with my '15 F-56 lifted over mu head, does that plastic splash guard have a flap for oil & oil filter changing ? does it expose the DP & downstream oxy. sensor ? Thanks

 

It has a flap to get to the oil drain plug and a flap to get to the bottom half of the oil filter housing. Neither door is big enough to service any other parts, and they are just barely large enough -- and I mean barely -- to not end up with oil splashed everywhere during oil change (especially in the case of the oil filter change). One of them is too small to even fit my hand through.

I don't even bother using the doors. I drop the whole underbody panel. It lets me inspect everything going on under there so that I can see what has changed since the last oil change -- a way to keep progressive tabs on small oil and/or coolant leaks, which so far as I'm concerned are going to develop eventually on *every* F series MINI engine (B36 / B38 / B46 / B48).

And honestly, dropping the panel just isn't that hard. It's a little annoying on principle, but only on principle. Hell, I did it in under 5 minutes yesterday for an oil change. It took longer to put the car on jackstands.

 

yeh, I figgered that, I'm sure that's how they do it @ Mini I always wondered. I'll bug my mech. next time I'm down Thanks