Hi there!
I am a proud owner of a R56S (MY2010) with the N14 engine. After reparing some leaks (oil filter housing and valve cover), I realised that oil consumption is around 350-500ml per 1,000Km, depending on the drive style and temperature. I am located in Athens, Greece and summers tend to be quite warm and this is when oil consumption was near the 500ml mark.

After discussing with the garage shop that is taking care of my MINI, I decided to change the oil type from the 5W-30 (with Long life qualifications) to 10W60. The shop owner told me that this is the type of oil that BMW is now using for the M models and it seems to be performing better in the Cooper S as well.
Being a bit sceptical about the viscocity and the rest of the characteristics, I tried looking it up and didn't get a clear idea of whether this is a good idea or not.

Today, 1.200km after using Castrol 10W-60 Super car, I didn't notice any oil consumption. Of course, I do not have any idea of what is happening in the engine and how this particular oil works with the engine's components.

Note that we do not face extreme winters as well. Minimum temperature is around 5-7 degrees. In addition, I am commuting around 65-70km on a daily basis (to and from the office). Finally, I had my import valves blast cleaned 10.000km ago.

What are your thoughts?

 

You probably don't know this, but you have effectively constructed a pile of wood & tinder, doused it with oil (your choice of weight), and handed us all a match. Let the flames begin!!! LOL

This subject has been discussed - ad nauseam. Do a search for "oil", and you can spend the rest of the day reading people's opinions.

Speaking of opinions, I have one, too (unsurprisingly). I use Castrol 0W-40. The previous owner used Mobil1, but I have experienced less engine noise, and less oil loss, with my selected brand/weight. Once you decide on what you want to use (60 weight seems heavy to me <shrug>), just stay loyal to your brand, and check your oil VERY often, and you should be trouble-free.

P.S. Good move on cleaning your intake valves. Should never be overlooked, IMHO.

 

MINI Oil 5w-30 is the stock stuff that meets LL01 standard. But people run what they like, I just use the oil that meets the standards. 0w-40 mobil 1 used to meet that standard but I used it and have 280K on my R52.

Here is one of those thread on the Gen 2 MINI.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...o-you-use.html

 

10w 60.. are you short track racing? With ambient like you have year round, I would think a 5w-40 would suffice and offer plenty of protection, as well as lightening the load on your oil pump vs. 10w 60.

*I would track oil consumption on a lighter weight oil.

 

My info is the M model engines are quite different from the Mini engine.

Generally oil viscosity is determined by the clearances the engine is running. For the Mini engine to be spec'd to use a 5w-30 oil suggests pretty tight clearances. (This is typical for passenger car engines as the tight clearances make for a quieter engine.)

Had you asked before I would have advised you against using a 10w-60 oil but you are using it and the engine is apparently no worse for the experience, at least for now.

I have to say switching to the 10w-60 oil to address 300 to 500ml oil consumption over 1000 km is like using a sledge hammer to hunt flies. Seems to me the 5w-30 oil would have been just fine. At 65 to 70 km commute per day 300 to 500ml of oil consumption is not bad.

But it is your car and if you are ok with what you've done...

Be aware the 10w-60 oil probably uses additives to obtain the 10w and the 60 viscosities. As a general rule these additives break down pretty quick so the oil might be something closer to a 5w-40 oil over not too many miles.

Maybe. Only an oil analysis say at 0 miles -- to establish what the oil is fresh out of the bottle -- then at 2500 miles and then again at say 5000 miles would let you know.

 

Thank you.
The reason I posted (after I did the change, I admit) is to get your ideas and think wisely for the next change. If there are evidences that I am actually harming my engine, I have no problem removing this oil tonight and replacing it with 10W-40 or anything which is good for the engine.
I am really confused.

 

I am having a Citroen DS3 with 1.6 THP engine the same one as in Mini Cooper S. It also gets very hot here in summer so I use 10w50 during summer and in winter 5w40 oil gradation. In my opinion 5W30 is not an appropriate oil for the turbo engine with high working temperature. It is more of an fuel saver and "ecology" factor for the marketing department. The rings on the pistons are very soft and due to the higher oil changes intervals, high temperatures of the engine the rings start to let oil at combustion chamber already at around 50-60k km. Also the rubber intake/exhaust valve seals due to the high temperature start to collapse and need change since they start to leak oil more and more. In my opinion 10w50 is safer on those engines than 10w60. I change oil every 5k km and always use engine oil cleaner/flush before new oil. Catch can is also a must on both sides to lower the oil/fuel vapors entering intake valves and combustion chamber.This is just from my experience and a lot of reading done on these engines.

 

The problem is any harm may not be apparent right away. The engine may suffer some wear over time from lack of proper oil flow at cold engine start but it probably won't be every cold engine start.

Or it might suffer from inadequate oil flow at high RPMs. The oil has to get into the bearing spaces, usually just a thousandths or so of an inch space and spread out and support the crank/rod against horrific loads and at the same time flow out of the bearing to make way for fresh/cool(er) oil.

The oil heats up under pressure due to molecular friction and I might point out thicker oils have more of this friction. A heavier oil might cause the oil temperature to run hotter than it would otherwise.

Really, it is not a good idea to use your car's engine as an oil test bed to find out what the engine will tolerate.

The best course of action, the one with the least amount of risk, is to use the oil recommended by the factory.

The factory is the only authority on this subject. If you choose to ignore the factory then you can use any oil you want based on any criteria you believe important. Lots of viscosity. Pretty bottle. My buddy uses it in his lawnmower. Cheap. Tastes good on cornflakes. All are equally terrible reasons for selecting an engine oil and equally invalid.