Here I go again, just can't read this stuff without increasing my blood pressure. It amazes me that anyone will spend $25K on a new car, amazing engine, high compression on the std models, SC on the older Ses, turbos on the new Ses, run the hell out of them and then won't change the oil because BMW has set the coolaid out on the table and everyone is rushing to drink it.

Anyone heard of ISO 14001 environmental regulations? It gives bonus points to manufacturers who reduce the life cycle pollution of their products. This is the reason for extended oil drain intervals, extended coolant drain intervals, long filter change or no filter change intervals. Every tire, fan belt, filter, wiper blade, oil and etc that goes into the environment gets counted.

Any engine that doesn't run dry or totally out of oil will make it through the warranty period. The question is what shape do you want your engine to be in at 75K and beyond. I know there will be people who respond that they have 150K miles with no problems and followed the factory oil change interval.... I'm truly happy for you, but there a tons of people who have followed the factory interval and now are burning a lot of oil and smoking, etc. Read the posts right here with a search for slucge, or oil burning. Google BMW sludge and see what you get.

Spend $25 for an oil analysis vs spend $25 for an oil and filter and get the chance to go under my MINI and check out the underside.... no question for me. But I only routinely put 300 to 500K miles on my cars with no engine rebuilds... so what do I know.

Go ahead and drink the BMW coolaid.... your choice, I just pity the guy who buys your car used when you get through with it.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just an old school old fart. But damn proud of it too.

Anyone want to stop and talk to me or punch me out, I'll be in the R/W 06 MCS with white YD letters on the rear window at MOTD.

YD

 

Finally , someone who thinks as I do . I will not be buying into that whole life cycle crap . Every 5k for me , thank you very much . Cheap insurance I think. My 2 cents !

 

heheheh well im at 200,000 almost and have only changed my oil at 15 to 18,000 miles and geuss what just like you said no oil burning and still purres like a kitten prolly the oil you use makes the difference but when the valve cover was pulled for a head the engine was still clean and good looking, im on the origanal clutch as well and have never touched the gear oil in my tranny and she still shifts perfect and smooth, i drive the car hard as well and still do not have any issues now i change my oil every 5000 on the A6 and fiero, i use synthetic in those cars as well but i never let it go that far, dont know why just do, new engines better oil not the old days anymore.

now my 71 charger after 3000 miles the oil looks teriible but theirs alot less tolerance in those engines than out minis and you have less blow by, basically i drive till it looks dirty after it looks to be getting darker i change it.

im a biliver in having to do less oil changes on these cars and have spent countless dollers less than if i changes it every 5000. it would have been wastfull, and any engine that getss 200,000 miles with changine the oil every 15 to 18,000 miles gets my vote!!! just think of how long it will last if you change your oil every 5 thousand

 

I have 11k on my car now and have done 3 oil changes thus far. First at 1200, then 5k and 10k. The first two change outs yielded a substantial amount of metal particles in my oil. For my own comfort level, I will not exceed 5k between changes. I would highly recommend reading the following thread.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...&highlight=oil

 

When you have 200K miles on an R56 turbo engine, let us know. If you are talking about a 2002 MCS, it is an entirely different engine. For one thing, I don't think it has direct injection.

 

well when the guy posted about 100 to 150,000 miles without issues i just took that as the first gen engine, but yes i know its a new engine, im very knolegable on minis in general, shoot ive been a member here right when the site changed formats, but again i was commenting on the first gen engine not the turbo you guys have turbo heat to destry your oil we dont so again entirly different beast yes id change the oil on your cars much sooner like in the 5000 mark! that i do agree with

 

+1

 

MAybe you need some synthetic blood then


Who says we are running the hell out of it?

I think that we all know that most people who post stuff to the internet do so for the negative - just like bad news sells better than good. So I find it hard to believe that a few articles that can be Googled prove a point either way. The majority of BMW/Mini owners drive quite happpily without ever needing to share their opinions online.

I don't know the first thing about cars - and it shows, I know. But why shouldn't I trust my manufacturer? Is the world that cynical now?

 

well my uncles company crecent pattern in Detroit Mi, makes all the prototype engines for GM, Chrysler and Ford and he saod engines today are very different than back when mucle cars ruled, and can go longer on synthetic oils and dont have near the amount of contamination that gets into the oil to break it down like the older cars, they do alot of testing and it shows no difference in 5 10 or 15 thousand miles but other things can contribute to contaminating your oil prematurly like flodding your car all that unburned fuel leaks into the crank case thinning the oil and other things but yea newer cars can go longer heck ams oil has 25000 miles btewwen oil changes so who knows you get what you pay for......sometimes

 

As someone who isn’t an owner but who is currently in the market for a mini I wondered about this topic. I was/am very skeptical about the long oil change intervals my local dealer was touting. I am glad to see some actual owners also skeptical. When I get my mini I think it will be worth the small cost to change the oil at least every 5000 miles for the peace of mind.

As an aside: I worked at jiffy lube when I was in high school and saw many long interval changers and the oil always looked terrible (even high end cars that you would expect to have tight tolerances).

The two most memorable (although not high end cars) were a gentleman in a then new f-150 (1993) in for his first oil change at 19,000 miles. He was very proud of this fact. I had never felt oil with so little lubrication quality and actual grit in it as this f-150. The oil smelled burnt and stained my hands like it came out of a diesel (it was a gas truck).

