Gave the car it's first oil change today at 1500 miles. Who is the twit engineer that designed the oil filter location and housing?

Anyway, cleaning up the mess was a lot of fun...

 

If you're gonna do it every 1500 miles you'll get really good at it, or if you make a nasty mess your wife will make you stop doing it at home and take it to the dealer lol.

 

I just figured after the break in I'd do a change. I'll let the oil anlysis tell me when ti change it next.

I'll sample at 5K and see what's what.

 

If you wrap some rags around the bottom of the filter housing before you remove it you'll make less of a mess. Nice lift, is this at your house?

 

The filter location on the MCS is much easier to get to for a DIY than my old Integra, but then I don't have a lift.

If you want to see odd engineering, look at the electrical. The X9331 connector under the dash has eigh wires for audio signal (to speakers or amp, depending on audio option), one wire to the starter motor, and three for climate control. Can't imagine what they were thinking.

 

You know...it is a wonder why oil filters are in such bogus locations.

I was an engineer in a previous life (I got laid off in 1991) and alway wondered what designers were thinking when I was trying to get at some oil filters.

Worst ever in my line cars was my Honda Element, it was behind the engine block and had to be accessed from behind the wheel well or a small openign in the control arms.

The filter on the Mini reminded me of a mercedes 190 I had in the 80's, it was easiest to change, same cartridge design as the Mini except right on top, unscrew it, change it, done.

 

Yea, that's my garage. When we bought the house the garage was just built. It's 35x50 and was just waiting for the lift to be installed. It's amazing how quickly you can fill up space. I really need to spend some time and redesign the storage, and layout. Having the lift installed wasn't so bad, all in I think it cost about $3K? It's not a Bend Pac or Eagle, but it sure gets the job done.

My E36 M3 filter is really easy and no mess at all.

I just have to assume that 99.9% of all engineers have never worked on anything, or seen what the final installation looks like. When I was in the Navy, we all used to curse the engineers that designed the submarine. You had to take 1/2 the boat apart to work on some things. After I got out, I got a degree in mechanical engineering, and swore to never do that...lol

 

I'm an engineer and trade offs between performance and operability/maintainability are inevitable. Unfortunately performance usually wins. The last car that I heard discuss the benefits of their oil filter placement was the (DRUM ROLL) Chrysler K car....

 

For an easier oil change, should of gotten a MC. (Forgive me, I'm just jealous.)

 

I have a MC and yes, its much easier to get to than the first gen R50. But the MCS isn't that much harder. Remove the screw from the overflow tank and push it out of the way.

 

I believe that removing the oil filler cap on top of the engine will releave some positive pressure and the oil "may" not come out as fast. I did this on my first change, stuffed several paper towels under the filter and quickly flipped it over after I unscrewed it. It was not too messy.

 

Boy would I love to have a lift in my garage, you lucky dog. Back in the 60's was a partner in a used car business and got used to having our garage facilities to work on my cars, really have missed it since then.

 

Try this next time: Put an old rag under filter housing. Take the filler cap off and then unscrew the oil filter but do not take it out of the housing. Let it sit there for a minute or 2 to drain. Finish pulling the oil filter out and turn it open side up to remove from the engine bay. Nary a drop spilled when I do it on my 04 Cooper. Hope this helps.

 

+1 to this.

That's exactly the way I do it when I change the oil in my '08 Cooper. After unscrewing it, I leave the filter in place while the oil drains out of the sump for about a half hour (an old habit, to make sure ALL the oil drains out). Never spill a drop.

A bigger hassle is the location and design of the plug in the sump. Oil starts spewing out as soon as the plug is loosened - hot oil - all over your hand and/or your wrench, as well as on your garage floor if you don't have your drain pan in place before you turn the wrench (one guess how I know this...). In addition, the plug is very low, too close to to the ground to slide the drain pan under, too low to fit my ratchet on the plug etc. To get around this, I use 2 short pieces of scrap 2X10 lumber, put one in front of each front wheel and drive the car up on them. Raises the car up about 1 1/2 inches, just enough to fit said items underneath.

My MINI Cooper is probably the easiest car I've owned to perform an oil and filter change on. No reason to take it to a dealer for this simple service - do it yourself!


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I put the car up on jack stands for an oil change, and use one of the drain pans that is also a container. This greatly reduces the chance of an oil spill while transferring it into the California recycle container.

Goves are a necessity for removing the drain plug. If the oil is very hot, use the heavy Bluette gloves (heavier than standard kitchen gloves) for a little more insulation.