Hello guys... I have 2010 Justa Manual, have 50k miles so far.

How often you guys do oil change and trasmission oil change?

I mostly use my car to commute school (about 15 miles) and local. One of my friend said I should do oil change every 10k. Most of times I did every 5k.

i used to every 50k for transmission oil change for my previous car(05 Honda Accord automatic)

Wish I had owners manual but I don't. Just wanted to know how often you guys would do for your Clubbies.

 

Yeah dont do 10k oil changes. I do 5k mile oil changes. According to Mini the transmission fluid is lifetime fluid so according to them it never needs to be changed. But they also say dont change your oil for 12k miles or something crazy. So their word doesnt mean much to me. But 50k mile transmission fluid changes are about average.

 

i did my auto tranny fluid at 40k, it does shift a lot more smoother. but it does cost some $ in dealers. I've heard people say manual fluid at 30k. I am planning to do a 5k oil change after an engine swap..........

 

Keep doing what you're doing, 5K and 40-50K but also add rotating your tires every 5K as well to get more even wear from a set.

 

Every 5K here. It might not be necessary but the peace of mind is worth it.

 

Regarding engine oil changes: this seems to be a very controversial topic on these Mini forums.

From what I have found from various oil analysis reports (just took delivery of my Mini 600 miles ago, but used them for analysis on my Jeep), Blackstone Labs seems to recommend a 7-10k interval for the Justa motor, depending on the oil and age of the engine. 10k mile intervals on synthetic oil should be fine. Just keep getting your oil analyzed, and rest easy knowing that you have the lab on your side. No sense in wasting money, time or oil!

Here's a sample of their reports from an early change from an S motor:



I did a lot of looking around before I bought my Mini. It would seem that there are lot of people having problems with their engines that are related to oil levels (leading to timing chain issues) due to the horrible dipstick design that Mini shoved in the engine. It's just really hard to read the oil level with the stock dipstick. I tried myself and couldn't get a consistent reading. I bought a CravenSpeed dipstick that should help get me around that problem.

 

I use a 15k mile interval for oil changes. Anything less than a 10k interval is probably just a waste.

 

I do mine every 6K miles (9.5K km) save the wear and tear on the engine.

I do tend to run mine hard.

 

For some reason I'm surprised at the variation of the responses.

 

Same reason there's over 2700 micro breweries across the country.

 

It is recommended to change it between 5-8000 miles.

The synthetic oil can go the longer intervals, but the filter itself doesn't have the filtering capacity in some environments to go the dealer "recommended" 15k miles.

Once the filter is "full" there is a check valve that bypasses the filter, and begins to circulate dirty, unfiltered oil through the engine.

Not to mention, turbo engines break oil down quicker than a naturally aspirated engine due to the heat they create.

Nick
Detroit Tuned

 

I follow manufacturer's recommendation, ALWAYS, and don't change synthetic oil sooner. IMO this is a controversial issue only because of the practices and recommendations of the quick oil change industry (jiffy lube and the like) that have made the world believe that oil needs changed every 3000 miles (5000 for synthetic) even though manufacturers say otherwise. In fact it isn't even a controversial issue, they are simply wrong. Plenty of sites online show that synthetics last up to 25000 miles ...

If there was a reason to change the oil sooner, the manufacturer would have said so. I ve had a few German cars (Mercedes) the past fifteen years, and all had synthetic oil and I always changed the oil at 10K miles per MB recommendation. The one I kept the longest had 200 K miles...

 

I have a printout from Oil Analyzers from a few years ago.

I used them twice. I sent a sample that was 5000 miles old. Their response after testing was that the oil was suitable for continued use, no corrective action required.

Four years later I sent a sample with 9000 miles to them, they responded that the Total Base Number in the sample was low, and recommended an oil change.

So 5000 is fine, 9000 is not.

 

5 to 6K mile for oil and filter, depending on what I'm doing either track or street. Mobile 1 or BMW LL.
30K mile changes for transmission fluid - Redline MTL.
Every 2 years brake fluid - Motul 660 or 600 depending on what I am going to do with the car that year.
Just had the engine de-carboned with walnut media at 72K miles. Noticed very little carbon build up, but I was surprised I could fell a difference between 3.5K and 5.5K rpms (in the torque curve).

 

PDF versions of owner's manuals are available at the owner's lounge. Register and read/download for free.

ol.miniusa.com

 

I know this is an older thread, but what if a person takes a longggggg time to drive 5k-8k
Miles, then when should u change the oil? I had my r53 for 12 yrs and only had 60k on it. I change oil once a yea or so, but kept topping off and DSL checking the levels. On my r55 clubbie, i just purchased a used 2011 w/ 9k+ miles on it and asked the service writer, when should I bring it back since it's near 10k miles? He said, 'sept ( I just got the car at the end of December.) so 5-8k OR once a year?

 

I would go with 5k or once a year. That's just my opinion. I am a little on the "****" side as far as oil/filter changes go. But it makes me feel better knowing that I am not the weak link in my MINI's lifespan. These little rockets have enough potential problems already...why take chances on such an affordable deal as an oil and filter change? Especially with a turbo engine. Cheap insurance, IMHO.

 

I've gone by the cars computer to change my oil for almost 150,000 miles, so far so good. 5 speed Just-a, had the trans fluid changed at about 80,000, radiator flush about the same time.

 

To keep a Gen 1 car running forever to avoid the Gen 3 invasion, oil/filter is cheap - engines are not. 5K oil/filter change and rotate tires - 30K gear box and brakes.

 

Thanks for your opinions, I suppose it also depends on how aggressively I will be driving and the conditions... Not that I live in any extreme conditions, but just to be safe, I'll be more diligent & careful w/ my oil maintenance.

 

The manufacturer recommends annual oil changes, if you drive less than the suggested interval per year.

I change my oil on the anniversary of my buying my MINI, I drive about 5000 miles/year.

 

5,000 miles oil & filter.

 

I had Mini do my first oil change since owning car @ 29500. It was a few months earlier than the computer called for and the SA was reminding me that I could wait until March but that if I insisted they would do it. LOL that was a hoot. Also did a cooling system flush which they promote heavily, but again he reminded me that it was lifetime coolant. I err on the side of caution and figure every 4 years isn't a bad idea.

With my mileage I'll probably do oil once a year, which is less than 10K for sure.

I'm a CM owner but figured what the heck, post here anyway.

 

6k Miles or 6 Months.

 

I have always changed the oil and filter around 6k. My 84 533i was sold with 168k and my 95 525i was sold with over 200k and neither burned oil or dripped oil. My X5 has 170k and it burns no oil either and runs like a top. My thought is on MINI or BMW using the 15k oil/filter change and lifetime tranny fluid is the maintenance is included in the purchase and they don't want to absorb the cost of more frequent intervals or changing tranny fluid. Once the vehicle is out of warranty it doesn't matter to them what happens to the engine or tranny! Our MINI's engine takes 5 qts and the filters are cheap, so it is not expensive to change the oil, unlike my X5 that takes 7.5 quarts. If you drive 12,000 mile per year that's only 2 oil changes versus dealer telling you once per 15,000 miles. That's only about $50 per year if you change the oil/filter yourself.