MINI Replaces Castrol with Shell as Official Motor Oil
After many years of MINI & BMW using Castrol (more often a specific and hard to find Castrol Synthetic) as their official oil, a change is being made. Internal memos went out last month to MINI & BMW service centers announcing the change but until now there hasn’t been any confirmation from either party. Our first thought – what about all those lovingly cared for MINIs that have been diligently using Castrol Synthetic. For years we’ve heard from experts it’s best to maintain consistent oil type and brand as cars rack up miles. Is MINI going to educate us that this isn’t an issue? Or will we have to go elsewhere in search of consistency? Hopefully we’ll know soon.
Official News: Shell today announces that it has been chosen by BMW AG as its only recommended global supplier for aftermarket engine oils for the following BMW brands: BMW, BMW i, BMW M, MINI and BMW Motorrad.
Official From the start of 2015, premium engine oils manufactured by Shell will be available to customers at BMW’s network of more than 3,500 dealers, in more than 140 countries, including China, Germany, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, the UK and the USA.
The collaboration means that Shell will produce and supply BMW’s branded engine oils. These products will meet the latest BMW engine specifications and are underpinned by Shell’s PurePlus Technology. Shell PurePlus Technology is a breakthrough in how engine oils are formulated. It is a patented gas-to-liquid (GTL) process, developed over 40 years of research, which converts natural gas into a crystal-clear base oil.
Base oil, usually made from crude oil, is the main component of finished oils and plays a vital role in the quality of the finished engine oil. The base oil is produced at the Pearl GTL plant in Qatar, a partnership between Shell and Qatar Petroleum. From 2015, BMW service customers can benefit from the integration of Shell’s global lubricants supply chain with its gas value chain in Qatar.
Mark Gainsborough, Executive Vice President for Shell Lubricants, said: “We are honoured to become the BMW’s recommended supplier of aftermarket engine oil. We look forward to jointly supplying, distributing and marketing these oils, as of start 2015. ”
“This is recognition of the benefits of Shell’s engine oil expertise and cutting-edge technology by one of the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. This includes an acknowledgment of the value of our most recent innovation: Shell PurePlus Technology for premium engine oils.”
“This deal brings two leading brands together to offer the best of performance and technology to BMW service customers. Both companies have a very strong commitment to premium products and services, giving us much in common.”
<p>Benefits… expertise… cutting-edge technology… worlds’
leading… premium… innovation… commitment… I wonder what kind of dollars are involved in these contracts?</p>
<p>Maybe it will help stop carbon build-up HAHAHAHAHHA J/K</p>
<p>:-) in any case it would be nice to have another approved oil.</p>
<p>I’m kind of interested how neither BMW nor Shell mentioned that Pearl GTL is the first world-scale gas to liquids plant in the world and that most of what goes into making it would have otherwise been burned as off-gas and gone to waste. Currently over $30.6 billion of this stuff is burned as waste from oil procurement every year, so capturing it and putting it to practical use is a huge win.</p>
<p>I have use Mobil1 exclusively since the 80s on all my cars. I’ve worked in oil formulations R&D (SwRI) for almost 15 years and now work in the upstream sector. Really, you can’t go wrong with any good quality oil. And unlike that fraud and so-called car expert plaguing this forum, I own a MINI and it has been on Mobil1 since its first oil change.</p>
<p>I too use Mobil 1 in everything. I dabbled a bit with Amsoil but at the rate my R56 consumes oil, it doesn’t financially make sense (Mobil 1 full syn. can be had in a 5 qt container for about $30). That and a good filter, Mann, Mahle etc.</p>
<p>Glad to see the move from non-synthetic Castrol for those 10k service intervals.</p>
<p>If your curious about the oil before switching from a base 4 German Castrol. You might want to check out the standard corporate Q&A response from Shell on bobistheoilguy (<a href="http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/pennzoil-q-a/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/pennzoil-q-a/</a>) or wait until Shell finally releases the MSDS on it’s product. PurePlus base stock is still just a Group III synthetic. Also Mobil spent billions on a GTL plant which they never finished (<a href="http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-exxon-drop-18bn-gas-project-148929.html" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-exxon-drop-18bn-gas-project-148929.html</a>). Guess will be looking for Pennzoil Platinum® Euro Full Synthetic Motor Oil on the shelves.</p>
<p>“. . . hard to find” ? Castrol Synthetic has been readily available at Walmart for years in convenient 5 qt. containers.</p>
<p>It’s not the same</p>
<p>Specifically, which synthetic Castrol oil are you then referring to in the opening sentence of this article?</p>