MINI Factory Fill - 3811 Miles - 2013 Mini Cooper

[mkosem]

I got the factory fill on my '13 Mini Cooper S analyzed. Glad to get some of the factory muck out earlier than called for. Not bad for a new engine though. I chose Motul X-Cess 8100 to replace it, but will probably move to M1 0w40 (which would probably be in there now, had I noticed it had been reformulated).

Blackstone comments:
As expected in a new engine, we're seeing wear metals from new parts breaking in. Silicon is from factory sealers and sand-casted parts. It, like the metals, should drop after your next change. This first sample gives us a good baseline going forward though. Universal averages for this engine type are shown on the right and are based on about 5,800 miles on the oil. The physical properties of this oil look great, as does oil filtration (insolubles). Try 5,800 miles on your next run and we'll look for improvements in wear.

ALUMINUM 7
CHROMIUM 1
IRON 35
COPPER 39
LEAD 1
TIN 0
MOLYBDENUM 28
NICKEL 1
MANGANESE 19
SILVER 0
TITANIUM 0
POTASSIUM 7
BORON 59
SILICON 47
SODIUM 8
CALCIUM 2537
MAGNESIUM 62
PHOSPHORUS 869
ZINC 1046
BARIUM 2
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 55.5
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 8.91
Flashpoint in °F 420
Fuel % Antifreeze % 0.0
Water % Insolubles % <0.6

 

[cchase]

This is what they want you to keep in for another 12,000 miles?

 

[toneydoc]

They say keep it in for 5800 miles. That should not be a problem for the oil selected. Do not know where you got 12000 miles.

 

[jigen]

He means Mini, they call for 15k oil changes.

 

[mkosem]

Originally Posted By: cchase
This is what they want you to keep in for another 12,000 miles?


This one actually wants changes every 10k. MINI reduced the OCI to 10k sometime in 2012/2013. Nice to see low fuel dilution on a DI engine. I had tons of fuel in my oil on my FSI GTI.

--Matt

 

[Artem]

weird as to why they lowered it while every other manufacturer is raising their recommended OCIs...? Problems with your average Joe's running the oil blindly for 15k without even checking the dipstick? Sludge issues?

 

[bigjl]

Big issue with extended intervals and some small high revving engines with small sumps is owner neglect, big washer bottle means bonnet is never opened and engines are being damaged.

These are not covered by warranty.

One of the biggest victims so far is the Fiat 500 TwinAir.

I would not be surprised if this lowering of service OCI is more to do with that than any issue with run if the oil that long.

It would seem that a significant portion of persons signing up for these trendy runabouts don't know what a dipstick is.

One reason why I like Renaults. Every one I have owned has had some form of dashboard located oil check.

A guage that used to light up with a reading when you turned on the ignition. And in the later ones it will show up "Oil Level Ok", if you press the computer function switch when it says this it will show the exact level.

Very handy.

 

[mkosem]

The turbo engines in these newer modules also have a perpensity for oil consumption, which compounds that issue further. Some folks see as much as 1qt/1k miles consumed. That coupled with a 4.4qt sump spells disaster for those not mechanically inclined, or at least clever enough to check the oil frequently. To make matters even worse still, the design of the dipstick used on the N18 engines seems to be quite dificult for some to read. I've not had any issues so far, but there are volumes of complaints about it. One company even went as far as to produce an aftermarket replacement.

I'm also a bit surprised just how small the sump is. I was hoping it would be 5qt or more with such long intervals. I'm holding out hope that someone (moroso maybe?) will produce a kicked out oil pan for it with an extra qt of capacity. Draining the oil out and finding that I needed to extract a bit after pouring in 4qt to get it down to the full mark is a bit disconcerting for a little engine that gets worked as hard as this one does.

--Matt

 

[SubLGT]

What oil is used as factory fill?

 

[mkosem]

I believe it is assembled with BMW 5w-30, which is made by Castrol (but apparently made specifically for BMW, and not identical to any of their off-the-shelf oils).

--Matt

 

[Troy_Hale]

I'm glad to hear that they lowered the OCI finally on these cars. My '06 goes thru about 1qt every 5k miles, and it has a 5.1qt sump, so I'm assuming some Mini's come into the dealer with ~3qts in the system. That makes me wonder about the '07+ turbo models with the smaller sump and "harder on oil" DI engine.

mkosem:
Did you notice any oil burn in the 3,811 miles on the FF?

I'm always considering buying a new Mini S/JCW, so this info deff helps.

 

[mkosem]

Originally Posted By: Troy_Hale
I'm glad to hear that they lowered the OCI finally on these cars. My '06 goes thru about 1qt every 5k miles, and it has a 5.1qt sump, so I'm assuming some Mini's come into the dealer with ~3qts in the system. That makes me wonder about the '07+ turbo models with the smaller sump and "harder on oil" DI engine.

mkosem:
Did you notice any oil burn in the 3,811 miles on the FF?

I'm always considering buying a new Mini S/JCW, so this info deff helps.


