Mini Countryman

[edyvw]

So, would you guys trust an oil for a Mini not with a BMW label on it permitting it's full synthetic and Euro Spec and has an LL01 or 04 rating? I know my buddy well enough to know he's going to get his oil at Walmart and his kid is going to do the service on it. Not sure, but I'm guessing they'll carry Quaker State, Valvoline and Pennzoil, all with Euro Spec ratings. Heck, maybe Royal Purple has one too? It sounds like he did put $$$ down on the car and is flying out of state to get it and driving it back.

It doesn’t have to be BMW labeled oil. That is the point of approvals, so you don’t wander around. Castrol Edge 0W30 and Mobil 1 ESP 5W30, Mobil 1 0W40 (available in Walmart) would be my choice. Technically he could run MB229.5 and MB229.51/52 oils too. In that case, Mobil 1 ESP 0W30.

 

[maw_76]

I know that's the point of approvals. I thought maybe you were suggesting that BMW oil is the best oils for this Mini. I happened to have a brother-in-law who only uses Motorcraft filters for a Ford and Honda filters for a Honda. Some people swear by that. No love for Quaker State? I ran their high mileage in my Honda and it took care of a slight drip from my vvt solenoid gasket..

 

[edyvw]

I know that's the point of approvals. I thought maybe you were suggesting that BMW oil is the best oils for this Mini. I happened to have a brother-in-law who only uses Motorcraft filters for a Ford and Honda filters for a Honda. Some people swear by that. No love for Quaker State? I ran their high mileage in my Honda and it took care of a slight drip from my vvt solenoid gasket..

QS had in Walmart BMW LL01 approved 5W40, but I have not seen it for awhile.

 

[CleanSump]

Most Walmarts usually have Mobil 1, Castrol, and some have Pennzoil that are LL-01 or LL-04 approved. If someone is going to balk at those because Quaker State is $4 less per 5qt jug, they probably aren't too concerned about LL-xx specs anyway.

 

[maw_76]

So, my buddy has had this car now for a week and he's really enjoying it. It appears to be "relatively" well taken care of, but looks can be deceiving. Whoever owned it may have been doing a lot of city driving with it by the looks of the curb rash on the wheels. The passenger headlight has a cracked plastic brace that's noticeable by the gap between the lens and the hood and when he popped the hood I told him there's your issue. There's no timing chain noise at startup, but I noticed a ton of soot on the chrome exhaust tips.
I pulled the dipstick and the oil was full and clean, with the infotainment system saying 7k until the next oil change. I informed him not to wait that long until his next change since he doesn't have much for maintenance history. I said I'd change it sooner rather than later and go with whatever flavor of euro Walmart has on the shelf that day (our local stocks Castrol Edge and Mobil 1 in a variety of Euro's, and sometimes Pennzoil when they have the shelf space). It currently has Blizzak's, which frankly, ride like crap in my opinion. I told him if it were me I'd be looking for a set of all-seasons mounted on rims on Marketplace and save his current ones for next winter. Overall, he likes the car, but isn't thrilled about having to run premium gas (he learned that lesson leaving Denver on his drive back with the check engine light coming on after filling with 87). He was able to achieve just over 30mpg in spirited driving through the mountains and highway speeds of 75-80 mph.

 

[maw_76]

Well, my buddy wants to do an oil change service on his Mini before heading out to Montana for skiing at the end of the month. He's hitting Walmart tomorrow and I told him between the choices (Castrol Euro 5w30 or Mobil Euro 5w30), I'd opt for the Castrol for the same price and I think it does a better job as far as cleaning and protection. They only have 1 filter option, a Fram Tough Guard.
I told him if the oil does a good job between your oci, that might be a good option to stick with since it's readily available. If his car burns oil between changes, then Amsoil, LiquiMoly or HPL might be a better option.
Anyone have any hard opinions on Castrol?

