MCS-oil consumption question/comparison etc.

[S-Cooper]

With 6,000 miles on car and two oil changes I have been using about 1/2 qt./1200 miles. Anybody else keep track of these things or check themselves ? I have never left oil go below the 1/2 mark on dipstick.After posting on other forum I get the idea I am the only one who has experienced any oil consumption at all. Am I alone with this type of consumption?

[BruceK]

I've got nearly as many miles as you, one oil change, with no noticable oil consumption.

[RickB]

I can't even figure out how to read the dipstick. A call to my dealer's service department didn't really help.

[scottgib]

What's to figure out. Pull it out, clean, put it back in, jiggle it around, pull it, hold it horizontal, and read it. The imbosed pattern covers the range of low to full. Gravity being what it is, low is on the bottom end of the stick.

Now with that smart ass answer, I will say you need good light when the oil is new and relatively clear. Also one needs to completely dry the stick before putting it in to get a reading.

Good luck.

[MCS1]

Despite having 20/20 vision, my eyes were smarting too much to actually see the oil level on the stick the first time I checked the oil...about 30 minutes afer getting home on day one

Eyes were smarting from battering the back of my hand against the engine mount once the engine finally decided to release the dipstick from it's grasp... How crap is this dipstick design?? You can't get the bloody thing out and you can't get it back in either!

Anyway.....after 1963 miles, I've still to use any oil! Must keep thrashing the engine off the rev limiter - it seems to be the thing to do to get the piston rings nicely bedded into the cylinder bores!

John

[RedMini]

The dipstick mentioned in the handbook is nothing like the one in my MCS. Does anyone know for certain what the correct level is?

Thanks

Picture:
http://www.mini2.com/gallery/persona...6_185307aa.jpg

[MCS1]

Are these the full and empty marks??

Photoshopped dipstick...

John

[tc]

Hadn't even planned an oil change. done 1750 mile in my 'S' and wasn't gunna get oil change till it's first 10,000 mile service. is it advisable to change the oil before that?

tc.

[MCS1]

All of our dear American friends seem to have it driven into them from an early age that disastrous things will happen if you don't change your oil every 3000 miles....though they do have the benefit of special oil change places on every second street corner selling oil for $7 a change with filter - like Jiffy Lube and the like and a lot of the petrol stations also have oil change and basic service outlets too.

Cynics amongst us might suggest that the oil companies are just stirring things up to sell more oil - especially as how it's so cheap in the states - they've got to make money somehow....

Anyways, given that BMW and all the oil companies have spent millions on developing the engine and the oil, if they say 10k miles, then that's fine by me. Not to mention the cost of changing it sooner over here in the UK....have you seen the price of synthetic oil??

Just my tuppence....

John

[tc]

Quote:

Originally posted by MCS1
All of our dear American friends seem to have it driven into them from an early age that disastrous things will happen if you don't change your oil every 3000 miles....though they do have the benefit of special oil change places on every second street corner selling oil for $7 a change with filter - like Jiffy Lube and the like and a lot of the petrol stations also have oil change and basic service outlets too.

Cynics amongst us might suggest that the oil companies are just stirring things up to sell more oil - especially as how it's so cheap in the states - they've got to make money somehow....

Anyways, given that BMW and all the oil companies have spent millions on developing the engine and the oil, if they say 10k miles, then that's fine by me. Not to mention the cost of changing it sooner over here in the UK....have you seen the price of synthetic oil??

Just my tuppence....

John

Your tuppence does fine John.
I was just curious as to why people we're changing it. like you said if BMW say 10k then 10k it is.

[Sashadog]

I tend to think that 10k number came from the accountants not the engineers. Due to the fact that they pay for "scheduled" maintenance.

It sure as Hell couldn't hurt to change oil sooner. Being a rotary enthusiast I know how important oil integrity is and do mine every 2 - 2.5k.

Somewhere on this forum a guy had his first changed-out oil analyzed and for the mileage the oil had broken down to a point there was no way it would have gone 10k.

I'm curious about the notion that it is us Americans who worry most about the issue. Bunk methinks.

What's your piece of mind worth?

[MCS1]

Sasha,

Sorry for the blatant swipe at the Americans....I was only joking, kind of. But think about it for a minute - if you change your oil 5 times more than is required, and there are 60 million cars in the US taking a gallon of oil every 2 months instead of every 12, that adds up to 240 million extra gallons of oil consumed in America every year - and the world can't afford it, unless you dig up Alaska, of course.

I worked in the Auto industry in the UK a while back on new vehicle development - mainly suspension and brake systems, and we had targets for things like brake wear and disc life - we wanted to say we were way better than the competition, and that our front brake pads would last 50,000 km, and the discs 100k km's, and true, the service folks were involved in all those meetings - but there objective, always, was to get cost of ownership down - as low as possible, so we could get initial sales up.
So - from my experience, the 10k figure is probably worth going with.

True, rotaries like their oil - but again, lubrication technology has come a long way since the Ro80 in '71.

All the best

John

[Sashadog]

Cheers John! I see your point but I still wonder what the longterm effect will be. Lets talk in 10 years if you still have your car.

It's cheap insurance.

Those who like to gamble will probably will let it go 10k but those of us who understand, have a working knowledge and care about their car will get it changed at least once, if not twice in that period.

Even at UK prices I would say it's cheap insurance. The only way to know it to give it time. I would hate to err on the short side.

If you're planning on getting rid of the car in a couple of years then I guess it doesn't matter if you change the oil at all, but those of us who plan for the long-term, whatever the current atmosphere is, will probably change the oil more frequently. It's just too easy and the benefits are multifold.

There are people who are "into" their car and those who just "drive their cars". Do you know at what precise RPM in each gear your powerplant stops making good power? I'm getting 8 pounds of boost from 2,800 to 6,400 and after that the power drops off a bit so I've quickly learned that 6.3 - 6.4k rpm equals max power.

My other car is a 15 year old RX-7 turbo with 175k and I've still got 70psi oil pressure and as much boost as I want so I'm a firm believer in frequent oil changes.

I don't know how to emphasize this mnore, but letting your engine go 10k before an oil change is just pure insanity. I don't give a flying @!#$#@ how it was designed or what kind of oil you use in it.

Sure I'm just a crazy Yank. Yank this.

Cheers all

[erazo]

The actual determining factor is cost. A fleet of vehicles (or aircraft) manages the cost by conducting oil analyses and changing at the optimum time. But the private car owner may figure that changing at the recommended interval is cheaper than sending oil samples to a lab. If synthetic oil cost $20/quart (and someday it might), expect to see somebody market a home oil analysis kit and clean up.

[NEMINI]

I've had this same debate with my father many times (hes a retired mechanic with 60 years of experience first cars he worked on were model T's).

50 years ago the interval was 3000 miles
40 years ago the interval was 3000 miles
30 years ago the interval was 3000 miles
20 years ago the interval was 3000 miles
10 years ago the interval was 3000 miles

I'm sorry but its time to update the interval inline with todays technological advances in oil's (not to mention engine, metal, wear surfaces, tolerances and everything else thats changed).

A very similar argument happened when manufactors first started recommending first tune-ups at 100,000 miles. People thought they were nuts, now, no one even thinks about it.