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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
@Here2Go that missing key story was CRAZY! Just curious, how did you settle on 3500 miles for your oil changes? Have you tested your oil at 5K and found it pretty bad? What oil are you using?
@Here2Go that missing key story was CRAZY! Just curious, how did you settle on 3500 miles for your oil changes? Have you tested your oil at 5K and found it pretty bad? What oil are you using?
The short answer: I feel the oil looks black after 3,500. But never had it tested.
Bought the Mini new (in 2003), which used: Mobil 1 5W 30. In 2012, I started using LiquiMoly for about a year or 2wo (became too expensive). 2014, I switched to Castrol GTX for about a year. Since then I've gone back to Mobil 1.
I used to drive cross country a lot in my old air cooled Porsche powered VW ('s). Even before Synthetic oils; I noticed my oil seemed blacker than I'd liked after 3,500 miles - so I started making it a point to change the oil frequently. Mind you; oil was a lot cheaper back then, too
Since having owned my Mini since new, 2003, modern cars now running synthetic, I'd noticed the same blackness after 3,500 miles. So I just assume continuing changing the oil at the same 3.5k intervals with this car, as well. However, I now only change the filter upon every other oil change (every 7k miles).. Since 2014, I've driven my Mini a lot across the country. Now at 116k on the clock - I hope the frequency of oil changes + routine maintenance has made a difference..
Circling back to the missing key saga - Yeah. That was really weird. I had even left out quite a few details in regards to that story.
Glad to have my originals back. They all deserve the new badge.
Gotcha, but aren't you kind of defeating the purpose of the 'early' oil changes if you're leaving some old oil in the system via the filter?? I was always taught to change the filter with every change, and their price hasn't gone up very much, as far as I know.
Same here.Up until 2019 i had always changed the filter with each oil change. Makes for good practice.
Lately; I've come to feel that just a few oz from the previous oil mixed in with fresh, 4.7 qts is probably not going to adversely effect the oil and with the low miles I have not seen much sediments
I wouldn't say it's about cost as much as it is about complacency. Modern oils claim "protection up to 10,000 miles" - I'm ok in believing that.
In contrast - When changing out the filter, I do make it a practice to visually check for particulates in addition to using a magnet.
Given my adult minded driving habit I'm confident and comfortable in my routine.
However; I do agree - your suggestion holds much merit.
I received my second Thermostat Adapter harness from ECS tuning for my Thermostat replacement Kit (ES#4759924)
Let me begin with, I'm not complaining but I was disappointed, so this is a PSA regarding the adapter harness required for this thermostat and the Gen 2 Mini S model within the build date noted.
Be extremely mindful of the special note in red regarding vehicles with specific production date.
Yesterday the note ended with "All other models it's" (in red) nothing else followed the note (see image) but ES2558172 was listed as the adapter.
If you have an S model, THIS HARNESS WILL NOT WORK, I know because I bought ES2558172. I didn't dig deeper because I saw the one listed and made the assumption, why? Because they are the experts, they are the experts with parts required but not the experts with the description, in my own opinion, that was a fail with a lot of room for improvement. I called them yesterday to confirm harness needed and was happy to see it amended today but it's still lacking in clarity.
The adapter harness you need to buy for your S model, if you buy thermostat ES#:4759924 is adapter harness ES#: 2634289 Mfg#: 12518611289
In the event you buy ES#: 4759924 thermostat, the ES2558172 adapter will not work. The ends that connect the adapter cable to the thermostat will not work with that thermostat.
I'm not sure why that harness is even listed with the thermostat. In my mind, in order to facilitate a confident on-line purchase, the special note in red should read "Special harness may be required, see harness options below for details" or "See below for adapter harnesses for your specific model and build date".
Today it's been amended to "For vehicles with production from 6/2010 to 3/2012 Base/JCW models will require ES2558172 if this is the first time being replaced. Some models depen0dant on production will need another adapter and some dont."
Although the amendment is somewhat helpful it's still vague, and they still list the harness that does not work.
This is my rant, it will not dissuade me from using ECS, I like the service and the parts received have been perfect, but it will force me to call them rather than relying on the accuracy of the descriptions on the site.
Piano Black MINI 7 dash Of course, I’m at the beach. Don’t mind the sand you see on her, we might have been down her yesterday too😁 What’s nice about getting here early, R53 in easy to park in some of the bigger spots and leaves plenty of room for activities.
Regular 3,500 mi Oil & filter change this morning.
Since working on cars is still prohibited at my new residence; 8am this morning I set out to seek a nice, quiet parking lot where I could perform my oil service under a nice shade tree. With the morning sun looming over the horizon at 9am, it was already a balmy 85° without a cloud in the sky. I never did find that shady spot in a parking lot. Seems to me that shaded parking lots out here are nothing more than a myth. To get the only relief from the sun; I had to settle for lying on my back under my Mini until all 4.7 quarts of oil had drained out.
