2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Mobil1 or Mobil3000? aka The Great M/A Oil Kerfuffle of 2014

Discussion in '2nd Generation: 2007+ R55 through R61' started by genik, Feb 25, 2014.

  1. genik

    genik Member

    Feb 20, 2012
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    Im in between using one of the two for my R56S. Which of the two is better and why? What are their differences?
     
  2. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Not a Mobil 1 oil fan since it is no longer a true 100% synthetic oil. It a modified dino oil now.

    I use only two oils now. The "German made Version" Castrol Edge SPT or Amsoil Signature. They are both 100 % full synthetics.
     
  3. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    I've been running the fake Mobil 1 0w40 for the last 120,000 miles. My MINI seems to enjoy having it in it's sump. What oil is best? There are millions of answers & opinions. Now you have 2. :D
     
  4. genik

    genik Member

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    What do you mean by fake Mobil1?
    Whats a "sump"?
    What do you mean that mini is enjoying using it? What makes you say this?
     
  5. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Mobil 1 used to be Pure 100% synthetic but they switch years ago to a glorified base stock dino oil and added modifiers and still call it Mobil 1.

    The Sump is your oil pan where the oil sits. Its where you will find your drain plug.

    Enjoying it means he has had no problems with his car running Mobil 1 oil.
     
  6. ljmattox

    ljmattox Active Member

    Dec 28, 2011
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    A very good resource for motor oil discussion is

    - Bob is the Oil Guy

    where you can find lots of discussion of many brands. I like reading the "used oil analysis" reports, where folks have sent in samples of used oil and received a lab report on criteria.

    As others have said, there are MANY opinions and brands either sworn by or cursed, depending.

    We run Mobil 1 in our Z06 since it was factory fill and recommended. I've used MINI oil in the MINI since I can get it at the dealer for about $6 per quart with our club discount. I may change when it's out of warranty, NOT saying that they'd deny a claim b/c I didn't use the factory stuff, just one less thing to have them consider, should it come up.

    Anyway. I've never used Mobil3000, that oil site may have info.
     
  7. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Yes my MINI is happily being lubricated by Mobile 1.... :yesnod:

    While we may disagree on what color oil bottle to buy, I think we do agree the most important thing is to change that oil & filter. Oh yes & lift the bonnet to check that oil every week or so.

    Posted by an unpure Mobile 1 user. :p
     
  8. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    1+ The Bob the oil guy is a great web site to learn a lot about oil. :Thumbsup:

    Just the fact that you know how to check your oil and are selecting the right kind to replace it with not to mention changing it before 10 or 15K means you are already doing a great job taking care of your car. (Unlike some people in the world)
     
  9. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    This is what the inside of my engine looks like with 55K on it running MINI oil, 5W30.......I change once a year or every 10K......so a vote for MINI oil......

    [​IMG]
     
  10. genik

    genik Member

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    Every 10K, wow! So why did you open it up now?
     
  11. Stinker

    Stinker Active Member

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    I've used Mobil 1 for years even before I started buying MINI's (6 now). Now I do change my oil & filter every 5K, cheap insurance for me. I also took off my valve cover at around 35K to change for one that I had painted and my valve gear looked about the same as the above picture.
     
  12. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Oh NO! not the oil debate! No No I won't be sucked in to it!



    Mobil1



    There you HAPPY!!!! :D
     
  13. AliceCooper

    AliceCooper Club Coordinator

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    Was using Royal purple but have recently switched to Mobil 1 have to admit I did not know It was no longer 100% synthetic, they can still legally advertise it as 100% though ??
     
  14. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    Yes, as it is a lab modified long chain synthetic. It may not originate from a synthetic or ester base, but it still performs as well as any synthetic out there.
     
  15. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    The shop I visit uses Motol Oil.

    I change it twice a year, about every 2500 miles it works out to be. A lot of stop start city driving like I stole it.

    In fact it's time for the spring tune up, change all fluids. Check everything over. It's only 57 days till I leave for MOTD.
     
  16. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Cough Complete Bull S**t Cough

    You my friend need to do a little research. Mobil 1 is not what as good as it once was and is nowhere near as good as any 100% synthetic.
     
  17. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    This thread has been renamed aka

    The Great M/A Oil Kerfuffle of 2014

    Remember this thread, tell the story to your grand-kids one day. They'll laugh.
     
  18. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    YEEAW hold on boys here we go! :popcorn:
     
  19. Jason Montague

    Jason Montague New Member
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    :cornut: Me Too! Oh Boy!.:deadhorse::popcorn::popcorn:

    Jason
     
  20. BRG_Paul

    BRG_Paul Active Member

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    Hydrocracking a mineral oil is a perfectly legitimate means of obtaining base stock to make a synthetic oil. The important details are..

    Pour point, residual ash, residual sulphur and phosphorous, additive package..EPs Anti-wear additives, anti-oxidants etc.

