[pacbob]

Just got my MINI Cooper, Silver and black, sport and performance options. Well, a bit over a week ago and now up to 1K miles. Any thoughts on when to change the oil and filter? 1K ? 3K ? 5K ? By the book ? (Seems too long to me!)

[LMB]

Quote:

Originally posted by pacbob
Just got my MINI Cooper, Silver and black, sport and performance options. Well, a bit over a week ago and now up to 1K miles. Any thoughts on when to change the oil and filter? 1K ? 3K ? 5K ? By the book ? (Seems too long to me!)

I would stick by the book. That way if anything goes wrong you don't give them an excuse to void the warranty.

[dennis]

Go to the other MINI Forum. There's a long thread on this topic. Some recommend after 1K miles. One person says he intends to change oil after every 5K miles. There's mention about MINI invalidating warranty if owners does not stick to their servicing schedule, which is.... ? (10K miles)

[BruceK]

Quote:

Originally posted by dennis
Go to the other MINI Forum. ..

It's perfectly okay to say the name of the 'other forum' on this site. Here's a link to Roadfly :

http://forums.roadfly.org/mini/forums/cooper/


However, if you want to see detailed discussions on oil changes, the Search function on this site produced this when I entered "oil and filter":

http://www.mini2.com/forum/search.ph...der=descending

And try this thread, too :

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...&threadid=8096

[kshapiro]

Quote:

Originally posted by pacbob
Just got my MINI Cooper, Silver and black, sport and performance options. Well, a bit over a week ago and now up to 1K miles. Any thoughts on when to change the oil and filter? 1K ? 3K ? 5K ? By the book ? (Seems too long to me!)

By the book.

[pacbob]

You say "by the book". Can you give me some insight on why you feel that way? Warranty issue?
Opinion?
Thanks.

[kevdma]

The service manager of a local Jag dealership told me that 10k is way too long. The factory has to pay local dealerships for the "free maintenance". By scheduling oil changes every 10k they are saving themselves millions of dollars and setting themselves up for you to buy OEM parts in the future when the warranty is long over. Be smart...every 5k minimum. Oh and how possibly could they void a warranty for extra care of a vehicle. See ya.

[HarryHBMCC]

Maint is not paid for here. There is no TLC package in Canada that I know of. I'm leasing my vehicle for the entire period of the warranty. If they wanted me to bring it in early, knowing that the vehicle will likely be returned at the end of warranty, I would expect some sort of nudge-nudge, wink-wink, hey buddy, you might want an early oil change -- but nothing like that at all!

The computer seems to know when I'm doing highway miles or doing short hauls. If I do short hauls, the miles to oil change goes down but if I do highway runs it goes back up. I'm trusting the computer...

Harry

[pacbob]

Heard from MINIUSA calling to ask how things were going with my new ride. The nice lady asked if I had any questions, so I tossed out the oil change item. She replied that more often was no problem for warranty or anything else. Only caution she mentioned was not to go more than recommended. So, I am going to go with 5K although I may do the first one at 2.5K, then 5K and every 5K thereafter (miles for our metric friends).

[Juanello]

Pacbob...
You can change the oil of your MINI Cooper engine as often and as many times as you like without worrying about the possibility of having your warranty voided. Changing your oil does not void any warrranty.
You just have to follow the oil and filter recommendations specified in your owner's manual. Use 5-30W Fully Synthetic Oil. MINI recommends Castrol 5-30W Fully Synthetic oil, but you can also use Mobil 1 Syntec 5-30W.
Make sure to use genuine MINI oil filters. You can get them at your local MINI parts deparment. The MINI oil filter part number is 10E11-42-7-512-446. Make sure you save your receipts and log every oil change in your records.
To remove the oil filter assembly, you will need a 36 mm socket. It is reachable from the top, behind the engine. A 13 mm wrench is needed to remove the oil drain plug. The torque specs. for tighting the oil filter assembly are written on the oil filter casing. The drain plug has a rubber gasket, be careful not to overtight it.
You will need approximately 4.8 quarts of oil to refill the crank case.

