One thing to keep in mind for all of you with R56s is that BMW will cover an annual oil change on their dime regardless of the mileage thru the maintenance contract period - 3 years.

That is my normal philosophy for oil change intervals - Once per year, regardless of the mileage, which for me is usually 5,000 - 10,000 miles. Only use the correct synthetic oil and you'll be doing the best thing for your MINI.

 

Gusto conocer a otro mexicano en el foro, bienvenido.
Changed mine after break in at 2000 km, and then will do it every 5000-7000 km.

 

When I was shopping for my MINI a salesman told me that the MINI/BMW engineers had determined that a lubricating layer bakes onto the engine surfaces from running the synthetic oil approx. 15k miles before changing. And that, by changing the oil before the computer tells you too this protective layer would not form and this would impact the longevity of the engine. I have never heard this before or since, and I think he may have just been trying to sell me on the lack of free maintenance offered in MINI's free maintenance program. Anyone hear anything similar?

 

I do not think leaving the original oil in the car will be the best thing for your engine.
I changed my oil at 2,915 miles and replaced it with the genuine Mini oil I bought from the dealer.
I do believe you need to use a good synthetic oil if you do change it. I just went ahead and got the Mini oil because it was almost as cheap as any other synthetic oil.
I just don't believe that the original oil should be in that engine for up to a year.
I'm sure it will not hurt to change the oil at about 3 to 5 thousand miles.
As far as oil burning into the engine___"I DON"T THINK SO"____
Nice new fresh oil is the best coating you can have!
Ronnie948

 

Sounds like BS, and it doesn't agree with MINIs policy of doing an annual oil change whether the computer says you need it or not.

 

I agree that 12 months may be a little conservative, but I don't think that the additives in synthetic oil have an unlimited service life once the oil's actually in the engine, and if the MINI is a weekend car, you could easily go four or five years before you come due for an oil change based solely on mileage.

 

He's wrong. Everyone knows it's the Keebler Elves at the factory that bake in that MINI goodness.

 

hah!

 

Wife bought a 09 Coupe, non-S this past September. Dealer claims that the interval is every 15,000 miles. My wife has only 3000 miles on it now. At this rate, it is going to take 2.5 yrs before it is ready to change the oil.
Does Mini expect me NOT to change the oil in the car until 2011. I mean, for her 1.5 mile commute, it hardly has the time for oil to do its job. I am from the old school that changes it every 3000-5000 miles.
It is a new car, and it is the wife's car and she is adamant about following Mini's rules. I want to change the oil now....at least do a drain and fill. But like I said, it is her car.
Opinions about Mini's "every 15,000 mile" rule?

 

I don't really consider the 15,000 mile thing a "rule." I look at it as more of a guideline as to when they will be changing my oil for me. It never hurts to change the oil and the filter, and its actually pretty easy on these cars.

I change every 3k.

 

The dealer will do a free oil change (included as part of maintenance) at 12 months regardless of mileage.

I'm not getting into the 15K discussion between oil changes. Each side will believe what they want. You can search here and find plenty of threads if you want to read or debate this issue.

 

Yup. Oil change is due when the on-board computer says so (about 15K miles depending on how you drive it) or 1 year, whichever comes first.

How often you actually change it is a big debate in many threads on here.

 

Isn't it 15K or 1 year? I would think you should at least change the oil once a year.

 

It is once a year OR 15k miles (or whenever you computer tells you). Doing it more won't hurt, like every 6 months. I think the 3 month/3k miles is a little much with modern day cars.

 

Just had my second annual oil change done by MINI of Mountain View. I have about 10,000 miles on the 2007 R56 MCS, and the tach shows 9,000 miles remaining before the first major service. However, the SERVICE message showed up on the tach when it reached its second birthday (seems to be based on when it was built, not sold).

MINI of Mountain View did the oil change, flushed the brake fluid, and replaced the pollen filter. Not much else. On the first annual oil change, all they did was change the oil.

One thing some might find interesting: they put 5 qts of oil in it. The dipstick reads about 1/2" above the top mark. I emailed my SA about it and quoted the warning in the manual about overfilling damaging the engine. He called and said that they have a machine that measures out the right amount of oil, and that their service manager said the overfill of oil wont hurt it.

 

When I had my first year oil change done at Mini North Scottsdale they also put in 5 qts and it was 1/2" above full like yours. I freaked and took out some oil with a plastic tube when I got home. The SA called back and said don't sweat it nothing will happen just like they did for you. What I don't get is they know it takes 4.5 qt to fill it. Why do they essentially waste .5 qt of oil? This isn't rocket science and people like you and I notice stuff like this. Weird.

 

My SA said that the MCS takes 4.75 qts. while the MC takes 4.5 qts.

 

They filled mine up a little above the line as well. 3.7 lt.

I have changed my oil at 3,000 km (in my garage), 9,000 km (in my garage)16,000 km at mini, 25,000 km (in my garage).

The 3,000 km change had a lot of metal on the filter.
9,000 km the oil was very black


New clean oil is easy to do in a mini.

 

where is the line exactly?

 

I just had my annual oil change at Habberstad MINI, Huntington, NY. It took them less than 45 minutes for the oil change, DMV inspection, and a change of the front wiper blades. Quick and easy, I'm very pleased with their Sales and Service so far.

They filled the oil to the top mark on the dipstick, not over, which seems to be a rarity for MINI service departments!

I do my own oil change in between the dealer change, so I'll change it next in six months. As others have said, opinions on oil change frequency vary widely on these forums, but the MINI manual clearly recommends at least an annual oil change, and it's free.

 

On the dipstick.

 

I have the Dealer to an Oil Change every 6 months. I did have an unexpected trip down to the Phoenix area (1365mi/one way) and while I was down there I stopped into MINI North Scottsdale to get an oil change and have Molly looked over (Fluids, Tires, etc.). The Recomendation part on the Invoice read, "Car is in great shape"

Molly's next scheduled Maintenance is on April 17 (Delivery Anniversary), she will get the Royal Treatment and another Oil Change.

 

lol i know its on the dipstick .. but where is it exactly on the dipstick?

 

I go 5K between changes (it's synthetic, so I'll let it go a little further than 3K), and with all the highway miles I've put on, my first scheduled service isn't even going to be until close to 20,000 miles. No way in hell I'm going to let factory oil sit in the engine for that long, even if it was sweat wiped from Jesus' brow.

It's not hard to accomplish an oil change in the R56 and the "kit" (oil, filter, crush washer and gasket for filter housing) isn't terribly expensive. I would suggest that you get all of those items if you want to do a change, as others have pointed out that the first oil in the MINI picks up particulates from the manufacturing process that are sitting in your oil filter that you probably want to go ahead and remove.

 

On most R55/R56 dipsticks, there are two round metal ferrules (little barrel-shaped metal beads). Fill the oil to the top ferrule. About 4.5 quarts will get you to the full line.