My MINI has alot of ground clearance. Didn't have any trouble at all driving it up the ramps.

Sadly, I can't change the oil in my garage, or on the street here in Old Town. So, for the next change, I'll be looking for someone with a driveway who wants to have a MINI oil changing party in Northern VA. Or go to one of the BMW DIY sessions.

 

Very much so.. I either took off the lower spoiler (air-dam) or I put the stands on a decline and drove the cars up just the first part of the stand. But then you run into the drainage problem on , well my V-Dubs, where the oil drain plug is on the front of the pan. Glad OSHA never showed up..

 

Yea, I can't even put the ramp upto the tire without hitting the air-dam.

 

Thanks for the comprehensive how-to post. I just got done changing oil in my wife's MCS. It's a miserable mess to change the filter, thanks MINI. My best recommendation for filter removal is to lay out about a 2' x 2' area of oil absorbent pads and just let it drop. I tried stuffing them under the filter housing, but I didn't have much luck. Let it drop on the oil absorbent material, then wipe off the under side of the car. There was much less on the underside of the car than I had expected.

Get yourself a set of Rhino Ramps http://www.rhinoramps.com/product.html
They work just fine for the Mini. They work on my '06 Miata with lowers.

4.5 quarts is the magic number.

 

Is your wife's MINI an R56? I heard the R53 oil filter change is supposed to be difficult, but hadn't heard complaints about the R56.

 

What a pain: I read this post and thought most cars are like this, what's all the fuss about; well I heated the engine up, like a good boy, and slid underneath with my 8mm Hex socket and loosened the bung... boiling oil started leaking out and I dropped the socket in the catch pan... couldn't touch it (too hot), wiating for everything to cool down so that I can get near it again... oil is dribbling out... decided to go have breakfast!

step 1 heat engine up;
step 2 drive up ramps;
step 3 loosen bung;
step 4 have breakfast;
step 5 take out bung... carry on as usual

 

Yes.! Just remember these engines heat up very quickly, literaly only a minite or less maybe to get the oil to its temp. Thats why they are so efficient. Excellant Good catch on your part for all us DIY oil changers.

 

Thanks so much for the tutorial. Changed the oil this weekend at 1300 miles (vacation plans), and these instructions really helped. The hardest part was finding a 27 mm socket, since every store in town was out. (it seemed). Maybe everyone is changing their oil on their new r56s.

 

I think it's really hard to see the level too. By varying the light angle I could do it, but it was hard to be sure where it was. The first time I tried it I thought it was empty!

 

It is indeed an R56, that's why I posted it in 2nd Generation MINIs part of the forum.

It's not that it was difficult, just messy.

 

Here's a manual that might be useful... dummies2.png?t=1180240733

 

Not everyone is so aware of their surroundings.

How much oil, would you estimate, came out of the filter holder?

 

Several ounces. Those several ounces went all over everything between the bottom of the filter housing and my garage floor.

 

[SIZE=2]My husband just changed the oil in my R56, and wanted me to share a few things he thought might be of help. He says:
The drain plug has an 8mm hex socket for an Allen wrench in my car (5/16" might work), not a Torx 50. Using an Allen wrench makes it easier to remove when oil is dripping, or try using a pair of pliers – there is just enough sticking out to get the pliers on it. Before you drain the oil, loosen the filler cap or the oil will create a vacuum when the plug is removed and oil is draining, causing it to splatter all over.
Walmart sells a nice set of 5 metric sockets made by Stanley that go from 27 to 36mm. They will probably cost less than buying one or two individual sockets at the auto parts store.
I think Mobil one is the better synthetic vs. Castrol. BMW used to recommend Mobil 1, then changed their tune when they eventually "approved" Castrol. But a lot of independent sources seem to agree that Mobil 1 is better. When I changed to it from Castrol in my BMW 530, which had always had a tappet knock on startup, the knock suddenly disappeared. But I put Castrol in the MINI while it is under warrantee, "just in case."
Have fun, and don’t forget to take your used oil to a garage or auto parts store or even Walmart (near their auto repair garage) for recycling.


[/SIZE]

 

CORRECT!! I took (only) a T50 socket to the craft shop on post today. Fortunately it has an 8mm allen base, so it worked anyway.

Agree wholeheartedly, and I used Mobil1

I've had similar experiences with Castrol, which is why I now use Mobil. Mini calls for 5w30 or 5w40. Mobil doesn't make a 5w40 for the U.S. market (except for diesel engines), so I used 0w40.

