Finally (after 3 weeks) hit the 1500 mile mark! While I've been careful to keep her under 4K RPM (for the most part), I've hit the recommended break in period. Went WOT first time to ~6K+ just because

Getting driving lights installed in a couple weeks, so while I'm at the dealer should I also spring for the out of cycle oil change to flush out the remnants of the break in or stick to the manufacturer recommended period?

Hmmmm... Thoughts from MINI sages out there appreciated!

I'm doing my first oil change at 7500 next week - it makes sense to me, too, to do an earlier first change, but lots of different suggested mileages.

I am at 13,000km and I am still waiting for the mini to tell me that it needs to be serviced. It seems to be an awfully long time to not have an oil change and winter is coming.

I still do a break in oil change between 1,500 and 2,000 for all the cars I plan on keeping long term. You would not believe all the metal particles that get flushed out during that first oil change even on modern cars.
I then do the second oil change at 7,500 and about every 7,500 after that.

It may seem extreme and old school to a lot of folks, but I have seen what actually comes out of new engines and I am planning on doing a break in oil change on the CM as I am planning on keeping it for 8 to 10 years.

I dumped my break-in oil at 1200 miles. I just dumped it again at 4800 miles with 3600 on the oil.

The viscosity of the factory oil is not the same as the Castrol 5W-30 that Mini recommends. It's lighter break-in oil.

I was amazed at the temp of the oil when I changed it. It was HOT. Considering there's just over 4 quarts of oil in the crankcase I'm keeping my eye on the flashpoint listed in the O/A as I own the vehicle outright and plan on keeping it for at least 6-8 years.

If you lease the vehicle or plan on trading it in before the warranty expires then you might as well stick to the once a year plan. I just feel sorry for whomever purchases that vehicle.

Below is a copy of my first O/A. Waiting for the O/A for my recent change any day now and will post it up accordingly.

--Hobie

One other note, I purchased the magnetic oil pan plug IIRC from MiniMania.

It is a "rare earth" magnet which makes it exceptionally strong.

Not only was it difficult to thread in but was also difficult to remove due to the magnetivity. I'm also afraid of damaging the treads on the oil pan due to the difficulty in inserting the magnetic plug.

Additionally, not all wear metals are ferrous.

There weren't any noticeable slivers of metal on the magnetic plug when I performed my second oil change just some super fine metal when I wiped it clean on a rag.

Btw, I switched back to the OEM plug.

Anyone in the US interested in a good deal on a magnetic plug, PM me.

--Hobie

I'm going with an oil change every 7500 miles. Anyone know how many quarts of oil the CM takes?

Thanks for the input. I plan on keeping it long term so the $100 now probably isn't a waste.

When I picked up my new CM this week, I asked about this. My dealer told me that nowadays, the tolerances are so fine that there is no residue left over from manufacturing the engine. He said that they would be glad to take my money for an early oil change, but that it is not necessary. Just letting you know.....

I'm probably going to do my own oil changes in between the free services. At least one extra change between the MINI services. Cheap insurance if you do it yourself, especially after break in.

My current car is leased so I don't care - next car will be mine so want to be a little more careful.

This has been discussed to death, but I think it warrants another go around for the new folks out there.....

I agree with Fredo, I waited till almost 3K before I did mine, and I was amazed at the nastiness of the oil that came out. Now at 40K and an oil and filter every 7,500 or twice a year, it comes out clean and clear - I could probably extend my changes to 10K or so, but with the stories of sludging in the turbo return line, I think especially at the early miles it's a smart idea, and I'm going to continue with my schedule.

When I peer into the oil cap hole, the top of the head looks like new - nice and shiny with no sludge. That's the way I want mine to look as I plann to own it a good long time.

Waiting till the light goes on for the first change is really asking for problems down the road, IMHO. YMMV......

One more small point, I bought my oil and filter from MINI each time, no point in giving them an "out" should something warrantiable happen, and the price is about the same as the aftermarket - as long as you're in warranty, I recommend factory parts, that way there are no questions.