 

[CleanSump]

I ran Castrol Euro A3/B4 5W-30 in my X3 N52 for 130k miles. It doesn't burn oil and the only bad thing that ever happened was when the CCV (PCV) diaphragm cracked it started getting brown crusties under the valve cover.
That was not a fault of the Castrol Euro oil. After repairing the CCV, a 5k mile OCI with HPL Engine Cleaner 30 and Mobil 1 ESP cleared that up.
Castrol will likely color his under valve cover metal gold. Just varnish that doesn't hurt anything and I'd wager most BMWs that ran Castrol for life have "Castrol Gold".
The Mobil 1 Euro or ESP or Pennzoil might be "cleaner" as far as the gold varnish goes.
Daughter's 328i had Amsoil for life and has never had any varnish. Replaced the VC gasket at about 150k and it was beautiful inside. Yes, she is spoiled.

 

[maw_76]

Yeah, I'd be curious to see what the service history has been on my buddy's Mini. At a little over 100k I'd bet it's only had 10 oil changes in its life, starting off with dealer services and more than likely quickie shops after that. I told him we should get the transmission fluid changed ASAP along with differential fluid, because I'm certain its never been done. Slowly but surely he's getting things tightened up on it. A good set of tires are next on his radar.

 

[meep]

Most folks probably haven’t spent much time in one of these. I have under an hour of seat time. However even in that hour, I can see why they have a cult following. People rave about the old Honda CRX, of which I have a looooott of seat time. The mini is a worthy comparison. The mini with the blower is a different world.

 

[edyvw]

Yeah, I'd be curious to see what the service history has been on my buddy's Mini. At a little over 100k I'd bet it's only had 10 oil changes in its life, starting off with dealer services and more than likely quickie shops after that. I told him we should get the transmission fluid changed ASAP along with differential fluid, because I'm certain its never been done. Slowly but surely he's getting things tightened up on it. A good set of tires are next on his radar.

I would go Mobil 1 ESP. Castrol 5W30 is just Group III stuff.
Stay away from FRAM. They don’t fit very well. ONLY BMW OE, MANN, Mahle or Hengst.

 

[Andyd95]

I would go Mobil 1 ESP. Castrol 5W30 is just Group III stuff.
Stay away from FRAM. They don’t fit very well. ONLY BMW OE, MANN, Mahle or Hengst.

If it’s a “N” engine run a Purflux filter (that is the OE filter).

 

[maw_76]

My buddy just scored 5 qts of Fram Euro in 5w40, with a Carquest filter (made by Mann), plus 5 qts of Idemitsu type TLS transmission fluid for $40 at Advance Auto. I'd say that a pretty good haul to do those 2 services.

 

[CleanSump]

My buddy just scored 5 qts of Fram Euro in 5w40, with a Carquest filter (made by Mann), plus 5 qts of Idemitsu type TLS transmission fluid for $40 at Advance Auto. I'd say that a pretty good haul to do those 2 services.

Fram Euro (Amalie) is not on the approved BMW or MB lists, just "recommended for" by Amalie. The used oil analysis on Sprinter Forum don't look bad though.

 

[maw_76]

Oh, I thought it was ll-01, just not 04? Well, I told him to drop his interval to 5k. I think it'll be fine for that and I also believe that engine will benefit from a slightly thicker oil. The transmission fluid I know nothing about, but for $2/qt I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[Huskyguy68]

"The 2015 Mini Cooper Countryman has mixed reliability, often rated below average (approx. 3/5) with 6 recalls. While offering engaging, sporty handling and a practical, stylish, and roomy interior, it suffers from high maintenance costs, potential engine oil consumption, and, in some cases, serious, expensive-to-repair timing chain issues. "
The regular mini Cooper and Cooper S has above average reliability.

Mini reminds me of fun cars I heard/seen when I was a young boy/teen and thought they looked kinda cool, be fun to own one.
Then get older and read up on them or chat with previous owners and they warn you to stay away from these cars cuz they are a money pit. Fun when they actually run right, but often something breaking and needing fixing/replacing.
Sun beam tiger, Triumph, Pontiac Fiero, VW Corrado, MazdaRX7 rotary crap, the list is long.....I had a coworker tell me long ago how he bought a used Triumph TR7 and it was cool at first, then huge electrical gremlins, spent so much money buying a special change over wiring harness and rewiring the whole car and $$$$$$$$ Zzzzzzz$$$$$$ZZZZZZZzzz......was still hot garbage.

