I just finished the breakin and was going to have the oil changed at the dealer monday when they are scheduled to do my little delivery fix-ups, but in driving today 500 miles worth, I though maybe it would be better to wait to 7500 to do it and let the engine really bed in the way I would normally drive it. I know I won't let it go to the factory recommended schedule for the 1st one...

Any thoughts?

 

Why not let the MINI decide? MINI uses full synthetic, and the on board computer will recalculate your service schedule based on your driving.

 

There are a lot of opinions on this matter. I tend to agree with ones that say change your break-oil within the first 1500 miles then every 7500 miles. If you listen to your on board computer you will not change you oil until you reach somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20K which in my opinion is way past due even with full synthetic. Mini is in the business of selling and servicing their cars. If you go by their recommended service plan IMO you run the risk of shortening your engines life and lining the pockets of your dealer for out of warranty repairs. Oil changes are not that expensive (especially if you do it yourself) and even IF it is unnecessary it certainly won't harm your engine to change it more often than recommended. Change the oil

 

The oil analyses posted here by R56 owners are showing the R56 to be *very* hard on oil. In particular, there have been several analyses that showed the MINI oil to be severely depleted after only 5,000-6,000 miles in the car (flashpoint reduced by 100 °F or more, total acid numbers above acceptable levels, and significant amounts of fuel getting into the oil and diluting it).

I would not trust the onboard computer to determine your change intervals. Among other things, I think the the OBC stretches out the interval too much if you do a lot of highway driving. I had my last batch of MINI oil tested after about 9,000 miles, and it was just about used up. I changed it early, but didn't reset the OBC. By the time the OBC finally said that the car was due for an oil change, more than 20,000 miles had elapsed since the last OBC-recommended change, so the OBC recommendation would have had me driving 11,000 more miles on oil that was already at end-of-life.

 

Yeow. Well good to know then. Looks like I'll be adding an oil change or two between visits to the dealer.

 

I'm having my first oil change @ 1000 miles.
It's a few weeks out.

 

Scott,
Have you had a sample with BioSyn, yet? I contacted D based on your posts. I've got to use up current Mobil 1 and then I've got a batch of Royal Purple I got from Advance Auto Parts at half price as they phased it out. After that, D and I will get me set up with BioSyn. He thinks RP is very good and suggested I use it up since it was on hand.

However, while I'm enjoying the next six months (I'm a 25k/yr guy), I thought I'd follow your progress.

 

The 6,000-mile test of Biosyn was flat-out amazing. (it's the most-recent test in my thread here). Much better numbers across the board than the MINI oil, by a large margin.

When I tested the same batch of oil again after 10,000 miles, the BioSyn was getting pretty tired (I haven't updated the thread with those results yet), but it was still holding up much better than the MINI oil after a similar interval. I think if I can get a handle on my fuel dilution numbers, the BioSyn should easily be a 10k-mile oil, with plenty of life to spare.

 

Thanks for that. I changed mine at 3000 miles. What do you think is the best interval when running track days about once a month?

 

10k intervals and about $50 in oil vs. 7.5k and $35 in oil.

Thats $5/1k miles vs. $4.6/1k miles. So, the key to this will be how much better it protects the engine, increases fuel mileage or power. Or maybe something less tangible, but equally important having to do with the environment, energy independence, etc.

I personally just like the idea.

 

Well, the closest I come to track days are autocross events, but if you have an R56, plan on keeping it for a long time, track it occasionally and don't want to spend the time & money having frequent oil analyses done like I have, I personally wouldn't consider any interval longer than about 5,000 miles. Judging from the R56 oil analyses I've seen on cars that were just daily drivers, 5,000 miles might even be a bit of a stretch.

I'd recommend having at least one oil analysis done after 5,000 miles on the oil (spring the $60 for the full-blown analysis from Terry Dyson when you do it), and then go from there.

 

And depending on where you live, the BioSyn isn't necessarily $10/quart. If I have a five-gallon pail shipped to my house in Virginia, it works out to $8.40 a quart. If you live close enough to buy it in person, it's only $6.88 (plus local sales tax).

Going with longer intervals also saves you money on filters, although the savings in going from 7,500 mile intervals to 10,000 mile intervals isn't much.

