Does anyone have confirmed oil capacity for our turbo engines? I did a search and have seen too many figures thrown around - 4.4qt., 4.5qt., 4.75qt., 5qt, 4.5l and on and on. Please only reply if you can document where you found the official MINI/BMW number. Thanks

 

Bump - anyone have any solid data?

 

Why? 4.5 should get you ballpark and dipstick the rest of the way.

If you are looking for actual MINI figures, visit your dealership and ask them to show you their manuals... I don't think anyone has actual MINI docs on this.

 

Most of the time you can not go by oil capacity. When you read the specs it will tell you the total amount of oil the engine takes. This is the amount a brand new engine will take. You will never put that much in due to the fact there will still be oil in the oil lines and turbo. Same goes for antifreeze.

 

This is the first car I have owned for which - by the owners manual - I don't know when to change the oil, how much it holds, and I can hardly read the dip stick.

 

I just changed my oil last night and ended up filling about 4 1/2 qts....maybe just a tad more. I was never able to read my dipstick either, however, that's because it was way overfilled (which I suspected). 4 1/2 qts put the level just about right in the middle of the dipstick gauge after starting the car and circulating the oil.

 

I just dump in 5 quarts when I change my oil and that puts the oil level slightly above the max line on the dipstick of my 07 MCS. I don't worry about the slight overfill.

 

looking in the manual for one of my Hondas it tells me how and when to change the oil. Every detail I need is right there including reseting the dash indicator.

I like my MINI but they could learn A LOT about customer satisfaction on this point. I went back to my 07 owner's manual last nite and no where can I find even so much as the oil capacity.

This two time MINI owner (and a classic Mini owner) is getting a little fed up.

 

Every time I get fustrated with european cars, my dealer always reminds me that it is the unique character of the car that I have bought.

I have had many character building events...

 

Getting back to the op, I usually fill about 4.5 Qts into the crankcase.

 

4.5 qts. is about what it takes. However, many dealers seem to be putting 5 qts. in at oil changes. I asked my dealer about it, and mentioned something about just dumping five bottles in without taking care to put the right amount in. He said they don't fill from bottles, but have dispensing machine that is set to fill it with an exact amount. So, the over fill was intentional. I was concerned about the dangers of over-filling so my SA talked to the service manager. He said it would be fine, and not to worry about it.

MotoringFile had an article that mentioned something about intentional over-fill to compensate for some oiling problems.

 

the one warning that IS in the manual

engine

go figure . . . .

 

As a new (to me) owner of a 2008 S, this thread is right on point. The owners manual is lacking any capacity info for the fluids. I guess Mini does not expect their owners to perform any DIY maintenance. I will go by the 4.5 qt recommendation for my first oil change tonight and see how that does.

 

Anyone thinking it's ok to overfill is wrong. This is universal across all cars/egines. You DO NOT over fill your oil. Period. It is as bad as running it a quart low on oil. Keep it between the marks at all times.

Don't spreadbad information like saying it's ok to overfill your oil. PERIOD.

 

The Bentley manual says the capacity is 4.2L or 4.44 qt. That's as close to official as I have seen. I personally use 4.5 qt when I perform the oil and filter changes.

 

+1 to all this!

 

Finished the oil change this evening and put 4.5 qt out of the 5 qt jug into the Mini. The level seemed to be right on the mark according to the dipstick.

 

On a 2008 Cooper S it's 4.2 liters or 4.5 quarts of 5W-30 synthetic oil. I agree the manual is poor when it comes to providing the information for the DIY owner. I think BMW feels like Cooper owners will bring the car into the dealer for an oil change just like most BMW owners do. You can go 10,000 miles on an oil change according to the computer but I don't go over 5,000. Make sure that you check your oil level between oil changes since they do burn oil and can be a quart low between changes.

 

It's incredibly common on cars that are driven hard to overfill the oil slightly to compensate for oil starvation in long sweepers. Lots of the BMW track guys run up to a quart over. Although this is just a band-aid solution to not having proper baffling in the oil pan.

As far as how much extra oil to add that is up in the air. Sounds like people have been doing 5 quarts and been fine however you don't want to way overfill it as that will cause issues.

 

I was at the Mini dealer buying oil and filters and as i walked by the garage i happened to talk to a mechanic. He said 4.5 qts is what they put in for an oil change. That's good enough for me.

 

i've always put 4.5 in.

 

I check my oil weekly because I leak/burn about 1/2 qt every 1000 miles. I have found that I burn less if I run the car 1/2 quart low on my daily driver 08 MCS. I put 4 quarts in during an oil change, which ends up mid way on the dipstick. When I get close to the lower ball on the dipstick, I add 1/2 quart.

It seems like (on my car), when I fully fill the dipstick to the upper ball, every week I was adding 1/2 quart (about 300 miles/week). Since I've been running 1/2 quart less, my oil consumption has dropped.

I would not recommend that someone who tracks a car use this method, but for me it works.

have fun,
Mike

 

You burn oil far faster than normal... I'd get that addressed, dude. You really think 1/2qt in 300-1000 miles is normal?!??

 

I leak more oil than I burn. I have a steady leak under the downpipe (not turbo oil line). The valve cover was leaking in 4 different places. I don't get any smoke at startup or while driving. When I first got the car, it was going through a quart in 500 miles. Now I go through 1/2 quart in about 800/1000 miles.
I've read threads here stating that BMW thinks that 1 quart in 1500 miles is 'normal'. Since I bought the car used, and the previous owner let the car tell her when to change the oil, I figure that there is significant wear. Right now I am comfortable fixing the leaks and tracking the oil useage.
The point of my post was to indicate that by not filling the crankcase to the top bulb, my oil usage dropped. I learned that here, and thought it was worth sharing.

Mike

 

Gotcha. Still, get on those leaks! lol