I just did the 1st oil chance on my "new to me" 2003 JCW MCS today. Filled it up with Mobil1 extended service 5w-30 full synthetic, and a new MINI oil filter. I'm been reading up on oil change intervals, and what people recommended....and it seems like it varies anywhere from 5,000 miles to 10,000 miles....which is a big variance.

Has anyone actually sent their oil in with difference amount of run time on it (example: 5,000 miles, 7,500 miles, 10,000 miles) to see what the actual condition of the oil is?

Basically......I'm just trying to find out if there are any fact or data out there that proves when the best time to change fully synthetic oil is. MINI says 10,000 miles....so I would think that they have plenty of R&D to back it up. I'm sure every 1,000 miles would be ideal, but at what point does the oil actually start to break down and not lubricate like it should 5K, 7K, 10K ??

Any info?

Thanks!

 

My obc says 15k but changes based on my driving on my "new to me" 05 MCS. Its been about 2500 miles since ive had it (dealer didnt know the last oil change). I check it every 100 or so miles and its good. From what ive read and researched i plan on doing it about every 7500 miles.

 

Depending on the average trip length, oil temp etc, one persons numbers will be very different than anothers..
The cost of a test is as little as $20 by mail....or in person at some truck stops.
Folks do oil test for different reasons...some for wear metals, somefor oil condition...a series of samples from one motor overtime tells a story.
I would like too see a few samples...but a tracked car with higher temps or a local daily driver would be very different...it is how the car is driven, not the miles. Very few oils actually meet the bmw specs for extented oil changes....but for a normaly driven (by car standards not mini) i bet 15k/1 year is ok.

 

PS
The cars OBC is not calculating anything/testing anything with the miles to oil change...it is using total number of gallons of fuel consumed ...drive harder, burn more, less limes to the oil change...drive nice, better mpg, longer till oil change...simple, but pretty effective.
It does not take dates, temps or trip length into account.

 

I sent mine to blackstone a few times, mostly between 3 and 5k on the change, my car has over 100K on it, the reports all indicated it was running very good and they told me I can go to 8K with no problem on the oil changes. I am sure these guys are much smarter then me, but I still do it every 3 months, for 35 bucks, and 20 minutes or less of my time, it gives me peace of mind.

 

Whatever the OBC tells me, usually between 15,000 and 21,000. Oil test results here. Currently over 262,000 miles.

Nik

 

XSMINI's used oil report. BTW, Bishop is a nice environment for driving... small town and very little traffic.




FYI, I'll be sending my sample to Blackstone in the next week or two. This batch is M1 5w30 with 9300 miles.

 

Many years ago this guy did a test by running M1 SuperSyn 5w30 to 18,000 miles and testing every 1,000 miles.

I don't think it's necessary to do such a detailed test. If you like, start out at 5k and sample at 2-2.5k.

 

Interesting conclusion:

 

The first oil change is what concerns me. There are so many variations for example we had considered a VW b4 the Mini and they stated that the first oil change to be done by VW would be at 6k miles and then every 10k thereafter. I am thinking about having the oil changed somewhere between 6k and 7500 miles. Am I off base or on target?

 

Do what you are comfortable with. If the first one concerns you do it early. As far as routine changes I just follow the OBC. My last car was a Honda, and it's oil change interval, as recommended by Honda, was at 7500 miles, and that was on traditional dino oil. So I figured w/ synthetic, doubling that sounded fine. I drive a lot, and with the OBC interval I am not changing the oil every month.

Cadenza- yes, Bishop is a small town, but I still commute 140 miles a day to work. . I admit, for the most part my car has an easy life, but there are still plenty of roads around here to have fun on. I've never tracked it, but it gets driven plenty hard when I have the chance. It does how ever spend most of it's time in 6th gear..... (maybe that's why it is still on the original clutch)

Nik

 

Maybe I am a little crazy but I change mine every 5K and use Mobil 1 0W-40 Synthetic. Indiana's cold weather is a little unpredictable and the 0W-40 will help her start well in the winter.

 

I do the first change around 1200 miles. Second change 7,500 miles. Then every 7,500 miles. I believe that is probably more than required but I do it myself so not expensive. It also gives me a chance to look at other things on the car that might need repair, maintenance, or cleaning.

Everything I have read says 10,000 to 12,000 miles is OK with the syn oil and a good filter.

 

I do my oil changes every 5k and recommend that to my customers. We find less sludge buildup and the car just generally seem to need less repairs than the customers that go the 15k. But recently I just had an insider at MINI tell me they have heard theories that the long oil changes are allowing the lifters to get gummed up and possibly causing the burnt valves we've seen some on several MINI's. An expensive repair, that if some oil changes could prevent it would totally worth it.

 

I think there is a lot of merit in this posting in that the testing of drained
oil does not necessarily tell how much sludge has accumulated in very small
internal passageways inside the engine. Camshaft lash adjusters and the
cam chain hydraulic tensioner have very tiny oil galleys that if clogged cause
significant problems. Maybe the burnt valve problem is a result of lash adjuster
clogging because burnt valves are not common on the engines I work
even at mileages of 300,000 miles or more.

 

Engines are expensive, oil changes not so much. Every 4,000 or 5,000 for my MINI.

 

I don't know if my math is right, but if I would have changed my oil every 4000 miles I would have spent somewhere between $5600 and $7500. How much does an engine cost? Oh, mine is still running strong and passing its oil inspections with flying colors.

Nik

 

It depends on what you do with your car... A daily driver (seeing some spirited driving) will be fine with normal intervals, but if you use your car on the track, shorter intervals are better. There's a lot of things to take into consideration, so you can't really say that one answer is the definitive one. Oil changes are basic maintenance, even if you change it at 4K, I don't believe you are doing anything wrong. Personally, I don't care if it's full synthetic, it won't stay in my car for more than 10000km (around 6000 miles).

 

What?

50$ for an oil change.. 4,000 miles... At 100k costs (25x50) = 1,250$

I'm not saying to change it at 4k... But $7500 on oil changes...

Please..

Even at $100 at from a dealer is $2,500...

(Edit), sorry I see you have like 260mi. Hats off to you..

 

Haha, no wories I actually have just over 308,000 now I've always changed my own oil, so I don't really know what it cost to get it done at a shop. I guesses $75.00

Nik

 

We like to go 7500 miles between oil changes and only use oem oil filters and BMW long life 4 rated full synthetic oil.

 

This handy little tool just showed up to my house yesterday. I don't have a six point ratchet yet but I'm changing my oil at 5500 miles myself then to the dealer at 10k.

 

I'm with the 'Change it yourself at half the OBC interval and at the full interval give it to the shop/dealer' school.

 

Same here.

 

2002 and 2003 R50 in the family. Just changed the 2003's oil after one year/10k (it's not a commute car). Blackstone said the TBN number was good at 3.9 so I could have gone to 11,500 on this oil- their suggestion. Oil used was almost 100% MINI branded. Oil in 2002 is now Amsoil; I will go to 15,500 and do another Blackstone test and will reply with the results.

Val