Appreciate seeing this stuff, can give some peace of mind knowing the wear numbers are doing ok even when you're running the car hard in competition. Looks like you would be fine going to longer intervals, even with autocross, with the exception of the tin in the last Amsoil sample.

I know this is under 2nd gen but I recently got the first analysis done on my 2006 JCW (R53) to see how OEM oil is holding up on a 6,500mile interval with a couple local autocross events:

 

Has anyone installed a remote oil cooler on the cars yet ?

 

I find it ironic that in the 60's-70's we were told to do oil changes every 5000 miles, somewhere in the 80's that dropped to 3000 miles, then in the 90's Synthetic become more used and we were told you could go 6000-7500 or more miles with it. Now years later with much better engines and one would assume better oil it does seem feasible to go even longer between oil changes.. BUT instead almost all shops ( other then the dealer ) will say to change the oil every 3000-5000 miles. I for one think this is a conspiracy by the oil and filter manufactures!!!!

 

well a few things. better engines don't necessarily mean they can go longer on oil or something like that. if anything, better engines = tighter tolerances, probably require better oil etc.

that said, you are right on OCIs. i wouldn't change oil every 3k unless I was racing. 3-5k for racing, but my corolla goes 15-20k miles easy on synthetic

 

I might be one of the few but I have gone by my MINIs computer to change oil for the last 141,000 miles EXCEPT for the very 1st one which I did around 4000 miles I believe. That was a long time ago.. Granted I have a Just'a so maybe not quite as hard on the oil as an "S" car might be..

 

Ok, with the new season approaching I'll be testing two more oils and then swap air filters and see if that makes any difference -

I'm using Amsoil 5w30 Euro Formula for the first test, any suggestions for the second? I'd prefer not to use anything 40, I know that's a popular one for Minis but IMO too thick for day to day & cold starts, straining the oil system etc. Leaning towards using the 0w30 that I use during the winter season.

So yea, after the oil tests I'll choose an oil to stick with for the racing season. Then will see if an upgraded air filter will improve how much crap gets into the oil

 

Have the oils that you tested specified that they meet the BMW oil spec? I use mobil1 0w40 for 3 reasons (meets BMW spec, it is reasonably priced and commonly available, and i've never had issues with mobil1). I've tried amsoil, mini oil, and mobil1.

I can't really suggest another oil, not sure what people use.

Thanks for the info. Seeing this up at the top again makes me think to send my oil out, even though I'm a little nervous (100k+).

Have fun,
Mike

 

met BMW spec in which regard? as far as viscosity, I'm sticking with 30 weight oil, anything from 0w30 to 10w30. In that regard, yes. If there's something else BMW specifies, IDK - I'm taking the 'proof is in the pudding' approach - as in, less wear if it works well.

For example, there was a little bit of titanium in the oil from Pennzoil - Pennzoil is also the thinnest/lightest of most 30wt oils I've seen, and on top of that euro oils tend to run thicker. I'm taking that as a sign that Pennzoil is too thin & therefore not appropriate for the Mini. The next run (with much more races) with the much thicker Amsoil zrod 10w30 shows 0 in ti, as does the previous run with Mini OEM, which is the thickest oil so far. However, the Amsoil run has some tin in it, which the previous did not.

Now I may be reading too much into that, but I think it's fairly safe to say given what the Mini comes with from the factory that the appropriate viscosity is relatively high, and that is when it runs the most protected. As far as additive packages in the Mini OEM oil, molybdenum stands out. Perhaps that additive helps with something that didn't in Amsoil, and caused the tin wear. Or maybe it was from the extra races I did on amsoil. Or it could all be a coincidence. More testing is definitely needed.

 

At some point, you could go back to the earlier oils and re-test them. If wear numbers go back to what they were in the first run, you have a good indication that the wear is due to the oil itself.

That's the principle behind A-B-A testing.

 

The only thing I would really care about, when considering oil is: "does it make the tensioner function well"?

Mini's should really come with a pre and post oiler.

 

Latest UOA - In a surprise, the Amsoil 5w30 Euro didn't perform like I thought it was going to. Very interesting, I'd say it probably did the worst of the oils so far. The increase in iron is curious. I'm testing Amsoil 0w30 SSO right now, and hope to have those results by the end of the year. It's challenging because there are such big gaps between oil changes due to me putting "race" miles on the car before sending the oil.



