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To whom it may concern. In the past 6 month's I have switched between 3 different oil brands and I wanted to share my experience with them.
Castrol full Syn 5w-30 - What Mini recommends and what I have been running in my car since I bought the car with 88,000 miles. Consumed about a quart of oil every 600 - 750 miles and from what I've read this is about normal.
Mobil 1 full Syn 5w - 30 - Wanted to give this a try since it was on sale at Costco and thought to myself that since it's the same weight and full synthetic then it should do the same job. Wrong.... It burned through a quart of oil within 450 miles.... Which is absolutely outrageous. Decided to keep topping it off with Mobil one until I hit 4,000 miles and have had it.
Liqui Moly full Syn 5w - 30 - One of the least mentioned brands (At least to me), harder to find and more expensive I decided to give it a try before switching back to Castrol. Let me tell you... When I opened up my hood to check my oil 500 miles later I had the biggest grin on my face. It didn't move at all and the oil was still a light brown color (Where the Mobil 1 was black). Since then I won't run anything else in my and am a strong believer in this oil.
I'm no rocket scientist but I think it's clear which oil I've had the best luck with. I'm sure others have had luck with different brands. Just my two sense! Hope it helps someone. Car currently has 110,000 miles on it
I have been using liqui moly full synthetic 5w 30 in my r56s for the past year. I use oem oil filters or I've used a Mann. I buy the oil in 5 liter jugs from my local Car Quest parts store for about $35. I change oil every 5k miles. I currently have 123k on my car.
API Groups strictly refer to the base stock, then the API also has service classifications for finished product oil based on manufacture date of the vehicle. SL is for vehicles built 2004 and earlier (in general). The most current service classification is SN for vehicles built in 2016.
You won't know the API base stock Group unless you go to the oil manufacturers website. However most synthetics out there at the auto parts store are Group III.
After a short internet research about the American Petroleum Institute (API) I could discover that the second letter is sequential and the higher it is, the newer (higher) the standard is.
"API SN is the latest specification to which motor oils intended for spark-ignited engines should adhere since 2010. It supersedes API SM."
Then, API SN is higher that API SM and API SM is higher than API SL.
Make sense.
I'll have to try some Mobil 1 0W-40. Mine consumes about 1 quart of Mobil 1 5W-30 every 800 - 1,000 miles.
Penzoil Synthetic and Castrol Edge 5W-30 were slightly less consumed, maybe 1,200 before a quart was gone at most. Penzoil Syn High Mileage has been better, perhaps 2,000.
I'll have to try Liqui Moly. I have both Mobil 1 5W-30 Extended Performance and Pentosin 5W-40 at the house. Deciding which one to use before track day at Sebring.
Been working on cars and reading up on oils since 1968, so I'll throw in a bit of info here. I've been using synthetics since 1977, mostly Amsoil and Mobil 1. Those two manufacturers have some of the longest track records and biggest research databases related to synthetic oils. It's not a bad idea to use products from people who have the knowledge base to make good stuff.
ALL lubricants are vastly superior to those of 30 years ago. Oil chemistry keeps improving. Much of what is true today wasn't true 30 years ago. And in today's world, additives are of questionable value, since they change the chemistry of the oil you use.
Remember STP? All it did was make your oil thicker, which reduced oil consumption. Many people swore by it back in the day when engines were typically worn out and needed a total rebuild at 100K miles. I wouldn't run it today unless an engine was on its last legs.
What I look for first is the service rating - if it doesn't have it, I won't run it.
My experience is that Mobil 1 is excellent oil, and it also has the advantage of being widely available if you are traveling and need a quart. Don't discount the value of easy access. In fact, availability is a main reason I don't run Amsoil most of the time.
Filters are something that people get OCD over, but they're just filters. I happen to really like the Amsoil filters because of fine filtration and the anti-drainback valves they use, but any factory-rated filter is good enough to do the job for you.
Color of the oil is totally irrelevant. You can't tell a darn thing by its color, and whether it has turned dark. Don't make judgments about oil by that characteristic.
Most important: (1) run a good synthetic oil that meets the service requirements. (2) Use a good filter that at least meets factory specs. Better is OK, cheapo is not a good idea. (3) Change oil and filter more often than the manufacturer recommends, and not over 10K miles; 7500 is safer. (BMW recommends 15K change intervals, which is a nice way for them to sell more cars due to not having the oil changed often enough.)
In fact, if you have oil that meets the service ratings, your car may respond to different oils somewhat differently than other vehicles do. So although others having positive experiences may be encouraging, it may not always work better for your vehicle.
If you're using your car on the track or a lot of autocrosses, you're in race duty and faster engine wear (and wear on all other components) is expected. Make your own best judgment and enjoy yourself.
I just swapped my Castrol 5w-30 for LiquiMoly 5w-30. I'm at 113200 on the clock. Will report at 5000 more miles down the road or as things go along if notable.
I have my results,,, drum roll,,,,,seatofthepants, conclusive, the car runs much smoother and better , I believe the treatment helped and the different oil might be helping also. But,,,, the oil consumption is the same, 1/8" per 100 miles on the dip stick that equates to about a quart every 1000 miles. So snake oil "0", crappy engine design "1" ( dictated by more power/boost,less engine, lower friction)
Give up people add your oil, be glad you have a dip stick to read and enjoy your car, as long as it runs great, like mine does!
( still think if I did the EPR treatment a few more times the results might be better, but thats another show!)
So, I lifted the car to change the p.i.t.a. post cat sensor and found that the bottom of my oil pan has oil all over the outside of it. Turns out that when I'm driving it is leaking oil to the tune of 1qt every 800-1000 miles, but when the car is not being used (parked) it doesn't leak hence why I never noticed it. Brought it in to my local garage (Bimmer Motor Group - these guys are amazing, but not cheap). Let's see what happens after they square that away, next, I will try JPMM idea with the EPR treatment to see what's what.
Originally Posted by JPMM
I have my results,,, drum roll,,,,,seatofthepants, conclusive, the car runs much smoother and better , I believe the treatment helped and the different oil might be helping also. But,,,, the oil consumption is the same, 1/8" per 100 miles on the dip stick that equates to about a quart every 1000 miles. So snake oil "0", crappy engine design "1" ( dictated by more power/boost,less engine, lower friction)
Give up people add your oil, be glad you have a dip stick to read and enjoy your car, as long as it runs great, like mine does!
( still think if I did the EPR treatment a few more times the results might be better, but thats another show!)
I say thank you but you really just made life a little more difficult for me. Now I'm gonna go spend money that I do not have to buy the extra expensive LiquiMoly. I'm still grateful though tbh. You're the bomb dot com.
,however I think it stopped for a short while and now it seems little slower, more checking and miles needed.
add your oil, be glad you have a dip stick to read and enjoy your car, as long as it runs great, like mine does! 
