R56 Approved oils for R56 MCS
Alliance Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 661
Likes: 24
From: Port Orchard, WA.
0-30 Castrol Syntec
I found Castrol 0-30w Syntec European Formula @ Autozone here in Western Washington. It is not inexpensive but since I do a mid cycle oil change at home it saves $$$.
S.
S.
4th Gear
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 483
Likes: 2
From: Miami, FL
Ok so my problems is solved. I did what I should have done from the start and called the nearest Mini dealer which is about 20 minutes away from me. They sell the Mini oil for 6.75/qt and the filter for 12 bucks. Oil change should run me under 50 bucks.
Car's already at 2100 miles so I'll probably be doing the first one somewhere between 3K and 5K.
Car's already at 2100 miles so I'll probably be doing the first one somewhere between 3K and 5K.
I just picked some up at the Autozone in Shoreline for $8.79/qt. I've been changing the oil/filter in between dealer changes. The dealer wants over $11 after tax for the "Mini" oil. No thanks.
1st Gear
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
As this is mostly a Peugeot engine with BMW adding their valve timing stuff, I don't know that BMW has dealt with the lubrication requirements of this engine to say if an LL-98, LL-01, or the really tight LL-04 is needed.
Also, when BMW and Peugeot say fully synthetic oil they mean Group IV and V oils built up from scratch base stocks. When printing the manual for the US I don't know that BMW NA knows the different between EU law that states for an oil to be synthetic it can't be made from modifying Group III or lower oils that come out of the ground. In the US they can say that. The main difference is the Group III synthetics these days offer as much protection but for not as many miles. Does the ACEA A3/B3 spec deal with oil life or performance over time?
Valvoline, Castrol (expect for German made 0w30), Pennzoil are Group III synthetics.
So it's interesting that the 5w40 Castrol meets A3/B3.
Hmm, the spec linked does mention A3/B3 includes for extended drain intervals, but I haven't looked through the rest of the documents.
Also, when BMW and Peugeot say fully synthetic oil they mean Group IV and V oils built up from scratch base stocks. When printing the manual for the US I don't know that BMW NA knows the different between EU law that states for an oil to be synthetic it can't be made from modifying Group III or lower oils that come out of the ground. In the US they can say that. The main difference is the Group III synthetics these days offer as much protection but for not as many miles. Does the ACEA A3/B3 spec deal with oil life or performance over time?
Valvoline, Castrol (expect for German made 0w30), Pennzoil are Group III synthetics.
So it's interesting that the 5w40 Castrol meets A3/B3.
Hmm, the spec linked does mention A3/B3 includes for extended drain intervals, but I haven't looked through the rest of the documents.
I saw 25 years old engines with better designed timing chain tensioners...
used to run sso 5w30 and 10w30 on the evo, switching to zrod soon
5th Gear
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 707
Likes: 5
Yes I ran the SSO in my EVO as well. Since then I did an engine build on it and can't use the SSO. So I looked up the MCS on the amsoil site and it suggested the SSO. Since I had a case, that's what I've been using. It's been great so far.
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