I am one of those MINI owners that changes my oil every 5-6k miles. Do any of you that are like me change your transmission fluid? I know it's like the oil will go forever. However since I enjoy servicing my 07 MCS and like to keep it in tip top shape I would like to hear what your guys (and girls) think.

 

Is this a manual?

I do not think the Mini owners manual recommends changing the transmission fluid (Lifetime Oil). I still do it every 30K miles on my 5 series (manual). I will do it on the Mini too as soon as it gets to the right mileage. Funny how the same oil became lifetime oil after BMW starting to cover scheduled maintenance around the middle of the 1990s.

I use Redline MTL but I will check with Redline before doing anything on the Mini. I started using Redline in the mid 1980s and never had a problem.

Look at bavauto.com, they have a list of recommendations as well. I find their tech tips to be insightful.

 

Thank you slinger688. Yes it's a manual.

 

A lot of manufacturers are going to "lifetime" fluids e.g. coolant, transmission fluid, power steering fluid etc.. I think it's a marketing effort to keep the maintenance costs low as a selling point. Part of it is better quality engines and fluids, the other unsaid part is that nobody makes a "lifetime" transmission, so at some point the transmission will need service and the fluid will get changed at that point. The manufacturer figures that the average consumer doesn't keep a car much beyond 7 years, 100,000 miles.

FWIW manufacturers that do recommend transmission fluid changes recommend it at around 80,000-100,000 miles (for street driven cars). More often if the car is driven hard e.g. track, towing

 

As a general rule 30K for transmission oil (Auto or Manual) is a safe practice for modern transmissions. You will find tech talk in BMWCCA's Roundel (techtalk@roundel.org) consistently recommends transmission oil changes to maximize the life of your transmission and Redline oil is often recommended. The lifetime fill is for the lifetime of the transmission or the warranty whichever ends first. I am also a 5K mile engine oil changer (2.5K for my motorcycle) and paid for unscheduled oil changes for my BMWs. That said I had a difficult time convincing my Service Advisor to change the "lifetime" transmission fluid in my Steptronic E90 but since I was paying for it they finally agreed to take my money.

 

It's good for the life of the transmission or 100K miles whichever comes sooner. But I will most likely do it around 50K myself.