Good morning All,
So if I want to buy an Oil Dipstick for my 08 Cooper S R56, and don't want to spend the $75.00 on Craven Speed Dipstick, what would you recommend the next best thing to get and easy to Read the oil?
Thank you.

 

Patience. The oil needs time to drain from around the dipstick. If you have a garage, pull the dipstick out, clean it, and leave the hood up to remind you to check it. Let it sit for a couple of hours or overnight.


If you don't have a garage, clean the dipstick and leave it in the car where you will see it.


The first time that you insert the dipstick, you will get a clean line where the level is. If you need to add oil, do it with the dipstick out, and wait a few minutes for the oil level to stabilize.


As far as I know, the Cravenspeed is the only aftermarket option. Others have cut grooves in the plastic, but I don't know if that is a good solution. I check mine on the weekend and let it sit overnight. I get consistent readings that I can trust.


Have fun,
Mike

 

Thank you for the tip Mike, I will probably end up getting the Cravenspeed one, keeping it in the garage with the hood up is a good reminder though, I am gonna do that tonight...Mark

 

There are posts on here about cutting grooves in the plastic tip, or drilling small holes in the tip so you can see oil pooling in them.

One of the service managers at my local dealer also suggested painting the plastic tip white so that oil might show up better against it.

But from all reports, the Craven option seems to be the best for most people.

 

Appreciate the feedback...Thank you

 

Malsalah:

I absolutely agree with:
"Patience. The oil needs time to drain from around the dipstick. If you have a garage, pull the dipstick out, clean it, and leave the hood up to remind you to check it. Let it sit for a couple of hours or overnight.


If you don't have a garage, clean the dipstick and leave it in the car where you will see it.


The first time that you insert the dipstick, you will get a clean line where the level is. If you need to add oil, do it with the dipstick out, and wait a few minutes for the oil level to stabilize".

After five years of total frustration regarding how to deal with this abominable dip stick, I found that this method works well. Don't waste your time or money buying the expensive model. The have faults, too, such as : grab ***** that conduct heat.

I find that if my engine is warm, and I pull out the dip stick, and let the engine rest for 20 minutes,( clean the dip stick throughly), that I can re-insert it and get a good clean reading.
You could always put your cleaned dipstick inside your car, say on the dash in front of you, if you want to close your hood while you wait for the oil to drain from the S-shaped tube. It's the residual oil in the tube that clings to the dipstick that makes such a mess of trying to read these things.

 

Thank you Michael...it is kinda frustrating trying to read the darn thing and no luck...I swear I wipe it close to 8-10 times trying to read and still not sure if I need to add oil or not.

 

I bought 2 of them, one for each of our cars, and didn't look back. Silly that the OEM one is hard to deal with, but there's no way I'm waiting hours at a time to get a reading for engine oil level. Esp. if I'm on the road and just getting gas....

 

I use the overnight method. It is a bad design, to fix it they just stopped putting them on the new cars. It is an interesting problem fix by BMW - if you can't fix it, delete it.

 

I am wanting to buy a Cravenspeed Dipstick as well. Maybe we can get a group buy going from Cravenspeed or a vendor.

 

Simple trick - pull out OEM dipstick, and roll it over a ply of paper tower. The oil residue will transfer clearly, but only upto the point where there isn't any.

Now go and spend our money on something that will actually make your car run and perform better.

a

 

I cleaned the dipstick this morning probably 10 times trying to read it and was not able to determine if I need oil or not, decided to add a little since I was sensing need some oil, this dipstick is crap, so I decided enough is enough and ordered me the craven speed one, I would rather spend a little bit of money on the dipstick that I can read the oil vs. not bale to read how much oil is in the engine, thus causing major problems.

 

The problem with the OEM dipstick is that it has two bulbs on it, one at the top and one near the bottom. The oil level is supposed to read between these two bulbs and when full will read to just below the upper bulb.
The lower bulb is the culprit in trying to get a good reading as it drags oil back up into the dipstick tube as you withdraw the dipstick from the crankcase. With proper oil levels the upper bulb should not reach the oil in the crankcase.
So with oil on the lower bulb being drawn back up into the tube you will have excess oil in the tube which will cause the dipstick to read as if you have oil even when it is low on oil.
The solution is simple, remove the lower portion of the dipstick containing the lower bulb.
Then re-insert the dipstick back into the tube leaving it one inch from being fully inserted and then remove the dipstick and clean the oil off of it.
Repeat this several times to clear the dipstick tube of excess oil and then fully insert the dipstick, remove and read the oil level. Unless you have too much oil in the crank case it should read just below the top bulb.
One thing you should be aware of is the Mini Cooper dealerships will over fill the crankcase when they do an oil change. They do this because some Mini's tend to use oil so they over fill to help increase the chances you will not run low on oil before the next change (hopefully that is).
Should your crankcase be overfilled you will have to adjust the distance you insert your dipstick to more than the one inch from fully inserted when cleaning oil out of the tube I previously mentioned in the process. If this is the case you may have to experiment how far to insert the dipstick during the cleaning process until you can get a clean reading.

 

Thank you for the feedback.

 

If you like playing with your dipstick trying to read it great, but if you want an easy to read dipstick I own the Craven and love how easy it is to properly read oil levels on the first try. I got tired of playing around with my dipstick with the ritualistic playing around by removing the dip stick and inserting it after you Mini sits overnight. I can read mine at any time, I prefer to do it at the gas station (flat road surfaces), I usually read it and add 1/8th" to that reading since there's oil in the process of draining.

 

Plus 1 on this..^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Granted the OEM dipstick is a bit harder to read, but it still works. I filed a flat spot on each of the top and bottom bubbles on mine and it does help. I can't see spending any money on the dipstick. Just make some mod's to your OEM and don't waste the money on replacing it.

 

+1


Removing the lower bulb alone will make reading the OEM dipstick much easier.
I would at least recommend trying this before spending the money on the rather expensive Craven dipstick.
What have you got to lose? Try it first and if not satisfied then buy the Craven model.

 

As long as you don't take off enough that bits of the plastic end fall off into the sump...

 

I'll agree with that, is a bit harder to read, but not impossible either. It's cheaper than an alignment and a little more than a DIY oil change.

 

.

 

+ (whatever). I tried the Craven stick and that floppy shaft (!) killed it for me. That's more of a PITA than reading the OEM stick.

 

As long as the dipstick is accurate and easy to read that's all that maters, that floppy shafts falls into the oil tube very easily.

 

Little blue pill for floppy shaft.

Trying to get that floppy shaft into the hole can be a good test of your aim, reflexes and patience or you could just use a paper towel to hold it and guide it in.

Is this a porno forum?

Never understand the negative reactions when people talk about the Craven stick, get over it folks. Talk to the people who have had to fish out the broken Mini OEM sticks from the tube/engine.

 

i cut some grooves in mine and even then...it is still nearly impossible to read. worst designed thing ever.