http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/s...il1.html#topup

This is the link. Let me know if I misinterpreted something in it.

The link was in a thread called The OBC is Full of It.

 

That's not correct, the OBC does not sample or test the oil in any way. It just looks at how you drive, whether mostly city stop and go driving or mostly highway nonstop miles and probably looks at your average RPMs too. I'm sure it has a simple program to decide the best time to change your oil. That's it, nothing sophisticated about it, lots of cars from Hondas to Mercedes have a similar system. I changed my oil at 3000 miles when the OBC said 14000, with new oil it still said 14000. If you want to feel good about having fresh oil after the break-in period change it sooner. If you don't care or aren't worried, just follow the OBC. People have waited until it tells them to change it with no problems, it's up to you...

 

My car will be 1 year old on July 1st. When I start my car I think mine says "5/2009" on the bottom and above the milage says "8,000". I am so confused. I emailed the service department at Southbay Mini in Torrance to see what they say. I will be curious to see if they respond at all.

 

I know that with the MINI filter setup, you can change the filter without losing much oil. At ten bucks for an OEM filter, I'm at least changing that every 5k. I don't care how well oils hold up, they're not immune to contamination.

 

Well, you seem to have come to a different conclusion than they did. Their conclusions don't back the MINI 15,000 to 20,000 mile intervals that the OBC seems to recommend.

Based on the results we've got here, we'd recommend 8,000 miles between oil changes on an engine that uses no oil at all, perhaps 10,000 miles on an engine that uses some oil, and 15,000 miles or beyond with a filter change every 5,000 miles. This, of course, isn't any kind of guarantee, and you must evaluate for yourself what your engine requires. One thing we're pretty sure about though: 3,000-mile intervals is a huge waste of resources."

This is about the same as some of us have been thinking on NAM. After my first oil analysis I was thinking I could go about 8,000 miles between changes, but would probably want to sample and test around 5,000.

It should be noted that this test was done from 2002-2003 on a Chevy V8. I think that Mobil has changed their oil significantly since then. When Castrol won the case court allowing them to call highly refined dino oil "synthetic" it triggered changes in oil formulation in Mobil. Also, the normally aspirated Camero V8 is a different animal than the MINI turbo 4.

There is some indication that MINI engines have a higher fuel contamination rate, due to the direct injection. If so, it would mean shorter change intervals would be called for, as fuel dilution lowers viscosity of the oil.

A turbo engine can be much harder on oil than a normally aspirated engine.

 

I wasn't complete in my post for my intent was to say I can't see going to 15k, but if one wanted to try, the oil filter at least should be changed. That's the one thing I am sure is correct.

As to how long to leave the oil in place? I'm thinking safe-sided is 5k w/o oil analysis. This is all based on piecing together info from the several threads I've been following.

I will say that you seem to know what you're talking about. I give some extra credence to your opinion and those of a couple others. So, if you think that 5k is overly conservative (read unnecessarily wasteful), I would take that seriously.

What say you?

R

 

Robin, a few posts on this forum have also mentioned that Mobil1 is no longer a "true" synthetic, but I've yet to find any documentation on that claim. Do you know of any source for that? All the posts I've seen treat this as common knowledge, but never cite a definitive source. I'm not saying it's true or not, just curious as to where the evidence may be.

 

I don't really know for sure. For one thing, it will vary with driving habits, build tolerances in the car, and possibly weather conditions.

I've only had one analysis done for my car and it is still showing results typical for the break-in period. So, I plan on continuing to test until I've found a period that seems good for my car.

My recommendation would be to sample the oil at about 5,000 miles after the last change and send it off to Blackstone Labs, or Terry Dyson for analysis. Blackstone is cheaper, Terry is more thorough. I went with Blackstone. They have a pump you can buy for $30 that will draw oil out through the dipstick tube for sampling. When I get near time for the next change I plan to order the pump and test before determining whether to change or not.

 

I don't recall where I read about that. There was something online about it somewhere.

Notice that there are significant differences in the different grades of Mobil 1. They don't all seem to be the long-interval oils Mobil 1 used to be. 0W-40 is a long-interval oil, but 5W-30 doesn't seem to be. There is a Mobil 1 Extended Performance for that in the 5W-30 weight.

