Peace of mind, however unscientific and irrational is reason enough to change it "early." Your mileage may vary (hey, that phrase has context!)

Seems oil changes, like the color of your car, are turning into a personal, subjective idea.


And, bad for the environment? GO RIDE AN ORGANIC BICYCLE, YA HIPPIES! (I say this facetiously, of course)

 

Houston, the problem is not whether or not the oil is clean or dirty or in fact doing its job, it is an indication that it is exposed to the elements and as such is in the process of degrading.

 

The problem is not changing the oil, but the filter. Most people think that ALL the oil passes through the filter, but it doesn't. Once the filter is clogged enough (or even if it isn't), much of the oil bypasses the filter.

Amsoil people often leave the oil in their car and just change the filter. Some car companies are working on sealed engines where the oil never has to be changed.

To me the benefit of doing an early first oil change is to pick up all the little things sitting in the engine from the manufacturing process that break loose when the engine is first used and is broken in. After that the scheduled times are probably adequate for typical driving.

My 2 cents...

 

For that to be true, you would have to know for certain that it is not reducing wear in the engine. An engine that holds up longer wont need to be replaced as soon. The environmental impact of making a new engine is huge compared to a few oil changes.

If you go by BMW recommendations, most people will be changing the oil once a year, since the recommendation is 15,000 miles or once a year, whichever comes first. Last I heard, the average driver puts 12,000 miles on per year.

What people hear are mostly talking about are changes every 5,000 to 7,500 miles, once they are done with the first break-in change. So, about two to three changes per year vs. one. That is 4.4 to 8.8 quarts per year extra. Take into consideration that most of the oil will be recycled.

Then weigh that against the ecological impact of building an engine and whether frequent oil changes extended the engine's life. Without a lot more data than any of us here have available, we cannot make a valid determination. We can just argue our gut feelings on the issue.

My plan is to have my oil tested when I feel it is time for an oil change. That will tell me if I changed it too early, too late, or right on time. I will use that info for determining the next interval. I'm also considering changing the filter more often than the oil.

 

I think all the anti extra oil change people are just trying to justify the practice to the rest of us

nothing posted here has made me even consider changing less than every 7500 miles on my turbo cooper

I really dont care if someone else goes 15,000 miles, it's thier car and thier investment, if they are ok with that, fine by me

 

Personally, I feel it's the other way around with folks trying to justify the extra cash they're blowing on frivolous oil changes.

However, as I said before, it's your money and your MINI, do with it as you wish.

Man this is indeed a GREAT thread! Ha, ha...

 

Check this out. I know it's not a MINI, and it's not the same oil, etc. Interesting nonetheless.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludg...ng_sludge.html

 

Yeah, Im a rebel without a pause, Im gonna replace my spark plugs before the recomended interval also. I may even replace my tires before they are down to the wear bars.

 

may not be that equal. Remember the MC has a substantially higher compression ratio than the MCs.--11 versus 10.5, so the MC will develop quite a bit of heat, maybe not as much as the MCs, but still significant.

 

Spark plugs? Did you say SPARK PLUGS??? Oh man, don't even get me started on that one.

 

Good catch Blazer...you're right

 

NEW MATH REMOVED!!

"Can't we all just get along?" - Rodney King, when asked about Mini oil change strings

"Nam: Where group therapy meets the road."

 

Personally, I'd rather have the six pack than **** the money away in an un-needed oil change. You still haven't convinced me one bit.

Once again, it's your money, do with it as you wish.

Please do keep trying though as I'm enjoying this tremendously!

 

Mave...all money towards good beer is good!!

Nobody busted me on my "new math" breakdown! What I put up was pretty much bogus, and nobody called me on it.

I used $40 for a diy figure for an oil change. Shopping around for filters and for oil sales in advance and "stocking up", you can do better.

But here's a simple example that is closer to the truth.

In 100,000 miles, doing diy at 5k intervals, you're doing 20 oil changes.

Same distance, diy at 15k, you're doing (approx) 7 oil changes.

That's $800 vs $280, so your 15k changes save you $520...over 100,000 miles. I use the word "save" relunctantly in this context.

That said, mentioned it(again...) to two engineer friends who are serious car guys. They both talked about the additive levels in your oil, and the fact that the levels diminish severely as the oil is used over the miles, and that the filter, well, the filter will be done.

Me, I know I can afford to do this and still afford beer. Five hundred bucks over 100,000 mile isn't going to change my life. But I think the engine internals will appreciate the cleaner/more additive laden oil.

 

I'm not sure you understand how turbo's work, your post does not compute

your MC compression ratio is 11, and this does not change, but boosted cars do NOT work like that.

running 10 PSI of boost at an altitude of 3000 feet. the MCS's static compression is 9.5 :1. At this boost level and altitude the effective compression ratio is 15.36 :1, and without altitude correction your compression ratio is 15.96 :1

at 15 pounds of boost, your compression ratio is ~ 19:1

 

This approach definitely makes the most sense to me. I would love to see your results. Nice gear shift *****!

 

Thanks. It will be awhile before I do the change. I just did the first "break-in" change.

Now, off to polish some new *****.

 

The space shuttle gets an oil change after every launch. Why should we not change the oil every 7000 miles? Beat that!

 

There is a way to find out whether frequent oil change does the engine any good or not.
We can all meet at LasVegas in 5 years and do drag races at the strip. Team one will consist of cars that followed the computer (oil change every year or 15000 miles or whatever). And Team two will consist of cars that got oil change every 8K miles or less. Which ever team wins more match ups will have the final say in this.

 

Quite late in this thread, but I just did a post break-in (1,800 mile) oil/filter change on my MC and the oil was very dark. I haven't decided on any future intervals of DIY but I feel very good that I didn't wait until 15,000 for the first one.

Here is my oil in the milk jug going out for recycling:

 

Way Motor Works has posted (here in the Vendor Announcements forum) instructions for changing the oil in an R56. There is a link to a PDF that has photos and step-by-step instructions. It had a few tips I wasn't aware of, like loosening the dipstick.

 

I'm only going to change the oil when its due. I've had a lot of cars over the years some with turbos and I only changed the oil when needed. All my cars lasted a long time. Waste of $100.00. Besides I happen to one of those 07 MCS with the noisy engine. Sounds like a diesel.

 

Under $30 per change at home.

 

I don't consider it a waste of money (well maybe for $100, but not if you can DIY). If you consider that the manufacturer's concern is mostly to have the car make it through the warranty period without issues, 15,000-18,000 miles seems like a long time to go between oil changes.

Considering that a DIY oil change costs less than a tank of gas, seems like a small investment for peace of mind. But then there are a lot of variables to consider. I am a spirited driver, and live up a dirt road. If you are kind to your car, spend a lot of time on the highway and don't have to wait in traffic, or intend to sell your car when the warranty runs out, maybe the money you spend on oil and a filter could buy you a nice dinner once a year.

 

That looks like the color of my oil after my first change (3000 miles). I think the dark color is normal and not an indication of overused oil. It also looks like you got about the same amount of oil out of your car as I did. I neglected to pull the dipstick during the change, but wonder how people are able to squeeze 4.5 quarts out of their cars.