WARNING - I feel a rant coming on. Skip if you're not in the mood...

Of course that's what your dealer told you because that is what BMW / MINI drills in their heads. It's part of the value prop for both brands and they hook a lot of customers based on the free maintenance deal.

It's great if you're leasing or planning on keeping the car short term, but it's not realistic for long term durability. There was a time when you could not change fluids often enough on a BMW vehicle. With the 1997 model year, maintenance became free (it's "included" really) and instantly all the maintenance intervals doubled or went away. The old days may have been excessive for some maintenance items, but the pendulum has swung to the other extreme.

I am very passionate about this because I have owned late 80's - early 90's BMWs that went to 300k miles with no major component failures. I just spent weeks searching for a good pre owned X3 or X5 and found nothing but dealer maintained basket cases that looked good and drove reasonably well but failed pre-purchase inspections miserably. They all needed differential work and all of them had original fluid in the transmission which is now a common 100k mile failure item when it's not maintained. I decided on a new CM4 mostly because I could maintain it how I want from day 1.


Instead of asking your dealer, I would suggest asking someone who works on these cars post warranty. You can look up BMW / MINI independent repairers at www.bimrs.org They all work on out of warranty BMW / MINI vehicles so they can give you facts based on what they see in the shop every day instead of opinions based on marketing fairy dust. I am willing to bet any one of them would be happier to have you as a long term customer coming in regularly for $75 to $100 oil changes as opposed to a one time $6,000 transmission replacement. My independent BMW repairer does all the big work on all my cars and did the pre-purchase inspections on my pre-owned candidates. He advised me to walk away from them all due to lack of maintenance. It feels like BMW's and MINI's have become disposable cars due to the free maintenance program. Sad...

At the end of the day it's your car, not the MA's. Do what feels right for you.

Sorry about the rant. I'm still frustrated about not having found a good 05 - 06 X5. I feel better now...

No need to be sorry about ranting, i enjoyed it. I was just adding my two cents in the discussion by relating my experience. I do plan on doing an early oil change, if to do nothing but ease my conscience...That being said, you would think they (BMW/MINI) would have an interest in having cars on the road with few issues, in order to entice new customers, and/or repeat customers, no? Why are there people who buy these things over and over if they are subpar products, or a subpar company?

I just changed my oil today. Decided to just do it at 3000 miles. Boy was that oil black. Like it was cooked. I should have taken a photo. Glad I did it. I would not recommend waiting 15,000 miles. Change it after the break in and then every 7000 miles after that.

Oh yeah, meant to mention that only 4 qts came out, so only 4 qts went back in.

Car manufacturers are better off to have as few issues as possible - look what poor quality did for the domestics.
I think BMW and MINI have a fantastic product. The CM4 will be my 10th in 15 years. Nothing drives like a BMW at the price level IMHO. I used to drive about 50k miles a year for my work and some of the first ones were high mileage used examples that served me well while I had them. I in turn sold them to the next owner knowing it would serve him / her well. Had that not been the case I would probably be driving a Lexus now. Over the past few weeks it was incredibly frustrating looking at not so old cars that would have been fantastic vehicles for my needs, but were compromised by lack of maintenance endorsed by the manufacturer.
It's going to be all good though. My CM is coming and I have a couple of BMW's plus a MINI sitting in the garage. I'm sure one them needs something done to it!

Just wondering if you change the oil yourself does that reset the computer in the mini that's telling you when to change it (ie when to get your free oil change from the dealer)?

I'll change at 1000, 3000, and every 5k thereafter. Why not, $30 for a recommended oil, a filter every other change, peace of mind.
Legend holds that a manufacturer will always choose to save one dollar on a car if they can...times millions of units it shows up in the bottom line. If Mini's actual cost in doing an oil and filter change is, for the sake of argument, $40, doing four hundred thousand extra (2 per car) under the prepaid plan for each model year would set them back $16 million bucks per model year...basically they'd have to charge $80 extra for the car...personally I wish that they would.