4.7qts fresh 5w 30 Mobil 1 and a new WIX brand oil filter done (@116,020 mi).Next - I moved on to (with the intention) of replacing the front brake pads. I had replaced the rear brake pads (which were severely worn) about 3 or 4 months ago but (today) the front pads were only shown to be at 45% wear.
I decided to forego replacing the front pads until October when I"ll perform a complete pressure bleed.
Regular 3,500 mi Oil & filter change this morning.
Since working on cars is still prohibited at my new residence; 8am this morning I set out to seek a nice parking lot where I could perform my oil service under a nice shade tree. With the morning sun looming over the horizon at 9am, it was already a balmy 85° without a cloud in the sky. I never did find that shady spot in a parking lot. Seems to me that shaded parking lots out here are nothing more than a myth. To get the only relief from the sun; I had to settle for lying on my back under my Mini until all 4.7 quarts of oil had drained out.
No more crawling under the car, I have used this on the boat, on my son's car, on my wife's car, etc. The design of it is nice because you can easily empty the used oil oil out into a jug without spilling a drop. The least messy oil changes I have ever done!
I received my second Thermostat Adapter harness from ECS tuning for my Thermostat replacement Kit (ES#4759924)
Let me begin with, I'm not complaining but I was disappointed, so this is a PSA regarding the adapter harness required for this thermostat and the Gen 2 Mini S model within the build date noted.
Be extremely mindful of the special note in red regarding vehicles with specific production date.
Yesterday the note ended with "All other models it's" (in red) nothing else followed the note (see image) but ES2558172 was listed as the adapter.
If you have an S model, THIS HARNESS WILL NOT WORK, I know because I bought ES2558172. I didn't dig deeper because I saw the one listed and made the assumption, why? Because they are the experts, they are the experts with parts required but not the experts with the description, in my own opinion, that was a fail with a lot of room for improvement. I called them yesterday to confirm harness needed and was happy to see it amended today but it's still lacking in clarity.
The adapter harness you need to buy for your S model, if you buy thermostat ES#:4759924 is adapter harness ES#: 2634289 Mfg#: 12518611289
In the event you buy ES#: 4759924 thermostat, the ES2558172 adapter will not work. The ends that connect the adapter cable to the thermostat will not work with that thermostat.
I'm not sure why that harness is even listed with the thermostat. In my mind, in order to facilitate a confident on-line purchase, the special note in red should read "Special harness may be required, see harness options below for details" or "See below for adapter harnesses for your specific model and build date".
Today it's been amended to "For vehicles with production from 6/2010 to 3/2012 Base/JCW models will require ES2558172 if this is the first time being replaced. Some models depen0dant on production will need another adapter and some dont."
Although the amendment is somewhat helpful it's still vague, and they still list the harness that does not work.
This is my rant, it will not dissuade me from using ECS, I like the service and the parts received have been perfect, but it will force me to call them rather than relying on the accuracy of the descriptions on the site.
This happens not infrequently with MINIs. I wish there was a 'special production date note' when I ordered my complete Powerflex kit from Way Motorworks. The bushings that came in the kit were way too small for my early 2002 production R53. Way did exchange them, but now that means another appointment with the mechanic to do a job that should have been able to have been completed in one shot. The difference in size, btw, is impressive.
No more crawling under the car, I have used this on the boat, on my son's car, on my wife's car, etc. The design of it is nice because you can easily empty the used oil oil out into a jug without spilling a drop. The least messy oil changes I have ever done!
Except that BMW/MINI decided it was a good idea to eliminate the dipstick on the Gen 3 MINIs.
No more crawling under the car, I have used this on the boat, on my son's car, on my wife's car, etc. The design of it is nice because you can easily empty the used oil oil out into a jug without spilling a drop. The least messy oil changes I have ever done!
I'd considered one of those before recetly deciding to travel the country in my Mini. Its more about room/what I can carry. Before doing so, I had to give up/give away about $10k in industrial equipment, tools and hard to find good 1st Gen Mini parts. Just so I could travel "light".
I do like those oil extractors though.
The other day I was taking my 2012 R56S (with slightly over 70k miles on it) to the dealer to discuss some needed repairs. On the way there I hit an expansion joint on the highway that pretty violently rattled the car. Immediately after it happened the engine started to misfire, lost power and threw the check engine light. Ok, maybe the runflats on a car set up for the track wasn’t the best idea, but they are the only street tires I have for it.
Fortunately I was right at the exit I needed to take to get to the dealer and was able to limp my way there. All the way I was pondering the what might have happened. Something electrical came to mind. Then a friend suggested that it might be something mechanical. Ugh 😩 Maybe something with the timing chain broke and cams got out of sync? Took out a valve? A head? The pistons? How bad could it be?
I'm glad to hear that's what it was vs. a serious engine problem. I had spark plug #3 shoot out while I was on the track in Monticello and immediately went into limp mode. The car had no power running on 3 plugs, so I can only imagine how much slower yours was running on 2. Mine was heli-coiled and has stayed under the bonnet since then! Happy Motoring!👍
Last edited by veggivet; Jul 23, 2025 at 05:52 PM.