I added ~1/4qt of makeup, but I didn't check it the day that I got it so it's certainly possible that it wasn't completely full when I got it. The number of miles until needing an oil change has been dropping more rapidly since the weather has been below freezing too, so it seems like they've revised it from a simple mileage based system as it was reported to have been previously. I didn't reset it when I changed it, and am at 5700 miles currently, and it wants to be changed in 3300 miles. Until it started getting colder, it was calling for one at the 10k mark.

--Matt

 

[mkosem]

I had my second sample, with 4191 total miles, analyzed. This one was Motul X-Cess 5w-40. The results are:

ALUMINUM 6
CHROMIUM 1
IRON 42
COPPER 16
LEAD 0
TIN 0
MOLYBDENUM 10
NICKEL 1
MANGANESE 7
SILVER 0
TITANIUM 0
POTASSIUM 3
BORON 51
SILICON 18
SODIUM 8
CALCIUM 2445
MAGNESIUM 25
PHOSPHORUS 842
ZINC 972
BARIUM 0
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 60.5
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 10.37
Flashpoint in °F 395
Fuel % Antifreeze % 0.0
Water % 0.0
Insolubles % 0.2

 

[mkosem]

I had my third sample, with 5069 miles on MINI 5w-30 (free change) analyzed recently. The results are:

ALUMINUM 6
CHROMIUM 1
IRON 35
COPPER 9
LEAD 0
TIN 0
MOLYBDENUM 110
NICKEL 1
MANGANESE 3
SILVER 0
TITANIUM 0
POTASSIUM 1
BORON 46
SILICON 8
SODIUM 7
CALCIUM 1955
MAGNESIUM 29
PHOSPHORUS 744
ZINC 816
BARIUM 0
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 56.5
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 9.22
Flashpoint in °F 355
Fuel % 0.5
Antifreeze % 0.0
Water % 0.0
Insolubles % 0.3

Blackstone's comments were:
MATTHEW: Wear metals continue to improve as your MINI crosses the 10,000-mile mark, and silicon is down to a normal range. Maybe all of the wear-in material has washed out with this oil change, but we wouldn't be surprised if even more improvements turn up next time. For now, everything looks pretty good. A little bit of fuel was found, but 0.5% isn't enough to cause concern. Maybe you did a little more city driving over the last 5,069 miles, or perhaps the sample was taken cold. The thin viscosity isn't a problem either. Try 7,000 miles next. Nice report, overall!


--Matt

 

[mkosem]

I had my forth sample, with 3116 miles on RedLine 0w30 analyzed recently. The results are:

ALUMINUM 4
CHROMIUM 1
IRON 32
COPPER 9
LEAD 0
TIN 0
MOLYBDENUM 399
NICKEL 1
MANGANESE 2
SILVER 0
TITANIUM 0
POTASSIUM 8
BORON 70
SILICON 12
SODIUM 11
CALCIUM 2428
MAGNESIUM 213
PHOSPHORUS 1011
ZINC 1041
BARIUM 0
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 57.4
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 9.46
Flashpoint in °F 425
Fuel % Antifreeze % 0.0
Water % 0.0
Insolubles % 0.3

Blackstone's comments were:
MATTHEW: It was a horribly cold winter, but it didn't seem to bother your engine too much. Metals have held steady or improved, which is good for a shorter oil change interval. There are no obvious signs of frostbite here, and we think you'd be fine to run a longer oil change interval next time. The viscosity's still reading a bit low, but that's not really a surprise for this MINI. No fuel was found though, nor were any other contaminants detected. Silicon's a bit higher than last time, but Red Line uses some silicon as additive. Try around 6,000 miles next oil. Looking good!

--Matt

 

[Noobie]

Good updates!

 

[mkosem]

I take it heavy sheering is common in these engines? Blackstone seems to be indicating that it is expected in this engine, but I'm not sure if they mean mine or this n18 in general. The 30wt oils all sheered down to 20s and the 40 sheered down to a 30.

--Matt

 

[mkosem]

Here's another with the dealer's 5w30 with 4013 miles (free change):

ALUMINUM 4
CHROMIUM 1
IRON 27
COPPER 5
LEAD 0
TIN 0
MOLYBDENUM 208
NICKEL 1
MANGANESE 2
SILVER 0
TITANIUM 0
POTASSIUM 0
BORON 54
SILICON 5
SODIUM 9
CALCIUM 2055
MAGNESIUM 26
PHOSPHORUS 868
ZINC 991
BARIUM 0
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 59.6
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 10.11
Flashpoint in °F 380
Fuel % Antifreeze % 0.0
Water % 0.0
Insolubles % 0.1

Blackstone's comment was:
MATTHEW: Well, looky here! The viscosity read in the normal range for 5W/30 oil, and with everything else looking great, we can give your Mini Cooper S a perfect report at last! Not that the viscosity in the last couple of reports was causing problems, of course -- we just really like the looks of a highlight-free report, and hopefully we'll see a lot more of them from your engine in the future. Wear metals are steady, with iron and copper dropping to the lowest levels so far. This engine is really hitting its stride, and you could probably go up to 6,000 miles next. Nice!

--Matt

 

[bigt61]

Nice - what are the total miles on this Mini now?

 

[mkosem]

Just rolled 21k today.

--Matt