I pulled my Mini into a quick lube place in Texas on my way home to CA from FL (purchased out of state to avoid the dreaded CA dealer markup) at 1300 miles, the end of the break in period. I had my own oil and Mini filter, and the Manager said he would do the labor for $11.00. I pulled in to the bay, and they removed the drain plug to drain the oil. Being watchful of my new car, I never let the employees working on the Mini out of my site. After 5 minutes of watching them tear apart the toolbox for a 36mm wrench to fit the filter cartridge, they explained they could not replace the filter because of no tool on the premises. He then poured in 4 1/2 quarts of 5w-30 Royal Purple synthetic oil I had in the trunk and told me he would not charge me. I said thanks for the effort, and gave him $5 for his time. They gave it their best Texas effort!

 

 

I'm sure the filter was OK with only 1300 miles. Sounds like they were helpful and tried to do the right thing. That's always good enough for me.

I haven't even tried to look at the oil filter yet, but can you use a regular oil filter wrench to remove it? A strap wrench or maybe one of those all purpose rubber belt wrenches like they sell at Sears?

R.E.

 

They tried, and were honest with me. I think it takes a 36mm wrench to remove the canister filter

 

i used my hands it was pretty hot but it is not all that tight

 

>>I'm sure the filter was OK with only 1300 miles. Sounds like they were helpful and tried to do the right thing. That's always good enough for me.

You were lucky they were fair. I think for what they did they could have charged at least $10. $3 to remove the waste oil alone.


>>I haven't even tried to look at the oil filter yet, but can you use a regular oil filter wrench to remove it? A strap wrench or maybe one of those all purpose rubber belt wrenches like they sell at Sears?

The only way you are going to remove the oil filter container is with the 36mm socket and a rachet with a long arm. regular oil filter wrenches will not fit as there is no room.

You don't really need to worry in your case about the filter since the MINI recommended interval is about 12,000 miles and most of us that change oil early do it between 3000 and 6000 miles anyway. Many of us wait to 12,000 and it is fine as well.

 

IMHO, changing the oil without changing the filter is, just plain stupid.

 

>>IMHO, changing the oil without changing the filter is, just plain stupid.

...but not harmful. Once you get your hands on a 36mm wrench and a filter from your dealer, you should be able to change the filter without wasting much of that nice new oil. Loosen the cartridge just enough to break the seal, let the oil drain into the engine, and replace the filter.

 

>>IMHO, changing the oil without changing the filter is, just plain stupid.


Well maybe thats a bit harsh. The person who posted this did the best he could under the circumstances. Note that oil change places will drain your oil first and allow it to drip as they start to remove the filter. So what was our unsuspecting MINI brother to do?

Maybe putting in the new oil was not so stupid after all?

 

Removing the Oil Filter is easy if you have the 36mm socket. 16 bucks at NAPA. Removing the filter from the houseing does take some elbow grease... RSpeed sells a cheap kit if you want to change it yourself next time....

 

I agree that this was not "stupid' but I think saying that it was, is. IMHO.
That stated, I also think, since we are using synthetic oil, the breakin
should extend out to about 3000 miles.
Feel free to comment....

 

There was nothing "stupid" about changing the oil without changing the filter, even if that had been your intent rather than the result of unintended events. It use to be common to change the filter every other oil change. The reasoning being that the filter material was still not at it's filtering capacity after 3,000 miles or so. Filters are cheap and gradually it became common to change the filter every time for a little extra insurance of clean oil. No way the filter is going to be a problem being left on at 1300 miles.

R.E.

 

With my earlier post I was not implying that speltzer was stupid, under the circumstances it was all that could be done (Although I think I would have them put in dino oil at their expense then, put in the more expensive Royal Purple with a new filter the following day or as soon as the 36 mm socket could be obtained). I still stand by my earlier opinion that, in todays world, "Changing oil without changing the filter is stupid."

 

Ha, couldnt replace the filter, what a bunch of NOOBs, dont they have one of those strap wrenchs, or a big adjustable wrench (dont know the tech terms). Dad and I went and bought a big 36 socket to fit and could barely get it on because it's so small in there so had to do it crooked till it was loose enough for my hand.

 

I am changing my oil at the 10K mile service. What a waste of time and money changing perfectly fine factory synthetic oil at such low miles.

To each thier own.

 

Can the oil filter cartridge be purchased at vendors other than the dealerships?

 

I had my oil and filter changed at 6000 miles, my first service will be at 12000 miles acording to what my speedo says when I start the car. I use to change the oil and filter on all my previous cars and trucks at 3000 miles but I wasn't using syn oil. I will probably go 8000 miles on my second oil change, so the 3rd oil change will be at 20000 miles but driving conditions and weather related temps may change that. I treated my car to a full trip to red line in every gear at 1250 miles as the end of brakein.

 

>>With my earlier post I was not implying that speltzer was stupid, under the circumstances it was all that could be done (Although I think I would have them put in dino oil at their expense then, put in the more expensive Royal Purple with a new filter the following day or as soon as the 36 mm socket could be obtained). I still stand by my earlier opinion that, in todays world, "Changing oil without changing the filter is stupid."

Not wanting to flame you here, but your suggestion of putting in Dino oil just for a day, then switching back to Synthetic is NOT good advice (dare I say stupid?).

The two in general should not be mixed and performing an oil change will not eradicate all traces of the previous oil.

The purpose of doing these oil changes is to protect the engine. MINI says always use Synthetic oil so that's what you should do, even if it costs you an extra $10.

 

There would be no harm in using dino oil for 1 day. It is not necessary to "remove all traces of the previous oil" After all, wasn't there a full filter canister of the old oil when they just added the Royal Purple to replace the drained oil? On the other hand, your right that the cost wouldn't be that great to do another oil change but, wouldn't it be wise to do that as soon as the 36mm socket is obtained? Don't know the cost for a quart of Royal Purple oil but, the filter is about $6.00 so cost would be a bit more than $10.00.

 

WOW! I never expected this many replies to my post. If a fellow member calls me "stupid" to change oil after break-in period, so be it. I am "old school" when it comes to oil changes. I can't believe for a second that a 4 cylinder high RPM motor like the Tritec 1.6 L with a supercharger on it will not benefit from draining the break-in oil after the factory recommended break-in period is complete, even if it is synthetic. I followed the owners manual break-in procedure to a tee (trust me, it was tough!) and plan on keeping my MCS for many years. I will change the oil/filter in my MCS at 5,000 mile intervals for as long as I own the car using a factory BMW filter and Royal Purple 5W30 synthetic oil. Remember, even though BMW's Mini comes with 3 years/36,000 mile free maintenance, the oil change interval is a very, very long 10,000 miles. This would roughly equal 3 complimentary oil changes at the local BMW/Mini dealer. I realized I posted a very controversial subject matter dealing with motor oil. Many threads have been posted here about it, including draining your Mini's synthetic oil right after you take delivery, and pouring in good old regular dino juice for the break-in period. Synthetic oil will not allow break-in to happen (?)