    Everyone seems to have an "opinion", but where are the comparative reports of engine life of the different oil formulations?

    Here is some info quoted from the Mitsubishi forum...

    <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<QUOTE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    It is still a full synthetic. This is a matter of playing telephone, where the facts get changed as they are passed along until the truth is complete obscured.

    I believe Mobil's site, and the bottles of oil which say full synthetic, before an unknown guy on a BMW quoting another unknown guy on a Nissan forum who is pushing AMSOIL. AMSOIL is always trying to discredit Mobil in one way or another, which is funny since AMSOIL used to buy their base stocks from Mobil.

    If you read other posts on that forum, you'll see numerous BMW 3 series owners etc that have "beat" and shamed every c6 and Z06 they came across. I don't believe that either.

    Here is the true story about the lawsuit:

    Mobil 1 uses a 100% completely synthetic PAO (Poly Alpha Olephin) Group-V base stock. Mobil invented this technology back in the fifties, and they have always used the 'true' synthetic formula.
    Castrol 'Syntec', as originally sold in America back in the late eighties/early nineties, was NOT a true synthetic, even though it was advertised as such.
    The Castrol product used a group-III/IV base stock which is derived from natural petroleum/crude oil sources.
    The lawsuit brought by Mobil against Castrol resulted in the decision that Castrol was indeed allowed to call thier product 'full synthetic' based on the fact that Castrol claimed it's base stocks recieved further refining processes, at the molecular level, than did 'normal' conventional base stocks.
    This very, very refined base stock very closely approched the performance of a full PAO synthetic, so the courts decided that "If it does the same thing, whats the difference"?, and allowed Castrol to call it synthetic.
    The European government does not allow Castrol to sell this product as synthetic there...it carries a different name.
    In ExxonMobil in-house tests, the Castrol product is very close to the Mobil 1 product in all areas except:
    1)Phosphorous and Sulfer content, which are the main contributors to sludge formation. It comes from the crude oil, and is extremely difficult to remove completely. Mobil 1 has ZERO of these components, making it almost 100% resistant to sludge formation.
    2)Mineral-oil is very susceptibale to high-temperature oxidation, creating...sludge and varnish. It also reatins heat and reduces lubricity. Mobil's PAO technology is almost 100% resistant to high-temperature oxidation. Once again, no sludge formation...with better gas mileage to boot!
    3) Mobil 1 uses less additives overall (by percentage), meaning more actual oil 'in the mix', creating a cooler running engine, and producing better gas mileage.

    Castrol does not, and never has operated a refinery, a blending or a packaging facility.They are simply a bottler of product.
    They buy their base stocks from an outside vendor or vendors, two of which are or have been 'Louisiana Specialty Lubricants" and 'Coastal/Unilube'. There are, of course others.
    They order their custom-blended additive package from a seperate additive manufacturer. In the past they used Texaco, but the Texaco Additive and research facility in the Catskills has since been closed. In fact, today, 'Texaco' is nothing more than a brand name. I don't know where Castrol gets their additives today, but I suspect it is from Chevron or one of its many subsidiaries.
    This is then all put together in bottles with a label by a packager, and drop-shipped to their warehouse facility.

    Amsoil has quite an interesting story behind it: In the fifties, military-man Al Amatuzio was quite impressed with the performance of the synthetic grease used in landing gear of carrier-bound aircraft.
    Mobil corp was commissioned by the US to come up with a grease that would not freeze at the extreme temperatures encountered by aircraft landing gear, and Mobil came up with synthetic grease. Made it only for the military, as they felt no consumer would be willing to pay the exorbitant price for synthetic lubricants for their cars and trucks.
    After leaving the military, Amatuzio contracted Mobil to manufacture synthetic motor oil base stocks for his new company, 'Amzoil'(original spelling).
    Having his own additive package installed, he marketed this as the 'World's first synthetic motor oil' in 1971(maybe 1972).
    The following year, Mobil introduced thier Mobil 1 product, made with their own additive package.
    The difference is that Mobil had (and still has) the ability to make thier additive packages in any fashion they please.
    Amatuzio was limited to buying his 'off the shelf' additives from one of the industrial additive marketers. Not a bad thing, just not 'exclusive'.
    Amatuzio, quite the entrepreneur, still runs the company. He is also the same guy who started AAMCO transmissions, MAACO paint and body, and several other lesser-known companies. Quite a brilliant business man, actually.
    Flash-forward to today: Amsoil (current spelling) no longer buys their base stocks from Mobil, but that doesn't mean they get them from the same place as Castrol.


    Interestingly, Amsoil, who used to buy their base stocks exclusively from Mobil, now buys their base stocks from the lowest , and are consequently now using G-III/IV base stocks in their 'synthetic' oil. Group-III/IV base stocks, are a step below group V PAO base stocks used by Mobil 1. They claim they perform the same. I disagree, and so do most other non-partial lubricant engineers.
     

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