[basil the dog]

I know that it's not in the service manual but I am tempted to have an intermediate oil change on my MCS at 5000 miles, ahead of the main service at 10000 miles. To me the oil has gone a very worrying black colour and for peace of mind it may be worth it. Has anyone else bothered and if so what have they been quoted/charged by BMW. I was a little staggered yesterday when I was quoted £109 from the Lovetts in Bristol.

[NEMINI]

Move to maintainance forum

It's been discussed many times, some have even had oil analysis done. (test came back fine after 10k miles btw) have a search

[obehave]

Did my own oil changes.
At 1500, 2500, 5000 & 7500 miles. Dealer change at 11,500.
Others will tell you this is crap. In the end do what makes you feel right and yes £109 sounds steep.
Mine asked $88 or about £53.

[basil the dog]

Cheers obhave,

I have come to the same conclusion - I will change my own oil - collected oil, oil filter and bought new 36mm hex nut to remove the oil filter cap. Quite looking forward to it (in a sad way) and certainly glad to save on BMW main dealer prices.

Basil The Dog

[obehave]

Have fun and find a good use for the money you saved.

[johnlondonw3]

What oil did you use ,I would like to use Mobil 1,or would that be a bad idea as when it goes to dealers they will only use semi synthetic ?

[obehave]

I used Mobil 1 for the first 2 changes. Moved to another brand after that. Dealer seemed to care less. Once it's dark/dirty they pretty much can't tell what oil you used unless you tell them. Just don't tell them. Mobil 1 is good stuff. A lot of people here use it.

[NEMINI]

MINI doesn't use semi-sythetic, it's full synthetic.

[MINIGT50]

Yes I believe MINI uses full synthetic Castrol, but oddly enough I have read in their manual that if you need to top off they recommend "Mobil 1 or another full synthetic oil". I guess by saying Mobil 1 they are insuring the fact that full synthetic goes into the engine, as there are so many types of Castrol out there?????

[Parc77]

Thought Mini used Castrol Oil - the more often you change your oil the likelyhood of your engine staying alive longer - some manufacturers now say your car can go 20,000 miles before they change the oil - dont think id like to leave it that long

[NEMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by Parc77

Thought Mini used Castrol Oil - the more often you change your oil the likelyhood of your engine staying alive longer.

And the worse it is for the enviroment, but then some people don't care about that

[Parc77]

Hey - the old US of A is one of the worlds super polluters -when uve got that right you can have a go -
I use a treadmill to power my house and have about 5 differnt dustbins (garbage) so that all the crap doesnt go to landfill sites and gets recycled. I work hard and changing my oil regulary isnt going to stop when ive paid thousands out for my car. Im a realist not a save the whale campaigner - not that I want to kill whales. If anyones that concerned they should be riding a push bike

[NEMINI]

Yeah stereotyping, thats always a good argument . Okay then lets have a go from a different angle since you don't like that one.

Where's your hard evidence that an engine will last longer on 7k or 5k or 3k oil changes?

[Parc77]

Ok ill ride a bike (not) - I'm not about to get loads of info to prove a point - but imagine a car with no petrol - it doesnt go, put petrol in it and it goes on its merry way - a human no food you would die. Look after your body have balanced diet - not to many burgers and chips etc etc you will have a healthy long (usually) life. Look after your car - keep any rust at bay service regulary (changing the oil inc) dont thrash it to death etc etc etc it will last longer than not changing the oil - regulary, letting your car go rusty thrashing the engine, riding the clutch etc etc etc
My family have had simular cars to friends and with pampering the cars (looking after them) they have gone on to do 200,000miles + yet friends were changing theres at around 80,000miles as they were having problems ( not just with one car but with several)
Gmini03 am not trying to start an argument just from what ive seen happen in real life and tips from very knowledgable people.

[NEMINI]

And I've seen oil analysis done from professional labs that have come back and said nothing was wrong with the oil at 10k.

There is a huge difference from not using and and being wasteful. My father is a retired mechanic, he was in the business for 57 years. I've come to learn a few things also. One is people are very resistant to change. the 3k interval for oil changes was started decades ago and while people are willing to admit that opils have come a long way as have manufacturing processes they for some reason refuse to re-evaluate an old and tired oil change philosophy.

If every car owner could do 2 less oil changes a year that would be an average of 10 quarts per car. Think of how much crude that would conserve when multiplied by the 100's of millions of cars worldwide.

PS- The vehicle I replaced with my MINI was a Ford Bronco II with 398,000 miles on the original engine and 5k oil changes

PPS- I'm not trying to argue either, I'm just trying to get people to open their minds beyond what they have been programmed to do for decades. Technology has changed, so should maintenance schedules.

[MINIGT50]

good points Gmini03.....truthfully I never gave too much thought to what would happen if everybody did oil changes at longer intervals...which synthetic oil definitley does allow for. I have heard from a friend of mine who worked in a lab researching this that they tested Mobil 1 after 12k and the oil was still up to par. Now obviously this varies engine to engine, but I've always been of the mentality in past vehicles I've owned (which haven't specified synthetic oil) that if I invest the money in using synthetic oil I can go about twice as long before needing an oil change, therefore about balancing things out financially anyhow.

Certainly it can't hurt changing your oil more often, I've thought about changing mine before the service interval meter the first time just because of break in, etc..., but at what point does one simply look after their engine, and at what point are you just throwing money away??? I suppose you could change oil once a week, but that would get a little wasteful and put a sting on your wallet IMO.

[Parc77]

Technology has definatly changed - totally agree and ive no doubt that after 10,000 miles lab tests have proven the oil is ok but if at 5k it was changed it would surely look a hell of a lot better and be better for the engine. I do take on board what your saying though -its just a topical debate at the end of the day we both have mini's so there must be some agreement on what is good /bad.
id just rather change my oil every 5k or 7k as opposed to say 20k as i still dont think things on everyday cars have changed to quite the extent we are led to believe admitadly they have moved on in leaps and bounds in some areas though.

[NEMINI]

just to throw in one thing I forgot to mention. The 10k oil analysis I was referring to was on a MINI during initial break-in mileage .. ie: the 10k change. After that MINI recommends 15k, but as it's looking my service interval should end up closer to 10k and not 15k

[obehave]

Blah Blah Blah
Same F'n argument every time this topic comes up
Everybody sit down and shut the F*** up

[obehave]

What your garbage or mine??