Recommended oil for Mini Cooper

[Greggnize]

My sister just purchased an 04 Mini Cooper, I told her i'd help her take care of it. Is GC 0w30 the way to go? Thanks for any input.

Gregg

 

[ScottB]

They ship with synthetic - but I don't know which brand/weight.
I'm sure M1 is fine - and may be what it comes with.
Let's try to keep this thread "M1 hater" free.

Scott

 

[AndyH]

Is this the N/A Mini Cooper or the supercharged Mini Cooper S? Any chance you could find out from her owner's manual what the recommended oil weight is?

Without knowing further details on the car or how it will be driven, GC is probably a pretty safe bet.

 

[jaj]

Mini's are BMW's. They use the same oil as other BMW cars - a private-labeled TXT 5w30 by Castrol. I imagine that it comes in a "Mini" branded bottle (rather than "BMW") from the dealer, but its the same stuff. Oh, and it's good oil, too!

Cheers
JJ

 

[The Critic]

Needs an A3/B3 rated, BMW LL01 type synthetic. BMW 5w30, Mobil 1 0w40, GC 0w30, or Pennzoil Platinum 5w40 will all fit the bill.

BMW considers Mobil 1 5w30 OK for some reason, even though it doesn't meet the specs. I'm sure any OTC 5w30 synthetic will do fine, even if it doesn't meet the specs.

 

[Big Jim]

My daugher has a Mini. The invoice from her oil changes from the local Mini dealer shows that they use Mobil 1.

Don't forget, if it is a new car, that oil changes are freefor the first three years. If you want it changed more often than the OLM brings it up, you will need to pay for it. The OLM may go 20,000 miles between changes in some cases, so don't use junk in the crankcase.