As I approach the 10k oil change I notice the the little reminder on miles till change and the total miles on the odometer are getting farther and farther apart. When new these kept pace with each other rather well.Thinking this to be just some electric hipe 'till I read in the forum that the computer would shorten the change intervals under harsh driving conditions(cool!) But now with 'bout 3k left out of 10 on the odo the service reminder is reading 5k+ untill change is due. Now I know I've been babying my new baby but is her computer calling me a whimp and should be leting her have her head more often. OR- is this a glich that I should have looked into with the 10k service. Anybody else notice a discrepancy like this?
Any and All input would be helpful. Thanks :smile:

 

I noticed this also. I only have about 2500 miles on. When new it seemed to say service right at 10000 miles. Now that number is changing. Guess I will have to pay closer attention to see if I am babying her or not

 

If you waited 10,000 for your first oil change... read the thread re. Castrol reprinted from Car and Driver from 11/2000. Remember, Mini only warrants that engine for 50,000 miles. I wouldn't use Castrol for 10,000 miles on my bicycle chain without changing it. Switch to Mobil One or Amsoil if you are only changing your oil every 10,000.

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2Minis

 

Changed to Amsoil at 4000, after first 10000 mile service will wait for 1500 more miles then change again to Amsoil

 

My Cooper S now has 12,200 miles on it.

I did the first oil change at 5000 miles. Then the first scheduled service at 10,800 miles. There were still 325 miles left on the count down at start up.

The NEXT inspection is 15,500 miles away (so probably closer to 28,000 total by the time this current service interval is extended). That's crazyness in my opinion.

My plan is to keep doing intermediate oil changes every 5000 miles or so.

 

You're a whimp Drive your MINI! Boy I am in a mood tyhis morning. I've noticed the change in the service but it depends on how you drive it. When it first starts it doesn't know you. Oh, and it doesn't like to be babied so motor and motor hard. If someone comes up to along the road to check out the car give them something to see, the back, race off and show what the car can really do!

 

You gotta remember that included in that 10,800 miles are two long road trips which extended out the service interval (1778 miles from Westchester MINI to Denver and then 3612 from Denver to Canada and back). :smile: Speaking of which... gobsmacked: are you coming on the drive tomorrow?

 

Another thing to remember is that there are no sensors in the engine to analyze the oil. The computer has an algorithim that estimates the oil life by using many different variables.

Castrol is crap oil compared to every other synthetic on the market and I would not run it in anything.

 

I'm so used to changing my oil myself, all this 10k stuff in nonsense. My brother is tearing apart his 1989 Thunderbird Supercharged that has 90,000 miles on it to put on headers, exhaust, new intercooler, yadda yadda. He changes his oil every 3-4000 miles, and I have to tell you (my father will back this up, being an award winning auto restorer for 30 years) that the engine looks like it just came off the lot on the inside. The New Beetle I traded in for my MINI got the same 3-4000, and even though I CONSTANTLY tortured that poor little car to its limits, it never once gave me any engine troubles.

Anyways, my question is, (once I can find the oil filter on the bugger, haven't looked for it well enough yet) if you change your oil yourself, does the oil-change thingy automatically update itself?

Jeremy

 

No. The limit will not change on it's own. It can only be change via the OBD II port on the driver's side under the steering column.

 

Thanks, Dave.

Screw the monitor, I'll just ignore it, ehe. I'll still let them change my oil when I take it in for its servicing, and do it myself in between... can't beat free service for 3 years!

 

>>I'm so used to changing my oil myself, all this 10k stuff in nonsense. My brother is tearing apart his 1989 Thunderbird Supercharged that has 90,000 miles on it to put on headers, exhaust, new intercooler, yadda yadda. He changes his oil every 3-4000 miles, and I have to tell you (my father will back this up, being an award winning auto restorer for 30 years) that the engine looks like it just came off the lot on the inside. The New Beetle I traded in for my MINI got the same 3-4000, and even though I CONSTANTLY tortured that poor little car to its limits, it never once gave me any engine troubles.
>>
>>Anyways, my question is, (once I can find the oil filter on the bugger, haven't looked for it well enough yet) if you change your oil yourself, does the oil-change thingy automatically update itself?
>>
>> Jeremy


You are thinking oid school conventional oil. I have seen several engines that have used only amsoil synthetic motor oils torn down at the 200,000 plus mark and they looked nearly brand new. These motors were using the 12,500 filter change interval and the 25,000 full oil change interval.

3,000 to 4,000 miles is the most you can push a traditional conventioal oil. Castrol syntec might be able to hold out longer since it is a highly refined petroluem oil with some synthetic qualaties but it is still not a real synthetic and has horrible vaporization issues. There won't be much oil left in the motor if you wait till 10,000 to change and don't top of the oil reguraly.

 

I'm getting the service countdown about 40 % faster than the reading on the odometer, so I would need service at 7K instead of 10. I only have 700 miles on the car...should I get better figures, I do not drive that hard.
Most of milleage is in the city where I get an average of 18 to 20 mpg. On the highway I get around 30 to 35.