 

[97prizm]

Mini reminds me of fun cars I heard/seen when I was a young boy/teen and thought they looked kinda cool, be fun to own one.
Then get older and read up on them or chat with previous owners and they warn you to stay away from these cars cuz they are a money pit. Fun when they actually run right, but often something breaking and needing fixing/replacing.
Sun beam tiger, Triumph, Pontiac Fiero, VW Corrado, MazdaRX7 rotary crap, the list is long.....I had a coworker tell me long ago how he bought a used Triumph TR7 and it was cool at first, then huge electrical gremlins, spent so much money buying a special change over wiring harness and rewiring the whole car and $$$$$$$$ Zzzzzzz$$$$$$ZZZZZZZzzz......was still hot garbage.

The non-turbo Rx-7's aren't bad. I have an 84 gsl. It was rented out as a race car by my boss for a few years. It's down on power, but runs well. The biggest thing is that many recommend 1oz per gallon of 2 stroke oil with high mileage ones in case the oil injection fails.

 

[maw_76]

My brother-in-law is a Ford guy and he's had issues with his current stable ('07 Grand Marquis w/180k and '05 F150 w/140k). The Grand a Marquis has no a/c, windows and door locks don't work and struts are shot. The computer went out in the F150, along with the rear differential and not his fuel pump module took a dump. Regardless, all used vehicles can have issues. Luckily, he can diagnose and typically fix his own vehicles.

 

[Thebigm]

So, a buddy of mine was asking me for suggestions on a commuter vehicle because come this summer he'll be losing his company vehicle due to a job change. He wants something that's economical (will be putting on close to 100 miles roundtrip/day), good in snow (MN weather), relatively low miles (under or right around 100k) and doesn't want to spend a ton (around 7k or so). I told him my wife and I used to own a '12 Mini Countryman and we loved the car. We traded it in on a Honda HRV when my wife found out she was pregnant with our daughter and the size was a tad small for our needs at the time.

So, he did some research and really liked what the Mini is about and found a '15 with 104k on it with the features he wants and a price he can live with. I told him we didn't have any issues with ours, but we traded it in with only 36k on it. After doing some reading, it appears some had oil burning issues and timing chains wearing out right around that 100k mark.

Now, for all of the experts around here, what oil would you suggest for this vehicle? His son likes to wrench and does all of his maintenance on his vehicles. Would this vehicle be a candidate for Valvoline Restore and Protect, or would you stick with a Euro Spec of some sort? I hope I didn't suggest a poor vehicle for him. I honestly didn't know about those known issues when I suggested the vehicle because to me it checked all of the boxes.

I don't think a mini would be reliable when you travel so many miles

 

[CleanSump]

Oh, I thought it was ll-01, just not 04? Well, I told him to drop his interval to 5k. I think it'll be fine for that and I also believe that engine will benefit from a slightly thicker oil. The transmission fluid I know nothing about, but for $2/qt I don't think you can go wrong.

LL-04 is fine with our Low Sulfur Fuel levels now.
The Euro specs call our HTHS minimums, not grade. He'll be fine with -30 Euro. I ran a MB to 348k miles and still running strong on 5W-30. 5W-3-and 0W-30 Euros is all that's been in my current BMW for 135k and current MB for 168k miles and I don't have any consumption. MB has had no turbo or timing chain problems. The problems are people who don't respect the spec.

 

[maw_76]

My buddy asked me about running the 5w-40 over 5w-30 and I said with spring and summer around the corner it should be perfectly fine. That engine may actually benefit from the 5w-40 being that it has a few miles on it (just over 100k) and he's not sure how the previous owner maintained it. I also thought I read somewhere that most euro 5w-40's are very close in viscosity to a 5w-30? I told him his mileage could dip a touch with a slightly heavier oil, but he may not even notice a difference at all.