 

obvious question but I have to ask. If you guys change the oil before Mini dealers recommended, you have to pay out of your pocket? NOt covered with the first 3 years that comes with your new car right?

 

Correct, they only cover the yearly change. I did two in between. I did a 1200, then a 4000, then the dealer did 7000 when my year was up. I'll do one after 6 months regardless of mileage (probably about 3-4k) and then let the dealer do one in a year. He will do it yearly regardless of miles. Scott, is the R56 MC also hard on oil? I've seen some numbers on MCS, but not MC. I"ve got a blackstone labs kit, but I"m about 5 months out probably from pulling a sample.

 

Where can I buy Biosyn?

 

BioSyn is manufactured and sold by Renewable Lubricants, Inc.. Their web site is a little low rent, but there is a lot of info on it:

http://www.renewablelube.com/motor%20pricing.htm

The Super High Performance engine oil is their "regular" engine oil for passenger vehicles. The HD (heavy duty) formulation has a different additive pack and is designed to handle longer drain intervals and problem issues such as fuel dilution. The 5W40 HD is a custom blend for an Audi enthusiast who could not find an oil (including OEM) that would hold up in his Audi RS4 direct injection V8.

 

My $0.02. It depends what the plans are for the MINI. If this car will only be kept for the warranty period i.e. 4 years/50K miles, I would not bother with extra oil changes.

Assuming the car will be a long term keeper then. So far I think past UOAs show that running the OEM Castrol oil for somewhere between 5,000-9,000 miles seems to be about the limit before it's acid fighting capability is kaput. So if the oil is changed at 1,500, it would be best to change it again before 15,000 miles. If money is no object then changing the oil 2-3 times before the MINI "free" oil change would flush out the break in wear metals and assembly contaminants. It certainly won't hurt to do it more often (except in the wallet), but if on a budget then 1 extra oil change is better than none, but plan the interval so the engine doesn't ends up going over 9,000 miles between changes. So do it at around 7,500 miles or 6 months.

Also, if you're planning to do a lot of oil changes, save some $ by DIY. The R56 MINI is one of the easiest DIY oil changes if a fluid evacuation pump is used to suck the old oil out the dipstick. Don't need to crawl under the car.

 

What about the filter?

 

Filter is on top. It's a cartridge type and all that's needed is a socket with an extension to reach it. Here's a DIY w/ photos:

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

With the fluid evacuator I don't need to crawl under the car, don't need a torque wrench, don't need a drain pan, don't need a jack. No muss, no fuss.

 

This is sounding good to me.

Where's the best place to buy, and what's the best model, of oil evacuator? (I've done a LOT of oil changes, but crawling under the car was always a part of the process!)

 

Yeah, I'm curious as to suggestions for that as well :D Room in the carport is lacking.

 

Just to add MY $.02 -- I have about 8,900 on my '07 MCS and have been tracking some of these discussions....after doing a bit of hiking up and down the highway in the past 6 months, I decided I wanted to do an oil change. When I called the dealer to make an appointment, I was told I'd have to pay an $80 out-of-pocket fee for the oil change, since it's not part of the warranty, as it's not up to the recommended milage. Which sucks, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. And I'm not enough of a gear-head to do it myself -- if something gets screwed up, I can blame it on them!

Funny thing is that the hubby's '07 BMW 335i is "supposed" to run along the same service track as my MCS...and as soon as I decided to do my oil change, his engine message came up with Oil Too Low, will cause engine damage. He only has 9k on his, too....Hmmm....

 

I have about 14K miles on my car now and I'm approaching my 4th oil change. This one will be on the house as it's almost at the one year mark of ownership for me. I did my first at 1200 then 5k and 10k. Draining the oil is rather easy if you have a drain pan that slides under the car, of course if your car has been lowered at all, you will need to raise it up or use an extractor. I am also very interested in having a Dyson UOA done.

 

I got my car 4/07 and had the dealer change oil 4/08 at 15k. My friend bought his 07 BMW 330i last June and his service indicator went off in April at 15k. Mine still had about 8k to go at 15k. Interesting.

 

Scott,

This was on a supercharged R53 convertible, right? Do they have direct injection?

It would be great if someone could get an analysis of an R56 MCS with Biosyn. I just changed mine with MINI oil. I commute on the internet, so it will probably take me a year to put 6K miles on my car. That means it could be two years before I had a Biosyn analysis done.