Well, the Chile Pepper top end rebuild is complete. Car runs really well, and looking forward to another 100,000 miles/15 years with it.
So now it's on to the control arms in the Recluse. I bought a complete set of PSB bushings early this year and had done the entire rear (trailing arm, shock mounts, stabilizer bar) back in May, but the project was more intensive than I had time for so never got to the front.
Subframe out Fun to the max
Problem encountered upon removal. The front stabilizer bushings that were included in the kit are NOT front bushings....they're 16 mm. So this will sit for another day while I source some bushings.
Which gives me time to replace the valve cover, which has been whistling on cold starts for quite a little while now.
Plastic VC off. Someone decided to use gray RTV on the last install, so here goes an hour of my day I can't get back. Motor looks fairly clean for 135,000 smiles. Bremmen aluminum VC
Finished up the control arm/stabilizer bushing project this evening. Learned a few things along the way, so next time I have to drop the subframe it should be easier.
FWIW.....the torque spec on the front stabilizer bar bushing bolts is 122 ft/lbs. That's tight. I know there are other people here on NAM who insist you can replace these with the subframe in the the car - but in my humble opinion, I highly doubt you can get the torque spec correct and it will lead to other problems (premature wear, ancillary component failure).
Now to get an alignment. New exhaust coming later this week, thanks @ECSTuning
Loaded a 550 scaled version of my original old JCW tune into the ECU. Tweaked the idle speeds up a bit to help the lightened flywheel carry the aircon, tweaked the fan control temperatures down a bit, dialed out the 3k rpm light throttle flat spot in the fuel table, and shut off the coolant temperature too low error codes for when the 180° thermostat goes in.
Original on top, adjusted on bottom:
Last edited by joe_bfstplk; Jul 28, 2025 at 09:13 PM.
Reason: Typo
Swapped out my tail light bulbs for LEDs. Turns out, the pre-LCI F60 "LED" tail lights use the same bulb carrier as the non-LED tail lights, but use some weird H21W style bulb for the brake lights. The good thing is that the H21W bulbs use an adapter, which when removed lets you install a regular 1156 style bulb.
Had the alignment done on the Recluse. Front wasn't horrible, left rear was pretty far out. Progress continues towards having it ready for Minis At The Glen!
Today I got up early in a near hopeless attempt to beat the heat to replace my 21y/o rubber exhaust hangers.
Last week, I had taken a little road trip. When I fired up the Mini next morning, only to be startled by a loud clamorous noise seemingly coming from the exhaust.
I assumed the rubber exhaust hangers were shot so I ordered a complete set.
I received my new exhaust hangers for my pre-facelift from WMW yesterday afternoon.
The projected high temp for today was to be 100º, so I headed out to a Walmart to try and score a spot under one of only a few shade trees in the parking lot...
When you are a drifter without a place to work on your Mini - What better place is there than a Walmart parking lot?... Tools, rest room, food and a wide spectacle of people...
(the later can be kind of annoying when your flat on your back underneath your Mini with your nose pressed up against the exhaust - and people (or feet is all I could see), want to talk about how cool your Mini is.
Arguably not the best time to try and socialize with someone trying to fix their car).
As suggested by others who had replaced their hangers before; I started off by replacing the center exhaust hangers...
Rather than fighting with a piece if indurated rubber... My trusty ol' sculpting knife (aka: fish filleting knife), works great for making quick work cutting out the old hangers.
R&R-ing the rear hangers on a pre-facelift R53 wasn't too bad but still a time consuming, tight pain in the butt.
Ok so I replaced all the exhaust hangers with new. No crack in the CAT. No seperation or broken weld at the flex pipe (that I could see). No broken mounting studs. No loose or damged interfering heat shields. And still wouldn't you know it? -
Although not as bad as before - The clattering from the exhaust pipe still remains!
It's a pipe. Noise and vibration traveling through a length of a pipe can sound like its coming from any point. The length of the exhaust pipe feels absolutely solid but vibrates just enough.
It sounds to me most of the time, that the noise seems to come from the passenger side muffler. But the muffler does not shake enough to coincide with the sound. At 1,100 rpm It almost sounds as if there is something broken off loose rattleling inside the exhaust pipe near or inside the muffler.
To help eliminate the possible cause for the exhaust vibration I'd also intended to replace the lower engine mount with a new one in my back-up parts. Absent minded perhaps, But as it turns out the new back-up part (lower mount) was the one already currently on the car.
@Here2Go isn't it always shady when you're working under your car?
True - but even over night temps, by morning that asphalt can still be uncomfortably warm.
Dumpster diving for a piece of cardboard before working on the Mini is my first course of action.
Btw: I can honestly say; My 21y/o Mini is in remarkably good condition - having never been garage kept it's entire life living in the SE & SW parts of the country. I can say I've spent a good amount of time underneath this car in my driveway with nary a complaint.... But this unrelenting sun and dammned desert heat!
