[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Following on from a helpful suggestion from Minicabrio to treat BMW's recommendation of 60,000 mile air filter life as, erm, potentially unrealistic, I just changed Samantha's at 31,500 miles. Here is what I found

Filter, old and new:



What had collected under the filter:



Wish I'd done it sooner....

Tigger.

[mGP]

You might want to forward them pics to the 'MINI TLC Structuring Comitee'/Recommendation Board together with a note saying "This filter has another 28500 miles left in it...........apparentlly!!!" and see what they say....

[Haggi]

bmws intervals are too long mine looked like that after 15k so ditched it for a pipercross induction kit air filters like that should be changed every 10k as there paper or if piper or K&N etc cleaned and oiled

same with serivice im now doing my oil every 5k and spark plugs every 15k from now on may cost me a bit more but i intened to keep the cooper forever

[James]

lol when I took mine out there was a family of daddy long leg's living under my filter

[Ant FR]

Nice, nothing a quick air line blast coud'nt sort is what BMW will say.

Now lets think bout how good our Oil must be after 20,000 miles too.

IS TLC actually that good in the long run, i am startign to think not, or was it just a ploy all along to make us blow up our old SC motors as they new they were gonna need help to sell the R56 mini, ,,,,,,,,,,LOL

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ant FR (original)

Nice, nothing a quick air line blast coud'nt sort is what BMW will say.

Now lets think bout how good our Oil must be after 20,000 miles too.

IS TLC actually that good in the long run, i am startign to think not, or was it just a ploy all along to make us blow up our old SC motors as they new they were gonna need help to sell the R56 mini, ,,,,,,,,,,LOL

I really do not know why they insist that they need to change the oil at 20,000 miles anyway. If the new engine really is capable of running with lubricant with a consistancy somewhere between bitumin and grinding paste, with an air filter as clogged as the M25 at 5pm on a Friday, why not weld the bonnet down permanently and give it 150,000 mile service intervals? Just think how cheap it will be for BMW to provide the TLC then

Actually, the TLC on the R50 MINI is not so bad with 10 and 15,000 mile intervals, I would just look upon it not as TLC, more as ABM (Absolute Bare Minimum) and it £100 or £150 for the package it is great. However, to give the car proper TLC I would top it up with much more regular (and realistic) oil, oil filter, air filter and even spark plug changes.

Tigger.

[minimul]

my 5 year old/40,000 miles filter actually looked worse than that when it was changed earlier this week
I was naive and thought they changed the filter at every service!!!
The blokes at Hi Q, who changed it, said they has never seen anything like it!
Anyway, car felt better to drive straight away, it must be the relief of the engine not having all that gunk to contend with, looking forward to better fuel consumption too.

[DOT191]

When i purchased the Mini the first thing i did was replace the OEM Filter with a K&N filter.I now check the filter each spring. If dirty i can clean it & put it back in Good investment & it improved the performance in my opinion.

2003MC.PW/B. CVT, DSC, Premium Pkg, Fog Lamps, After Mkt Rear Spoiler & Center & Door Arm Rests.

[BlueZed]

My original filter is still pristine, came out at 2001km to be replaced with a Pipercross panel. Might swap it back in for each service and give them a shock as to how long the filter appears to be lasting

[Jammy Dodger]

Yikes, going to check mine now!!

[SiBradbury]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ant FR (original)

Nice, nothing a quick air line blast coud'nt sort is what BMW will say.

Now lets think bout how good our Oil must be after 20,000 miles too.

As long as you're using the recommended Longlife oil then it'll be absolutley fine!

For the sake of a tenner and (literally!) two minutes it really is worth changing/checking your air filter regularly!

Your fuel economy will be vastly improved now your engine can breathe Tigger!

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

HI all,
True the TLC is good value considering dealer rates which are........um
I've gone for the concept of paying for oil changes between the TLC ones and harrased the service department until they agreed to give me a discount on the extra work.

I'm due for first brake fluid change in a month and will also give the Cooper its 3rd oil change at the same time (14k) - been a year since last oil change so time IMO.

Have the JCW Sound Kit so filters are servicable with the K&N cleaning kit.
What is a good mileage to change the following though:
Spark plugs?
Gearbox oil?

Finally, what about the aircon are the service intervals 2 or 3 years these days?
I always run it to lubricate the seals twice a week.

At the end of the day the extra servicing is more than worth it in the long run - I want my cars to always be running perfectly, none of this "oh I did that, now it runs better".
Everything is also listed in detail in the service booklet with receipts so a good thing come time (if ever) to sell.

I had all the wheels off the last 2 days for a really good clean, polish and seal of the wheels and undercarriage before winter completely sets in - a couple of my neighbours strolled past and commented that if the Cooper is ever for sale they want first option.
The rest of the neighbours probably just think I'm nuts..........

[Hat]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

Following on from a helpful suggestion from Minicabrio to treat BMW's recommendation of 60,000 mile air filter life as, erm, potentially unrealistic, I just changed Samantha's at 31,500 miles. Here is what I found

Filter, old and new:



What had collected under the filter:



Wish I'd done it sooner....

Tigger.

at least it proves its working!

checked my k&n panel after seeing this & although it wasnt as bad as these pics, it needed a blast out

[Bajanmini]

The main reason i installed a cone filter was a friend of mine drove his mini in some pretty deep water and the airfilter box worked like an aquarium all it needed was goldfish,needles to say the engine bent valves the lot,just as well i changed in the early looking at that thing.