Im using the Castrol SLX Professional Powerflow LongLife III 5W-30 engine oil for my mini (from European dealer). What are you guys using and do you need almost every 8months to make refills, i do and i have 23.000km so far?

 

Royal Purple....Well Havent Used It Cause Of The Free Maintenance But I Have Used It Ever Since I Bought My First Car ...... But Uhhh Isnt That Very Abnormal For A Car With So Little Miles ?

 

Amsoil Signature 0w-30 is awesome. I use it in my wifes '05 for 40k miles and it is great. It could be 10 degrees out and when you start it cold, it takes, literally, about 1 second or less for the oil to make its way throughout the engine because it is so thin. Also, it has a much better 4 ball wear test than the competition. I do not sell it personally, but I swear by it. I have used it in my motorcycle, 4 wheeler, cars, lawnmowers, etc and it is great. Also note, do NOT buy their transmission fluid EVER. It will make your car shift like crap no matter which you use. Buy Redline MTL, it is the best for the transmission.

 

^^^^^ Just on your wife's '05? Do you know if it meets MINI's 'spec'?
Assume it is due to Free Service for your '08.

I have done (DIY) two oil/filter changes (1250 & 4400 mile, using MINI branded Oil) and now a Local MINI Dealer has just opened in Fort Myers, so next one will be on them.

 

You do not state if you are in warranty, if you are I would stay with a Listed MINI approved oil. I like the castrol european 0-30w.

Here is the list from the manual.

The oils listed below meet MINI’s Long-life rating and are acceptable for use in MINIs in the US market with gasoline engines.

Long-life rating LL-01 Approved Synthetic Oils for the US Market
- Castrol Syntec European Formula SAE 0W-30
- Mobil 1 SAE 0W-40
- Pennzoil Platinum European Formula Ultra SAE 5W-30
- Valvoline SynPower SAE 5W-30

 

I've been using the MINI branded 5W-30, but will probably use Castrol Syntec European Formula SAE 0W-30 for my next DIY oil change.

 

After my break in i used Royal Purple and my next DIY oil change will be MINI oil cause it is just so damn cheap!

 

Just got the '08 2 weeks ago and is under scheduled warranty so I will get MINI oil changes for the '08. And YES it is specced for BMW/MINI's from Amsoil. I will tell you, the car just runs better with 0w-30 in it. Plus the standard Castrol and Penzoil have terrible 4 wall bearing tests which tells me my oil protects better too.

 

Castrol Syntec 0W-30 is a perfect oil for the R56 engine. I was using this oil until recently and had a couple of oil samples from my engine analyzed. The oil analysis showed that this oil is doing a great job minimizing wear. I recently switched to Mobil 1 0W-40 though, because I regularly take my car to the track and I found out that a bit thicker oil (i.e. 40 weight) is better for track use, because of the high temps the engine sees on the track.

 

Who analyzed samples from your oil? Feels like your mini makes a checkup in a hospital wow, i would have never thought that one can analyze the engine oil!

 

Unable to go further, I changed the oil in my '09 at 5,000 miles. I bought my OEM filter from my Mini dealer ($10.46) but I used the new Castrol Edge 5W-30 because it is guaranteed for 15,000 miles or one year.

I also modified my dipstick to make it easier to read.

 

Blackstone Labs does the oil analysis: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

I take a sample of my used engine oil while I am changing the oil and then I send the oil sample to the lab for them to analyze it.

They can determine how well the oil is holding up and how the engine is wearing by analyzing the used oil.

 

Jesus Son of Joseph here we go yet AGAIN...

 

What did you do to your dipstick? Is that a replacement dipstick, or did you somehow modify your existing one? That doesn't look at all like the 2007 version, but I think they have changed since then.

I prefer Castrol Syntech 0W-30 European Formula because it meets BMW's LL-01 standard. Unfortunately, there is no Castrol Edge in the USA that meets that standard. Castrol Edge 5W-30 Meets ACEA A5, BMW requires ACEA A3 which has a higher rating for "viscosity at high temp. & high shear rate".

 

Enjoy.

 

This is the OEM dipstick in the 2009 "S" All I did was to drill an additional hole at the "full" point and file a couple grooves to make it easier to show the level. It works well and costs nothing, which is rare when talking anything Mini.

 

glad y're here RC. what oil do I use for my new custom hi-tech hybrid popcorn popper? help! Im too damned lazy to read the manual, or do a search, so I'll just waste bandwidth asking people to do my research for me

 

I would recommend Castrol Safflower Edge, or Royal Canola.

 

Pentosin 5w-30

 

Is that with or w/o butter flavoring?

 

Coconut Oil, but if you use MINI 05W30, you might go 24,000 between Strokes.