Ok, to back up most of my beliefs I sent my oil in for testing, including the test to determine how much additives are left.

I have 7500 on the car, changed oil at 1500 ( my dime ) and 2500 dealer freebie, so 5K on oil. All wear was good and right on for averages, no water or anti freeze and less than .5% gas. I broke my car in like I planned to run it.

Lab says 2-3K more life left and by golly thats exactly what my cars computer says.

So my wifes 2011 which says she can get 12-14K is BS , The lab don't lie, about 8K max on full synthetic oil.

Overall happy with results and glad the newer cars get a reasonable and correct reading on how much life is left in the oil.

 

That's good to know.
But, I plan on changing mine every 5K because it gets so black and nasty.

 

Care to share your results? All of mine, so far, are up at:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/general-mini-talk/263477-2013-mcs-oil-analysis.html

--Matt

 

sure if you tell me how to post a pdf

 

here are mine - https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-oil-test.html

 

here is the best I could figure out, took a pic and uploaded to photobucket

 

looks like the mcs's have a lot more iron wear than the base coopers. different engine & turbocharged, but still

 

maybe that iron is from the turbo bearing itself. I think we can learn alot from sharing these oil results. Much better than the other oil arguments.

I'm just glad to see my initial thinking on 8K oil changes is proven sufficient, anyone going more is just asking for it. And like I have stated before, more frequent oil changes won't hurt a thing but your wallet.

I do 90% city driving BTW. Installed JB+ at 500 miles and did first change at 1500, I think getting the first change when the metal wear is high is important, I would not try to get a full 8K out of the first run. Just my opinion.

 

agreed. my driving is pretty mixed, i try to put on anywhere from 50-80 autox runs, plus whatever highway mileage comes with that and do the changes. I flushed the oil several times before 1k miles, which is why my metals were so low from the get-go.

 

Thanks for sharing. Yours looks pretty close to my second interval, and we didn't even use the same oil. My OCI #2 was with Motul X-Cess. I'm nearly at 20k and going to run another interval of RedLine 0w30.

--Matt

 

The way I understand the Lab's advice to you is that for your next oil change, go ahead and run is 2-3k miles more than this last time between oil changes, and have a retest. The retest may show that you can go an additional 2-3k between intervals. I think they prudently don't tell you to add more than 2-3k without retesting to be sure the oil is still doing its job in your particular engine. That is to say, I don't think they know exactly how many more miles the oil can go so they give you a safe interval.

The "old" MINI interval could just be right!

I have read posts on BMW & VW forums as well as on Bob is the Oil guy's website that pretty much say that this is what Blackstone is advising. Apparently they are not giving you a hard and fast oil change interval. You are working with them over multiple oil changes to find the ideal oil change interval for your car in its operating conditions...

 

I just saw the report you posted and they basically say this straight out:

“Go ahead and add 2000-3000 more miles to this fill, then check back.”

They say run the same oil 2-3k more then retest. They figure you are still running the same oil, i.e. have not done a complete change.

 

There's a check box on the form to indicate that it was changed when the sample was made. If you don't check it, they assume you're still running it (ie. you sampled without changing it).

--Matt

 

Matt thanks for confirming.

I should spend the money to do one of these tests on my oil. I just changed mine, so it is going to be a while...

 

They know I did NOT change oil, just sucked out a few ounces from dip stick.

 

Cool! Are you going to retest in 2-3k more miles to see if the oil can go farther yet?

 

No because I get free oil change in 2,000 miles.

 

Won't the dealer save some of the oil for you, for testing? Or couldn't you grab a little before you have them change it? It would be good to know whether the oil still had useful life in it.

I thought one major reason for going through this testing was to know when the optimal oil change interval is to both protect the engine and to economize on oil changes. Of course you have to change the oil when necessary to protect the engine. But why use your financial resources and the Earth's finite resources when it is not necessary?

 

I just wanted to know if my on board oil life was close to right. It would cost $35 to do another TBN ( oil life ) test. SO I found out my oil life is right on with what the car says.

I'm all for the environmental aspect but I won't lose too much sleep as long as I see soccer mom's driving huge SUV's .

Like I said I'm getting scheduled oil change done shortly for free.

 

I totally get taking advantage of the "free" oil change. I also think that on the balance, for the way most people use their vehicles, your MINI is better environmentally than a huge SUV so I get that part too. We agree on these points.

I think at the end of the day you have to do what you are most comfortable with doing regarding maintenance on YOUR car.

Where I don't see things your way is the interpretation that the testing has told you that the lab has determined that the "measured" oil change interval agrees with the car's "programmed" oil service interval. The lab just says there's more life left to the oil. They give a safe number for you to run it more so you can test again, at which point they can tell you if the oil is spent or if it has more life left. They don't know that now based on your one data point. What am I missing?

The way I understand it, all the car does is let you know after a pre-programmed interval that you should change your oil based on a safe interval determined by MINI engineers. The car doesn't do its own chemical analysis does it??? Your wife's MINI had a pre-programmed interval too. But you put more faith in the interval programmed in your car.

It's easy for me to say test again, after all it is not my money. But if the goal is to figure out when the optimal oil change is, why quit the testing now? You have already started the process, and some day you are going to be paying the bill for the oil change.

Sorry if this comes off as argumentative. It is meant to try to point out a different point of view only. I guess I would just approach it differently, is all I am saying.

And, I want to thank you and everyone else in this thread. The discussion has really driven home the point that I need to go through this testing myself, testing the oil until the lab says stop.

Peace.