When I first bought the MINI I changed the oil myself at 7,500 miles...then my first service came up around 15,000-16,000 miles. Now I'm at around 24,500...OBC says my next service is in about 8,500 miles. This whole 15,000-20,000 miles between oil changes thing makes me a little nervous to be honest. I've always been an **** 3K changer. I trust that BMW knows more about it than me. I have an oil filter and everything I need to change it myself. The only problem is it's all stored away about 200 miles away...and I have no place to change it myself. I'm going to be doing a lot of driving this summer, so I need to make a decision fairly quickly. I basically have two options:

1. Wait until my second service, which should be around 33K.

2. Or take it to the dealer to have it changed, which I assume is pretty expensive.

So, long story short. Raise your hand if you only change your oil when the OBC says it's time.

 

BMW CARES more than you. Swapping oil out when it should be (People have tested oil at 3k, 5k, 7.5k, etc. The oil is pretty much shot after 8-9k miles, ESPECIALLY on the R56) would cost them a LOT of money. It's cheaper to extend the oil change interval to 15k miles, and replace the 1-2 engines a year that blow than it is to offer 7500 mile changes for EVERY MINI out there. You forget, after 50k miles they don't care what happens to the car, it's not on their dime anymore.

There are also emissions breaks for manufacturers that comply with extended oil change intervals.

No, I'm not implicating BMW in some massive conspiracy to blow up their customers cars, but Everyone that knows ANYTHING about oil is saying 10k+ mile oil change intervals are VERY BAD.

There are plenty of threads on this forum about oil analysis. I suggest you send your oil out and get the lab's official suggestions.

 

I changed my oil between services. I go about 5K-7500 miles per change. Although righ now I'm 2k over due. I need to do that this weekend.

 

Just a quick question: How old is your MINI?

I was told that the oil is to be changed with the intervals or every year(whichever comes first). On my 2 yr date, my service indicator still showed 5k or 6k before next service. I called the dealer and they did a Low Mileage Service which included an oil change. I've had my car 2.5 years and just had the second service (Inspection I) done last week.

 

I can't imagine going beyond 7,500 miles between changes. Since I only drive about 5,000 miles a year, I will get mine changed yearly.

 

I don't take my car on the track, so I don't see the need to change oil before the suggested "15k" mile count. Nor I do I take it on long road trips anymore. The new synthetic oil is being used by other cars other than just MINI. So IMO, I don't think there is a 'conspiracy' by BMW/MINI to save them money by having the customer go in with fewer oil changes on their dime (via warranty service). Otherwise this would be a global carwide conspiracy? I guess this where I have to have some faith in improved technology/science.

There's is certainly no harm to the car by having more frequent oil changes. Have at it if it will give you peace of mind.

I choose to have my oil changed by what the manual says.

 

Once again I offer up my Blackstone report. Car has 11,000 miles on the oil and the OBC is saying 9,000 miles until service.
The oil is compared against a 7300 mile constant control sample by the folks at Blackstone.
TBN, which is a measure of the lubrication properties left in the oil, starts at around 11 and goes to 0. Mine was at 2.7. While not shot, it is not the best thats for sure.
Car was not AutoXd and primarily driven to and from work roughly 35 miles RT.

 

Thanks for the comments! If I waited to hit the 1-year mark, I would have to wait until September or October or November...I can't remember exactly. I kind of remember thinking that last year, but I don't think my dealer would change it at the 1-year mark (car was delivered in August 2006)...last time they wouldn't set up an appointment until I was within 500 miles of the OBC maintenance. I'm considering taking a 200 mile road trip to change my oil. HaHa! (Either this weekend or the early part of June.) Will it void my warranty if I go to AutoZone and buy the 0-40W Castrol they have. The dealer is a little out of my way...but I can swing by there if it's necessary? BTW...thanks for the chart chpsk8! Can't argue with that...I think I'm at 7,000-9,000 miles on this oil. (To be for sure I would need to go get the papers out, and they're filed away, and I'm tired, and this is a run on sentence, and that's awesome! Anyway, I think the car had around 16k-18k 1st maintenance. I'm at around 24,500 now.) So I digressed, the whole reason for this post was to find out if there's any chance at all that the AutoZone Castrol would void any warranty work? And which is better 30W or 40W? I live in Oklahoma where this oil will likely see everything from 10F to 112F. Thank you.

Seth

 

The oil from Autozone will be fine. No oil will void a warranty... welll olive oil, or peanut oil or any standard cooking oil, but no motor oil will void a warranty. I forget the standard weight, and I am also tired and lazy. It's in the manual though, which is probably in the glovebox of the car you'll drive to Autozone, so there, problem solved.

 

hmmm . . . the Blackstone report does seem to give some hard evidence toward shorter miles between changes. I'll be changing my oil under the warranty one more time. After the next oil change, I will seriously consider changing my oil much more frequently.