Amsoil SS 0W-30, 13,400 miles, 2006 Mini Cooper S

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Hello all! This is my first oil analysis ever, and I'm glad I did it. The Amsoil was put in the car in the middle of December 2012, and drained by the dealer at the end of December 2013. The Mini shared DD duties with my Jeep, but sat for two months in the summer due to a starting issue. My work commute is 60 total miles, 55 of them being highway, so this engine gets good and warm on a regular basis.

I had to add 1.5qts of makeup oil, 1qt was Amsoil SS 0W-30, and the other 1/2qt was BMW 5W-30 synthetic about a month before the sample was taken.

Blackstone-oilreport_zps14b0e799.jpg

Let me know your thoughts!
 
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Nice run. But with Iron at 28 it was time to dump the oil, regardless of the TBN. I do not agree with Blackstone.

Next time use Polaris and get oxidation and nitration along with everything else.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Nice run. But with Iron at 28 it was time to dump the oil, regardless of the TBN. I do not agree with Blackstone.

Next time use Polaris and get oxidation and nitration along with everything else.


Nothing wrong with iron at 28PPM. Acceptable limits for iron is 150PPM. Vis is good, so I would go to 15K.
 
I agree it could been ran further. Maybe a oil filter change and top off at 10K and a 20K OCI is possible. But I would do more testing to confirm.
 
Originally Posted By: bigt61
Yeah, 28 iron in over 13k miles is nothing. Just keep changing it yearly and you'll be fine.


My Jeep's 4.0 threw out 21 Iron in 5k....so yeah no worries at 13k.
 
Thanks for the replies!

2013 was an abnormal year for the Mini seeing only 13k-ish miles, I bought it in early 2011 with only 13,000 miles on it, and that was my only car. It has seen a few track days and gets driven hard on a regular basis.

I will be getting an analysis of the BMW 5W-30 that is in the car now, does anybody have suggestions on when to take the sample, because I would assume the Amsoil SS 0W-30 is a good bit different?

Cheers!!!
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
It's too bad Blackstone can't test for varnish accumulation.



So now Amsoil's signature,top shelf oil causes varnish too.

Where's the face palm thingy.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
It's too bad Blackstone can't test for varnish accumulation.



I think oxidation is tested and if tbn and tan are also tested for then a person can conclude whether the oil was in a condition to contribute to varnish,so yes it can be tested for based on the data contained in a used oil analysis.
 
Originally Posted By: Troy_Hale
Thanks for the replies!

2013 was an abnormal year for the Mini seeing only 13k-ish miles, I bought it in early 2011 with only 13,000 miles on it, and that was my only car. It has seen a few track days and gets driven hard on a regular basis.

I will be getting an analysis of the BMW 5W-30 that is in the car now, does anybody have suggestions on when to take the sample, because I would assume the Amsoil SS 0W-30 is a good bit different?

Cheers!!!

Take the sample at the mfr suggested oil interval to get an idea on how it would stand up to guidelines.

Why are you switching back and forth between oils? Typically sticking with one will work better than flip flopping.
 
brandini - I've only used BMW/Castrol 5W-30 in this car except for the one run with the Amsoil, so technically I haven't been flip flopping, just randomly happened to buy a case of SS 0W-30 after I joined this forum.

The service monitor in this car counts down from around 15,000 miles, so I'll pull a sample half way and see how the BMW synth is doing.
 
I'm a bit more rigid in my thinking, so you changed brands twice so far in short order. Take into consideration when evaluating oils.
 
Quote:
MINI Synthetic Oil SAE 5W-30, P/N 07 51 0 143 829.
If unavailable MINI recommends an oil carrying one of
following oil specifications: > Preferred: BMW Longlife-01
> Alternative: BMW Longlife-98, BMW Long life or ACEA A3.


Just noticed, but this oil doesn't meet the required spec for your mini so you're outside of Amsoil warranty protection.

Proper oil is EFM 5W-40 if you're playin by the rules.
 
Thanks brandini, but I was aware at the time of purchase. The car was out of warranty when I bought it, and I had confidence that the car would be fine with a long OCI even with an oil that didn't quite meet spec.

The Amsoil warranty protection didn't even cross my mind.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Who cares about warranty protection, this lube performed fantastic at this extended drain.

The OP might, so I made sure he was aware. Some people do like the fact that Amsoil will pay for repairs/replace and engine if it's due to a product failure. Op doesn't, now we know.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Who cares about warranty protection, this lube performed fantastic at this extended drain.


I wouldn't say fantastic but not bad. M1 ep advertises longer drains for less money. I like amsoil but cost per mike may be a bit more using this over M1 EP. I wonder how ultra would fare in this application.
 
UOA seems OK. However, most wear might have been caused after you exceeded 10k miles.

Note that when you add makeup oil, TBN will rise because of the fresh detergents in the makeup oil. However, that doesn't really help you because the acids in the oil remain the same, meaning TAN remains the same. Therefore, TBN = 2.4 is quite misleading. Your TAN is probably very high. Next time, get both the TBN and TAN. TBN alone is fairly useless. TBN - TAN (TBN minus TAN) is the relevant quantity for measuring oil life, which should remain greater than zero.
 
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