Based on the results, it looks like the OEM oil has done the best so far. Don't know if it's due to the high molybdenum additive or if it was just so early on, but I will definitely be trying the OEM oil again first thing next year. Also, couldn't find a consistent answer - what exactly is the Mini Cooper OE oil? Castrol Edge 5w30?

 

Thanks for this great info kyoo.

I might try and do this on some Rotella 6T 5w-40, once I get through the 5w-30 the dealer just put in when I picked up my MINI.

 

Curious about the Rotella T6 as well. Ran that stuff (non-MINI car) for a few years before the built motor and now running race oil. Have you done this yet?

 

I have not - I'm actually not a fan of running thick motors (thick =/= protection) but I may give it a shot down the road.


I recently ran Amsoil 0w30 on ~70 runs autox, waiting for the results of that one. I'm thinking next year I will run the OE oil on a full 70-75 run and test that, and then decide from there. I am working on a sponsorship with a fairly large oil provider, and one that I feel confidently provides protection due to an additive it uses a lot of that others do not (no, not referring to ZDDP).


Once I get more info I will be sure to post it, and I will re-update this once the results of the 0w30 are back!

 

chifanpoe said he might try to do it with the T6 so I am curious if he has ended up doing this yet. What oil are you working with for the sponsorship? I run Schaeffers now, I'd be curious to see lab results for this oil.

 

I will reveal all in a month - whether I get it or not! And will test that oil regardless of whether or not I get it.


Sadly because I am trying to stay consistent around 75 runs per oil change, it roughly equates to 2 oil changes per year, and thus 2 oil tests per year. OE and my new oil next up, and if that new oil proves to run as hoped, I will probably halt oil testing and continue with that oil.

 

Sounds good. Looking forward to the results and good luck with the sponsorship.

 

thanks! hoping to really ramp up my driving in 2016.

 

Latest report!

Write up here: http://r56hs.com/2015/10/21/mini-uoa-5/



Very interesting conclusion - note the wear in iron drops off nearly 50% when going from Amsoil Euro to Amsoil SSO 0w30. If I were to stop testing now, I'd be completely happy running 0w30 SSO for the remainder of this car's life. However, going to do two more tests next year - a full run on the OE oil, and one more if I lock down a sponsorship.

One key take away -- do NOT run Amsoil Euro 5w30 -- it does not seem to be good for our cars. It looks like our cars like oil with a decent amount of moly - i.e., Amsoil SSO 0w30 or the OE Mini oil

 

taking this chance to also post another UOA - this one of my Evo:

write up: http://r56hs.com/2015/10/25/evo-uoa-3/



This is my Evo - 4G63 iron block. 300hp of turbocharged, awd madness - and yet, much, much lower wear levels than the Mini. Even with the track run, iron wear is very controlled. A few trace elements, but not much different than the Mini there. Very happy with the results for the Evo. Note also, very very good filtration - even though the air filter is an open air cone filter, though I do have a cone filter sleeve covering it as well. Equivalent to the Mini's closed box, and in some cases better.

 

So which oil is now currently tested and recommended?

 

its tough to draw such sweeping conclusion from one data point. Spectral analysis is not that precise to be loosing sleep over 17 vs 11. One thing you should do is save oil samples so you can have the outliers retested.

 

I can only speak for my uses, which are low OCI's and hard use - and in this case, so far Amsoil 0w30 SSO seems to take it, with the decent amount of zinc and moderate moly amount - similar to the OE fluid. If I were extending my OCI's (I run 15k/1yr in my Honda Fit and Toyota Corolla), I would definitely shy toward Amsoil.


You're absolutely right. As far as saving samples go, unfortunately I take the sample and send it off, and the rest is dumped, as I am changing my oil when I do it. It's only 1 run and certainly could be a random one off, but I won't be trying it again, not when I've got a number of other oils to choose from that all did better on the first go.


Again, my theory right now is that these engines like a lot of molybdenum - the Euro oil had almost none.

 

final run here with red line 5w30 -

 

Really great info here! I've subscribed. I'm planning on trying Amsoil for the first time and comparing it against Liqui Moly 0W-40.