Surfblue says: EIGHTY FIVE BUCKS for a job that's not as tough as cutting a small lawn with a pushmower? Are we men here or what?? Real men change their own oil and filters. It's the law!
Off the top of my head, I don't think it costs me $35 to do it myself using a oil collector/storage combo pan to recycle the oil. If my woman of 20 years can change her own oil/filter/plugs/air filters etc., so can you GUYS! Fifty bucks buys a LOT of good IPA ales! Plus there's the satisfaction of knowing it was all done neatly and perfectly. That counts for something!

 

I used to change my own oil when we owned a Beetle Turbo diesel... bought an oil extractor also to change from the top. Has anyone changed their own Mini Oil. I would imagine it's pretty easy to do, eh?

 

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....indeed....and $41 is better than $80 something

 

Yep, I have (or at least will have, MINI only has 3000 miles) the dealer do it. I'm on a college campus. No jacks or any other needed tools and there's this stupid regulation which prevents us from doing any work on our cars in the parking lot.

 

So how do you change the oil in a Mini? I have an '05 S. Special tools required? And where can I find a listing of approved synthetic oils? Thanks.

 

5 quarts of MINI oil (Castrol Synthetic), or whatever flavor you choose.
Oil filter
Oil Pan
36mm socket for oil filter ($6-9 at Sears or Pep boys)
Wrench or socket for oil pan, I believe it is a 13mm.

Somewhere on NAM there were some DIY stickies....

If you have a shallow enough catch pan and they did not gorrilla tighten the oil pan bolt it is possibly to do without jacking up the car. Or at least I can.

Dispose of your used oil properly.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=101513

It is long, but has a lot of useful info. Probably best to read the beginning, then scan through for corrections.

The oil you want is fully synthetic 5W-30 that meets ACEA A3/B3 and BMW LL-01 specs. ACEA A1/A5 is a different viscosity, and not what you want. The easiest to find, and often least expensive is the MINI branded oil from your dealer. This is produced by Castrol specifically for BMW. You can get the same thing from a BMW dealer, but it will havea BMW label rather than a MINI label. This is not the same stuff as Castrol SYNTEC 5W-30 found in stores.

Some people are using Mobil 1 0W-40 which is designed for European cars, and quite different from Mobil 1 5W-30.

 

this is what I have on tap @ work good stuff.
fixing everyone elses poorly maintained & sludged up motors, well how many dentists do you suspect only brush once a day or once a week ?

 

Thanks!!

 

I am at 13K with the computer saying there is still 6K to go. My Mini dealer told me that if I do not get to 0 in April (1 year) then bring it in for the first service.

I am leasing mine for three years, so in my situation, I am not too concerned.

 

As I posted earlier in the thread my service indicator is nearing zero so to speak and will reach service time around 8000 miles, I thaught it bizzare because I drive like grandma.

 

Perhaps the MINI doesn't like the way grandma drives.

 

That's unusual... How old is your MINI and what type of traffic conditions do you usually drive in?

 

Yes I too think it a bit odd, well I drive 70% city and 30% highway, it's a 2007 Cooper auto, now my year of ownership comes up in Feburary, did the computer just estimate to the nearest 1000 miles how many miles I had to go before my year was up? Because these service intervals are miles or one year whitchever comes first.

 

I think this OBC has some odd behavior. I have a little over 5K miles on the car and it now says 9,000 to go. A short time ago it said 16,000 to go. It also says 5/13/2009 which is two years instead of one year from delivery. I'll just ignore it and take it in on its anniversary. I've already done one DIY oil change at about 1,200 miles (or maybe it was 1,500...).