With a wide, low catch pan; it can be done on a flat floor,
no need to ramp or jack at all.

So wooden 2x6 or 4x6 just gives you that much advantage

Do wear gloves, as oil starts out as soon as 8mm Hex Plug is loosened.

 

Cleanest, easiest oil change I have ever done. Drove the car up onto a couple of short 2x6's in the front and was able to slide the drain pan under and reach the drain plug no problem. Not one drop of mess from the filter, cracked it loose and let the engine drain, when I pulled the filter housing no mess at all.

 

Just changed the oil at 2800 miles.

5 qts of oil at $6.20 a quart, and $9.87 for the oil filter at the dealer.

Took a 1/2 hour.

 

Seriously, the oil change is a breeze, I'd highly recommend just buying the items and doing it yourself. On top of that, if you take it in for the early change, they may reset your OBC or mark it as your yearly change and you could have a problem later trying to get the freebie oil change. Worst case scenario, yes, but still

I'm gonna have to change mine over the winter break here, already hit 10K miles.. yeesh.

 

Not everyone wants to change their own oil but if I can do it anyone can. Was easy and driving up on a couple of short 2"x10" boards made it that much easier.

 

Yep yep. I'd say the hardest part was getting to the filter, and that wasn't terribly difficult either.

 

Man, you must be skinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnny. I looked under there and there was no way I could get to the plug without the ramps. I probably could have used some boards and gotten under there but not on a flat surface.

 

Do you need special tools? Like some sort of torque wrench?

 

I have some Rhino Ramps, they work great. Probably just a boost from some boards would do the trick though. Not difficult at all.

 

All you need to know, including pictures, is in this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...with-pics.html

Read it and follow the steps. You'll see how easy it is. Autozone, and most other auto parts places, will take the old oil from you to recycle.

Just do it yourself...satisfying and easy.

 

Nope.

T50 Torx bit for the oil drain plug.

8mm wrench to remove the coolant tank.

27mm socket for the oil filter cap.

Quick, simple, easy. And I'm not that mechanically inclined!

 

That's the bit that scares me. Is this difficult? Is there a trick to it? Is there a chance that it may not be replaced correctly? If so, how would you know? Hopefully, not as a result of an engine overheat...

 

I can't speak for all Mini's, but I needed the following tools;

8 mm socket for the coolant resevoir.
T-50 Torx bit for the drain plug.
1 1/8" socket,w/ 6" extension, for the oil filter.

 

No, it's a piece of cake. You take ONE screw out and move the tank over to get down to the filter case. You can't mess it up. It's attached to the lip. After you take the screw out, tilt it up and it will come right off. Putting it back is easier than taking it off. Honestly.

 

Oh...and it's the OVERFLOW tank. Nothing to it.

 

I am reassured, thank you.

Now, the question is, I had the dealer change the oil at 2800 miles. I think there was 13000 on my service computer. Should I change it before then?

I put about 300 miles per week on the car, so I don't think I'll make it to the year oil change before I need the full service.

Any other variables that I need to consider?

 

Sorry, I misremembered that day. hehe. Fixed in my above post.

 

I change mine every 5,000 miles. So, yes, you should probably change it again.

 

With the synthetic, the computer is going to say 15K between changes, and mine says 10K left to go when I've just put 10K on it (highway miles), but all the tests people have had done on the oil show that it's pretty much used up around the 8 - 10K range. I got mine changed around 4500 miles, and I'm about to change it again and I just passed 10K.

Just my .02$. The cost isn't that great, and I don't think more frequent oil changes will harm anything (so long as you don't do something like leave the drain plug out when you fill it back up )

 

Actually, there is a torque requirement. Its written on the oil filter housing. Its 25 N*m which is about 18.5 ft-lbs. The filter housing is made of plastic and it would be easy to strip the threads if you over tighten.

 

Just don't over-tighten it. Snug it down by hand and then add another half turn with the socket driver. I'm on my second MINI oil change and I didn't use a torque wrench on either. I've changed the oil on many cars that "required" certain torque but never used a torque wrench.

 

For mine, the T-50 Torx bit was a loose fit and the 8mm Hex bit was a perfect fit.

The Oil Filter Cannister took a 27mm short socket (1 1/16" is same size) and without the Turbocharger,
no need to move Coolant Tank or need the 6" extension.

Clearance from a flat floor to the drain plug is about five inches and it would be worthwhile to drive up on wood blocks
(avoid brick or concrete as they could shatter).

Torque wrench should be used to tighten; 22 ft/lb on Drain and 18.5 for Filter Cannister,
Torque is more critical for wheel lugs at 103 ft/lb.

 

Got a 2000 mile change done yesterday at my long standing auto repair shop for $54. No way was I going to wait a full year for the warranty change.

 

the hex bit is a better fit for the drain bolt as the pattern in the bolt is a hex, not star shape like other torx bolts or screws.

 

I called the Long Beach Mini. The service dept. told me that the oil change is $99. Only thing is that they will not work on the car that has only 5000 miles on it. She said something like the corporate MINI do not allow them to perform oil change on the car that is not ready for due for service. Now, what is up with South Bay MINI trying to charge me $350 for an oil change.