Good luck changing your engine oil.

[Blue Thunder]

I've been involved with servicing BMW & Porsche cars since the early 70's. And if you were in the Porsche business in those days, that included rebuilding about 3-6 engines a month.
This is what we did:
On a new engine we did an oil & filter change at 5oo miles. This gave us a chance to check the engine for problems, and drain the oil, which could have fine debrie from the assembly. Then we would change oil every 3000 and oil & filter every 6000.
The newer engines with modern F.I. run & burn much cleaner & leaner than the early ones. The oil doesn't get as dirty, but the engines in general run hotter. The reason the manufactueres are promoting longer service intervals, is because that sell the car! 10,000 between oil changes, sounds like a cheap car to maintain. And the new sythetic oils don't break down as quickly. But during that 10,000 how much oil is the engine burning. Not much in the beginning, but at the 60,000 mark you best be checking you oil more ofter, not just every 10,000. Also as oil get older, and has heat cycled many times, it does burn quicker.

My opinion is still: oil change every 3000 miles, filter & oil every 6000 miles. If nothing else, it will get you under the hood more often. This is very important these days since the service stations don't offer that service of checking your oil for you. When your under the hood, make it second nature to look at the coolant level, brake fluid level, and belt condition.

Warranty, you'll never get penalized for changing your oil too often. Even if you do your own servicing. Document the date and mileage. Also before you just drain the oil. Check the level, so that you can document the oil consumption, if any!

[retroom]

I agree with everything Blue Thunder has to say. But I would take it one step further,
change the oil AND filter at 3 months or 4,000 miles. If your going to change the oil you may as well change the filter too.

Blue Thunder....dont' you think it's a good idea to change the filter everytime?
What's your theory behind every other oil change?

retroom

[dennis]

Juanello:
You say that the oil filter is reachable from above. is there enough room also from above to use the 36mm wrench? Is the oil plug rubber gasket disposable or reusable? I suspect it is disposable.

[Sealevel]

dennis--First of all, I asked the question point-blank to the service manager at Lauderdale MINI, "Can I change my own oil between recommended service intervals without effecting the warranty." His answer, "Yes you can, just use the recommended oil and filter." (Well, he did mention that doing something stupid like forgetting to refill it, leaving the drain plug out, etc. would squirrel it for sure.)

Other tips discovered today, changing oil on the MINI for the first time:

As black and nasty as it looked at only 2500 miles, there's no way I'm going 10,000 between changes. This was an early initial oil change, I'm sending an oil sample to a testing lab and will see what they recommend for future intervals.

Unless you have the physique of a toothpick or know a skinny and skilled 8 year old, you'll need access to a lift, or a set of ramps to get underneath to the drain plug. Maybe on the second change when you know the layout, you might reach the drain plug working "blind" without them if you have long arms.

I'd suggest using a 36mm socket with a ratchet wrench on the filter "can." The access is a little tight, if you use a box or open end wrench you have more trouble reaching it and get less than 1/8 turn before needing to reposition, so it just goes faster with a ratchet and socket.

Use a plastic bag to catch the filter assembly as it comes loose, to keep oil from splattering. Also, soak up the dirty oil left in the filter mating area on the engine, it traps a fair amount there because of the mounting angle.

This is a little difficult to explain but is very clear once you do it. The ends of the filter element are heavy paper, and the holes in each end are undersized for a tight seal. You need to press fit the new element into place first to enlarge the holes, or you'll have trouble lining up the can and filter and engaging the treads on the block. Use the palm of your hand to press fit the filter over the tube inside the can first, remove it, wet the seal on the other end then press the element into place over the tube on the engine and leave it there. Now you can screw the can back onto the block easily (don't forget to replace the o-ring on the can.) By the way, there's no mistaking which end of the filter element goes where, the larger hole in the can, the smaller one on the block.

Didn't replace the gasket on the drain plug, but it sealed just fine. Most drain plug gaskets are reuseable at least a couple times before needing replacement, I'll pick up a few next time I'm at the dealer.

