Oil Filter Change Procedure

For all you DIY people and those that take their MINI’s to a lube shop, this procedure will answer vital questions about how to install the new oil filter. I would suggest you verify the procedure with your MINI service people before just taking my word for it.

The filter design was changed in some small ways so that the same filter could be used in a standard Cooper and an “S”. Standardization is a good thing, but without the correct installation instructions, some of us could risk serious damage to our engines. So here it is:

1. Remove the plastic seal and tube part from the upper end of the old filter. Do not dispose of this piece.
2. Insert and seat the plastic seal and tube over the spring in the housing cap so that the tube will go up inside of the new filter.
3. Install the new filter on to the plastic tube and push it all the way down. (this is with the non-seal end going on to the tube. The hole is a little small so some force is required.)
4. Replace the "O" ring seal on the housing cap with the new one provided.
5. When the housing cap, spring, seal and tube and filter assembly is complete, place the filter over the metal tube coming up from the housing base and screw the housing cap and its contents onto the housing base.

[Paul]

Thanks Frials.



Glad you got there in the end!

[MINIAC]

It would be much appreciated if the next person to do this would take some digital pictures ... and put together a FAQ

[Apex]

So, I guess I shouldn't let Moe and Zeke's garage change my oil and filter??

[dennis]

Quote:

Originally posted by frails
Oil Filter Change Procedure

For all you DIY people and those that take their MINI’s to a lube shop, this procedure will answer vital questions about how to install the new oil filter. I would suggest you verify the procedure with your MINI service people before just taking my word for it.

The filter design was changed in some small ways so that the same filter could be used in a standard Cooper and an “S”. Standardization is a good thing, but without the correct installation instructions, some of us could risk serious damage to our engines. So here it is:

1. Remove the plastic seal and tube part from the upper end of the old filter. Do not dispose of this piece.
2. Insert and seat the plastic seal and tube over the spring in the housing cap so that the tube will go up inside of the new filter.
3. Install the new filter on to the plastic tube and push it all the way down. (this is with the non-seal end going on to the tube. The hole is a little small so some force is required.)
4. Replace the "O" ring seal on the housing cap with the new one provided.
5. When the housing cap, spring, seal and tube and filter assembly is complete, place the filter over the metal tube coming up from the housing base and screw the housing cap and its contents onto the housing base.

__________________________
Seems like you may have skipped some steps prior to this. The filter is located inside a canister for which, as I understand from previous threads, you need a 13 mm wrench to open the canister, which is accessible from the top.
The rest of your instructions seem complicated, especially since I was given a pleated filter insert with a "O" ring seal. Oddly enough, the part number of the pleated filter is 11 42 7 509 208 compared with the number labelled on the box which is (correctly) 11 42 7 512 446.
Something isn't right here.

[Sealevel]

And in the future the very best time to research and post The Answer is before posting The Statement--such as "Oil Change Voids Warranty"--which others took weeks to clear up for you along with providing the information you've now copied onto this post.

[Sealevel]

Quote:

Originally posted by dennis

__________________________
Seems like you may have skipped some steps prior to this. The filter is located inside a canister for which, as I understand from previous threads, you need a 13 mm wrench to open the canister, which is accessible from the top.
The rest of your instructions seem complicated, especially since I was given a pleated filter insert with a "O" ring seal. Oddly enough, the part number of the pleated filter is 11 42 7 509 208 compared with the number labelled on the box which is (correctly) 11 42 7 512 446.
Something isn't right here.

see posts by Juanello and Sealevel here:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...t=oil+filt er

dennis--the wrench or socket needed to remove the canister is 36mm, the largest 1/2" drive socket commonly stocked, for one of the smallest cars on the road! frails description doesn't quite match the experience I had either, so I'm also now a little confused about what, if any, changes have occurred. My impression of the tube he describes is that it was part of the canister itself. It didn't come off with the old filter element, or during the "pre-fit" of the filter to enlarge the holes in the ends. The filter part # on my receipt and the box was the one you list that ends with 446, and I recall confirming it on the filter itself. The filter element I used matched your description though. About the complicated instructions, I can tell you it's indeed hard to describe, but becomes clear when you do it, noting how the old filter was intalled before removing it from the canister. And until The New Answer emerges, obviously it's necessary to call a MINI parts department for the story on the filter # discrepancy and verify you indeed have the right part before getting started.

[dennis]

[quote]Originally posted by Sealevel
[b]

dennis--the wrench or socket needed to remove the canister is 36mm...
_______________
I stand corrected. Thanks. I was thinking of the drain plug gasket size. As you say, the only way to figure this one out is to actually try changing the filter element and see how the old one was inserted.

Seems like Sealevel is a little put out with me. Something about me taking other people's information and posting it as my own.

The instructions for installing a new oil filter may have appeared in one of the threads, I guess they must have. However, I did not see them. Had I known they were already there someplace, I would never have asked the question about installing filters and would certainly not repost them under my name.

I got my filter instructions by calling no less than 10 dealerships before one of them was able to share the correct method with me. I was amazed at the number of dealerships that have not yet done a 10,000 mile service.

I took the MINI Mechanics instructions and checked them out at my local lube shop when we had the old filter out to see for myself what was going on. Only after doing this did I post the information.

I value this forum very much and if in fact I accidentally did as Sealevel believes, I appologize. And many thanks to the people who responded with helpful suggestions to my other questions.