 

When I drove Winston off the lot they interval said 15K or 12/2009...Which I think was the original build date??? Anywho, after one particular spirited turn of driving it now reads 14K or 12/2009. I guess the computer calculates how you drive, rpms, etc...and then changes the miles accordingly. However, I will be changing my oil tomorrow and I'll have about 3K miles on him.

 

Robin - I'm suspicious of the "extended performance" claims of the new flavors of Mobil1. It's hard to say what's marketing hype, and what's actual formula differences versus plain old Mobil1. Mobil claims on their site that there's additional wear additives, but what they are, and how much difference it makes is anybody's guess.

 

Miniclubman,

I was thinking that the Extended Performance versions might be closer to the original Mobil 1, and that the now standard Mobil 1 5W-30 was an attempt to stay competitive on cost with Castrol after they won the court case saying that highly refined dino oil can be considered "synthetic."

It seems that dino oil can be refined to where it has a molecular profile similar to synthetically generated oils, and is less expensive to make.

 

Okay I re-read some of the other posts...and I find it very mis-leading when Mobil claims fully synthetic because some case law says they can label their products as such...dang. Consumer be ware I guess... If I may ask, Robin, what oil are you using now?

 

Robin:

Who is using the highly refined Dino oil as sysnthetic? Castrol or Mobil 1 or both. I am a little confused by the court case. Who wanted to label their highly refined oil as synthetic?

The Catrol that I got is the 0W-30 european formula. If I was to use Mobil 1 it would be their 0W-40

 

I'm not so sure that the functional difference between highly refined dino "synthetic" and real synthetic are significant enough to worry about. I may be wrong, but I think Castrol won the case by showing that one was as good as the other.

I'm using the MINI branded 5W-30 available from dealers because it is to spec. and cost effective. I paid $5.40 per quart -- less than standard Mobil 1 costs in my area.

I am open to other possibilities if they show advantages. The Bio-Synthetic SHP Motor Oil SAE 5W30 PCMO, that Terry Dyson is promoting, looks interesting. I believe a NAMMER is trying it in an R53.

 

My Mini Stealer wanted $7/quart I probably will use this Mobil 1 for this change and decide my next move later.

 

I believe 0W-40 is the best match of Mobil 1 for the MINI.

 

Thought I would resurrect this thread with some more input.

Spoke to my MA yesterday about my oil change. I had my first change on my own at 5K. I am at 15,500 and my OBC says I still have 8K until I should have my first change on MINI. According to my MA, MINI is finding out that, like mine, my first change shouldn't be at 23k miles or higher. They may need to reprogram the computer to indicate the oil chould be changed at 1 year regardless of low miles, or when the mileage reaches 19K.

I was told that if I had MINI change it too early, not when the OBC says, it would have me falling outside the norm. Not that you can't change it on your own, just that MINI can do your first change "free" unless the OBC says it's time. Go figure..........

 

Like many have seen MA's are different in how they view what the Maintenance Requirements are for these Little Cuties...so I've created my own Maintenance Plan. I will gladly pay for 2 of my Oil Changes and MINI will Pay for 1 (a Total of 3 per Year). We did get a "Freebie" (1600+ Miles) after we had parts mis-ordered 3x. Our SA was very generous!! I will also be paying for Tire Balance and Rotations every 6,000 Miles. It wold be nice to think that these cars were "No Out of Pocket $$$" Free for 3 Years, but what car is?? I want Molly to be with us for a LONG...LONG...LONG...TIME.

 

And it probably would be if you did it at 1000 miles...black color is not an indicator that the oil needs to be changed.

 

I figured hard-driving, not to mention shipping it internationally, I'd get the oil changed...the service dept at Crown Mini, Richmond thought I'd have to pay for it at first, especially considering it has less than 9,000 miles on it, but turns out: since it was "born" at least 12 months ago, my oil change was free. So, regardless of what the computer says, if your baby is more than 12 months old, you can get it free.

And OH-by-the-way, the computer kept telling me my service was overdue, etc...it wasn't the actual mechanical service - it was the environmental check/service that was due (erroneously for my registered state, though.)