The second example was a late 80’s Lincoln town car with the 5.0 (302 cubic inch). A car dealer brought it in and I will admit it looked like a cream puff. It was the stereotypical grandma’s car that was driven on Sundays. The problem was she didn’t appear to have ever changed the oil. Those Lincolns have two drain plugs, one on the front of the pan and one on the rear. I pulled out the rear drain plug and not a drop of oil came out. I pulled out the front drain plug and encountered the same result. The dipstick read full. There was so much sludge in the bottom of the pan the oil couldn’t drain. I had to repeatedly stick a screwdriver into the drain plug hole to poke through the sludge. It would drain for a bit and then get clogged back up.

 

It's like that song: Long Distance Runaground, by Yuk

 

I did my first oil/filter change DIY at 1800 miles, and continue DIY at 5k (tops) intervals.
You buy a car, often at $30k and up, with a performance engine that generates a LOT of heat (particularly the S)... and yet some of you run regular gas and do oil/filter changes at 15k intervals to save a few bucks.
Whoever "wins" this contest to run the most miles before their first oil change on their Mini will NOT be declared a "winner"! You will most likely be "declared" something, but not a "winner". I honestly feel sorry for the people who go this route, but not as sorry as I feel for the Mini itself.

 

Is it possible to do a UOA w/o changing the oil? I'd like to do this to see how my oil is doing.

 

Yes it is, please follow the link that I referenced earlier in post #29

 

I am at 19,600 and the computer says I have another 3,000 to go for the first oil change. I have been changing the oil and filter every 5,000 so, even though I think this is nuts, I am not too worried that the dealer will get his first look at the car with 23k on it. What I am unhappy about is the 36,000 miles of free maintenance could amount to one free oil change.

 

Yes. Easiest way is pull a few oz. through the dipstick using a pump like this

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/pump.html

IMHO it actually makes more sense to get a UOA first, then figure out whether the oil needs to be change and what to refill with based on the UOA results.

 

+1, coincidence???

 

Although I don't track my car, I drive it hard on the street and plan to change my oil every 3000 to 5000 miles depending on what my used oil analysis says. My service indicator is showing that with my current driving habits, my front brakes will need service every 10,000 miles and the rear ones will need service every 15,000 miles. So the 3 year, 36,000 mile "free" maintenance thing will get me at least three front brake services and two rear brake services! I don't care much about how many oil services the free maintenance really provides, as changing the oil on my own is cheap and easy. But I heard a brake job can cost an arm and a leg!

 

How about the shortest period between oil changes? I got home today from driving to Portland for my free oil change and after I got home, I started the car and looked down and the computer said 3,400 miles before the next oil change.

Oops, guess they forgot to reset the indicator. Wonder if they'll send the flatbed to take it the 200 miles back to Portland to reset it.

 

+1 East Bay Mini is a 180 mile round trip from my house for an oil change. I hit one year this month and they owe me one. I called them and left a message with service dept...asked if they would MAIL me the five quarts and filter and I'd do it myself and save the time (it's gonna be half a day minimum with the drive and all) and drive. They have not responded. I'd rather not let any dealer do even my oil changes. Color me "****", but I take my time, run the car up low ramps so that one side is quite higher so every drop runs out, get the filter seal broken AFTER all the oil is out of the sump (with an old rag well wrapped around it) and make sure not ONE drop of oil goes on the exterior of the engine or car... and more. It's MY BABY. So I think I'm gonna just do the next one myself AGAIN. I frankly thought I was doing THEM a favor. Nothing against East Bay Mini. Just because they can't put a new aluminum lower MINI name strip on the bottom of the door entry without bending it up doesn't mean they're not thorough professionals. Just because they couldn't get the tiny rip in the bottom of my driver's door fixed without me making TWO trips down, them having the wrong part twice and finally just having a vinyl repair guy fix it on the spot like they should have done in the first place. They're professionals. I mean it. Professionals.

 

Mine's at 15k, one year old, and I'm scheduled for service in 2 weeks at Scottsdale Mini. I'm fine with that because it's synthetic oil and the car is driven pretty easy. I know the old school spiel is to change the oil a lot (my first car was a 68 Mustang, I did my own work including tuneups and wheel balancing). But them days are long gone folks. The oil we used in them days was crap, admit it. And the engines weren't sealed at all, dust and stuff got in there by the load. Heck, back then it was heresy to use detergent oil in your Bug because then you couldn't really get the dirt out when you changed the oil. The good old days (remember regapping your spark plugs and cleaning off the tips?).

 

Hmm, I recall buying cases of 30W Valvoline for a 1957 Alfa Romeo Spider. Yup, gapped the plugs and filed the points to knock down the arch point that built up. I also recall spraying gas into the carburetor to start it if it had been sitting for awhile. The float bowl would drain and the starter didn't have enough oomph to get the fuel pump to fill it before I lost patience, or the battery died.

I agree that today's oils are better, and last longer, but there are some issues to take into consideration. This a high compression turbo engine with direct injection. The oil analysis posted so far have indicated that fuel dilution may be an issue. IIRC, the oil was ending its useful life around 10,000 miles and would have been in pretty bad shape by 15,000.

They only way you are going to know for sure is to spend about $35 have it analyzed. You can get a standard analysis done for $22.50, but for $10 more they will test for the condition of the additives. This gives you a better idea of how much longer the oil is good for.

 

I got a good laugh out of that. Glad I'm still around to laugh at it.

I had a Dukes of Hazard 1969 Charger when I was in high school and one time I ran out of gas and poured some gas into the carburetor to get it moving through the line.

A few drops must have spilled on the block and created a flame. I took a deep breath and blew it out. Thankfully, it worked.

 

You may be right. I await your upcoming oil analysis Robin. Too late for me for this first change, but not in the future.

 

Pouring could lead to problems. I went high tech and used a new oil can with a pump and long flexible snout.