That's about all I can think of--like most things done the first time, it takes a little longer while you teach yourself how to make it go much faster the second time.

[erazo]

Thanks to Juanello and Sealevel for tips on changing the oil. Might I suggest to the moderator that these be consolidated into a FAQ?

I stopped changing my own oil years ago when the cost of my time surpassed the cost of paying someone else to do it. I was also peeved at my local service station owner who refused to take the used oil, and I had to drive to a haz waste site to dispose of it. I'm about to go back to doing it myself, using the DIY shop on the navy base where I work.

To Sealevel: can ramps be used to elevate the car for draining, or does the car have to be level? Rephrased: is the drain plug at the rear of the oil pan?

To Juanello: what does the dealer charge for the filter? Do you know of an independent source of factory filters?

[Sealevel]

Quote:

Originally posted by erazo
can ramps be used to elevate the car for draining, or does the car have to be level? Rephrased: is the drain plug at the rear of the oil pan?

It will drain just fine either way. You & I both know what you mean, but to satisfy those needing absolute accuracy, and considering the transverse engine mounting: yes, the drain plug is on the side of the pan that's toward the rear of the car. So when on ramps it will actually encourage complete draining rather than hinder it.

About the ramps, something else came to mind. (This applies specifically to an S, Cooper & One owners please check because I'm not sure it will for you.) Don't get them too steep, or the bottom edge of the spoiler could come in contact with the ramp before the tire starts to "climb" it. Mine just cleared, try before you buy.

Since I'm being so precise, I noticed I used the term "wet the seal..." in my previous post. In this context the mechanically minded know it means wet it with motor oil. For those just getting started, don't spit on it or use water or beer!

I should also have been able to answer your question about the cost of the filter, but I've "mislaid" the receipt. Oh yeah everyone, did I remind you to save your receipts? I remember it was painful though. The price for the filter and two chromed MINI license plate frames with discount was somewhere around $75! (Thud... ...sound of Sealevel fainting and hitting floor while handing over credit card and confronting BMW version of reality.) So next on my list of questions for the service manager will be "what else besides a BMW filter qualifies as a recommended filter?"

[Blue Thunder]

Quote:

Originally posted by retroom
I agree with everything Blue Thunder has to say. But I would take it one step further,
change the oil AND filter at 3 months or 4,000 miles. If your going to change the oil you may as well change the filter too.

Blue Thunder....dont' you think it's a good idea to change the filter everytime?
What's your theory behind every other oil change?

retroom

Yes. I do the filter every oil change. When I got the car at the dealer, I picked up 6 oil filters at the same time. Since I bought the car in Chicago, and I live in Texas I figured the free oil service at the dealer would cost me more than a few oil filters.
That's the price you pay for living in Texas!

[Juanello]

Dennis:
Yes, the oil filter assembly can be reached form the top, behind the engine. And yes, a 36 mm sochet, extension w/ ratchet fits. You may not even need the socket to remove the filter assembly, I was able to remove it by hand, but if yours feels a little too tight to loose it by hand, then use the socket/rachet. The oil plug gasket is reusable. If you damage it, then repleace it, but it is totally reusable.


Erazo:
I bought my oil filter directly from the MINI dealer. I just did not want to take chances by using any other after-market brands. Besides, I don't even know of any of those suppliers. The cost of one genuine MINI oil filter was $9.81 + tax.

Good luck!

[pacbob]

After reading thru all the various threads on oil changes, I bought the filter at SF BMW for $9.00 and had Jiffy Lube do the work at 3K miles. I used Mobil 1 5W30 per advise from MINI USA posted earlier. So far so good. Made it back from the lube store without popping any gaskets and turning on any red warning lights.

I figure to do it again at about 6.5K and then let MINI do it at 10K, then every 5K thereafter.

As far as the MINI is concerned, we (the MINI more than I ) still turn heads and get lots of thumbs up. I still love driving the car especially when turns are involved. Still has more than enough pick up for me, no S envy here. I have driven it with 4 adults and up in the Sierras with 2 adults. As long as I keep the revs up, no issues. Enjoy.