil user's? I've been using it for a few year's now in my Honda's. How would Amsoil compare to some of the oil's mentioned in this thread when used in a Mini?

 

You sure Mobil 1 0W-40 is available in Extended Life formula? I don't see it here:
http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lub...erformance.asp

Mobil 1 5W-30 Extended Life is an ACEA A1/A5 oil, which is thinner than the MINI branded ACEA A3 oil.

There is a Mobil 1 0W-40 listed here:
http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Mot...l_1_0W-40.aspx
It meets both ACEA A3, B3/B4, and BMW LL-01.
Not sure why it is not classed as "Extended Life" by Mobil. Perhaps it doesn't use the same additives.

 

Amsoil European Car Formula Synthetic 5W-40 Motor Oil (AFL) meets ACEA A3/B3, and BMW LL-04 (which is a higher standard than LL-01, IIRC).
http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/afl.aspx
I have no personal experience with it.

 

Amsoil also has a 5W-30 that meets A3: "Series 3000 Synthetic 5W-30 Heavy-Duty Diesel Oil (HDD)"

https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/hdd.aspx

I haven't tried it.

 

I wonder why it is classed as a diesel oil?

 

here was a good read:

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

 

Surprised no one has mentioned Motul. They make some good stuff, including stuff that meets the specs for BWM, VW, MB, Porsche, Renault, GM/Opel, and others. As far as I know they make oils that meet BMW's LL-01, 04, and 98 specs. http://www.motul-lubricants.ca

 

this thread is causing me to think about what to use for oil now...I've used Mobile 1 Extended Perofrmance full synthetic 5w30 for both oil changes that I've done so far. I have about 16,500 miles, did the 1st change around 5-6k, then the 2nd at about 10-11k. I think I may try the Royal Purple full synthetic 5w30 this next time.

 

None of those oils meet ACEA A3/B3. Royal Purple 5W-40 does, but their 5W-30 does not.

 

Anyone use redline?

 

Any opinions on the following re: best oil:

MINI seems to recommend Castrol. MINI OEM oil is apparently Castrol. It is 5W-30. I believe that is what is recommended. Meets A3 & BMW LL-01. Based on the following from Castrol's site, Castrol's off-the-shelf 5W-30 does not meet A3/BMW LL-01. 0W-30 does. Two specific questions for those knowledgeable: 1) if you are changing more frequently than the recommended 15K or so, do you need the LL-01 spec? A3? And, 2) given the cold start noise thread under '07 stock problems, and a recommendation there regarding afix using lower viscosity 0W-30, does it make sense to run that? IOW, is the 5W-30 spec just so the oil lasts longer and MINI can offer free mtnce, but the first one isn't till 15K?

SAE 0W–30:



Castrol SYNTEC 0W–30 European Formula is engineered to meet the Mercedes Benz 229.5 specification. The 0W–30 viscosity grade is ideal for winter conditions where low temperature pumpability is required. A unique, low–temperature formulation provides exceptional pumpability in cold weather and allows for unaided engine starts down to –40ºF. Exceeds all car and light truck manufacturer's warranty requirements for the protection of gasoline, diesel and turbocharged engines where API SL, SJ, SH, CF or CD is recommended. Exceeds European ACEA: A3, B3, B4; VW 502 00, 505 00, 503 01; MB 229.1, 229.3, 229.5; BMW LL–01; GM–LLA–025, GM–LL–B–025 and the engine protection requirements of ILSAC GF–3 for API Certified Gasoline Engine Oils.






SAE 5W–30:



is the most recommended grade in today's new cars. Exceeds all car and light truck manufacturer's warranty requirements for the protection of gasoline, diesel and turbocharged engines where API SM, SL, SJ, SH, CF or CD is recommended. Exceeds European ACEA: A1, A5, B1, B5, GM 6094M; Ford WSS M2C929–A and all requirements of ILSAC GF–4 for API Certified Gasoline Engine Oils and meets Energy Conserving Standards. In torture tests, Castrol 5W-30 maintained maximum horsepower 29% longer than the leading conventional oil.

 

It's unfortunate if you call Mini USA and ask what oil is recommended (as per the instruction sticker on the engine), they just say Castrol Syntec 5w30, Mobile 5w30 and one other I don't recall. They make no mention of the fact it needs to be A3. Would be nice if they got their story straight. I dumped clean oil just to get back to Mini branded stuff that met the A3 requirement, thanks to NAM.