 

Isn't 0-40 a thinner oil than 5-30 or 5-40?

 

It's "thinner" than 5w30, but not 5w40.

0w40 and 5w40 are both 40 weight oils. The "w" refers to "winter", and the 0 (instead of 5) primarily deals with cold pour volume rather than lubrication.

Note that this is in regard to synthetic only (you can't achieve a 0 with dino oil). Mini calls for synthetic though, so dino oil isn't pertinent.

 

Seems that some drain plugs are T50, and some 8 mm hex. Mine is definetly T-50. I took the filter and went to express oil change. I've used them for years (southeast based) and have always been pleased. They are also a full service garage and know what they are doing. I've heard horror stories of jiffy lubes, but have always been pleased with express oil change. You can stand right there and watch every move they make. The only problem was that after they drained the oil they discovered that they didn't have a low profile 27 mm socket. Well fortunately I have a mc not mcs. Without the turbo in the way it was real easy to back off the filter housing with a standard box end wrench. Disaster averted. They splashed some oil from removing the filter and then maticulousy washed and wiped up the whole area and under carriage. 60 bucks, 15 minutes and I was on my way.

As far as the oil quality, I looked under the car as the oil was draining. It looked still looked real clean at 1250 miles. The filter was relatively clean, slight grayish tint to it, metal or just the oil color?

 

Is your engine French or Japanese? When was your MINI built?

It would be interesting to see if the drain plug change is due to the country of origin, or a spec. change BMW has initiated.

 

I'm one of the ones whose sticker says the country of origin of the engine is Japan. My MA believes that is a computer generated fantasy, substituting Japan for french. The only thing with a country of origin of Japan is the Aisin automatic transmission.

 

I found these http://www.discountramps.com/low_profile_car_ramp.htm

They're kind of expensive but will probably work.

 

When checking oil level I found out that if I hold the end of the dipstick tightly wrapped with paper towel and open I can see how much oil is in the tank. Magic? No...just poor description. Just squeeeeeze it tight with paper towel and whatever come off from the dipstick will show where the oil was and wasn't.

 

Why not just use a top side oil extractor? They work VERY well and have been shown to pull out more oil than a plug drain on many BMW's. There's no risk of stripping the plug and no mess, though you may get some spillage with the filter.
Is it possible to back fill the filter element with oil before closing it up? It would prevent oil starvation the first time you start it up.

As for the oil, Mobile 1 USE to be a Group IV oil, but they got cheap and made it a Group III oil now. Can't really blame them since all the other companies were calling their Group III oils "Synthetic" and able to charge a lot less for cheaper oil.
Supposedly, the Mobile 1 "Extended" oil is the old Mobile 1, and thus a Group IV oil. This makes sense given the higher quality of a Group IV oil. Amisol is also a Group IV oil and Royal Purple is also suppose to be Group IV. Redline is Group V and real pricey.
The BMW 5/30 (Castro I believe) is a Group III sythetic too, but considered a quality oil and pretty economical.

Mobile 1 0/40 is suppose to be made in Europe and of better quality than the Mobile 1 made here. It's not as easy to find, and rarely on sale like the Mobile 1 5/30 or 5/40. The Mobile 1 0/40 is suppose to have simalar viscousity to BMW (Castro) 5/30, where the 5/30 is at the thicker end of the spectrum, while the 0/40 is at the thinner end of the grading spectrum.

 

I don't see how you got several ounces of oil out of the filter housing. When I did my 1st change on the 07 mcs, I let the car sit on the protech ramps for a couple of hours OR MORE so everything was cooled down. Naturally, all the oil had completely drained down and out. When I spun the filter cap off using the big socket and an extension, I made sure I had an old cotton T-shirt wrapped all around the filter casing. Still, when I lifted the cap up, with the filter stuck in it, I had another piece of shirt in my left hand to catch any drippings, but there were NONE. Oh, I managed 3 drops of oil on the garage floor about three feet in front of the car as I stood there examining a very clean (2k oil change) filter. I suggest you let the engine oil DRAIN for a good long time. I found the 07 MCS oil change to be absolutely simple and clean as could be. Hope you all do, too. Remember what I said: Wrap an old t-shirt all around that filter body area, and you won't have any mess. And prior to removal, let the engine DRAIN a long time...for complete drainage, and to let the area COOL DOWN with the engine. Good luck!

 

Nah, try these. I use em and love em...for all my cars. $44.95 a pair.

www.protechproducts.com

Get their little two step ramps. They're perfect.