I hope not...that would be WAY too spooky

The act of changing the oil does not reset the service indicator (SI). There is a procedure to go through to reset it. It will vary depending on whether you have MINI Connected / nav or not.
I don't reset the SI unless the BMW / MINI says it's time. That's why the 7,500 miles oil changes are a good idea because it's usually about halfway through the recommended service. This way you also get the "free" service from MINI.
BTW, maintenance is more than just motor oil. Here is my rough schedule:
- Brake fluid - Every 2 years (no mileage dependency)
- Coolant - Every 4 years or 50k
- Manual trans fluid- Every 30 to 35k
- Auto trans - Every 50k (it's what I did on the Jeep, but I think it would work for these cars as well)
- Differential and transfer case - Every 30 to 35k (smae as manual trans fluid)
- Power steering fluid - every 3 to 4 years - whenever there is another service and it's convenient
- Air and pollen filter - every 2 years or 30k whichever is less
- Fuel filter, plugs, belts - per manufacturer or 100k max

Since I have my own schedule I treat the BMW / MINI inspections as oil changes plus whatever else may be needed at the time. Believe it or not, I actually save quite a bit of money with this schedule. The only thing I do myself are oil changes, simple filter changes, and brakes. Anyhting else and it goes to the independent BMW repair shop.

with respect to oil changes, here are a couple of questions. any difference between oil changes base engine versue turbo. id imagine turbos need to be changed more frequently. also, if i only put 3-5k on a year, then would you change the oil 6 months in? or just wait for the year.

In regards to turbo vs not, I think if you go the route of halfway through what the service indicator suggests, you would be in good shape. To be honest, I would be surprised if there were a big difference and you would probably end up at about 7,500 to 8,000 miles anyway.

With the low use cars, the experts say once a year regardless of mileage, and even BMW / MINI endorses that. The reason is that with use the oil gets contaminated with corrosive elements and you don't want that stuff sitting in your engine for several years while you're waiting for the SI to hit its 15k mile distance.
Experts recommend doing the oil change before a long storage period which is typically right about now for the winter stored garage queens. Some go as far as recommending an oil change before putting the car back on the road but unless the car has been mothballed for several years that feels a little extreme even to me.
I have a 2002 BMW 330ci convertible that just hit 48k miles yesterday. I change the oil once per year around Sept / Oct when the wheater is still good. I am loose with the timing because it comes out of the garage occasionally on nice winter days when I need my top down driving fix.

thanks for that detailed response! much appreciated.

4.4 Qts is what the manual states. Just because 4 quarts comes out, desn't mean only 4 quarts shouldn't go back in.

What happens if only 2 quarts comes out ?

On my turbo diesel truck the CCV dumps a lot of oil vapor back into the intake pre-turbo and that oil vapor winds up finding it's way out of the CAC tubes and down the back of the engine.

A Racor 4500 filter in line with the CCV traps a lot of oil from the CCV vapors.

The rig holds appox 16 qts of oil and it's important to fill to the mark on the dip stick every oil change.

I would never go 12 months on the CM without an oil change for many reasons. Main reason that the crankcase only holds a bit over a gallon of oil not to mention how hot that gallon+ of oil gets plus a lot of other variables.

As I've stated before, if you lease the vehicle or intend to trade it in then stick with the program (and I feel sorry for the person who purchases as certified pre-owned).

If you own it outright and intend on keeping it for a number of years, change the oil frequently. Cheap insurance.

Yep, got busy with the two cars that are in Reno this weekend.
I prepped the 330 for its winter semi-hibernation and the Pea got a good scrubbing out of the deal. Two clean cars is good.

I probably would not bother with the "break-in" oil change. Follow the manufacturer's recommendation and be sure to check the oil level on a regular basis.