Long story short, last month I go to the dealer and buy an oil filter and 5 quarts of oil. Today I finally get around to changing the oil.

I remove the oil pan plug, drain the oil, remove the filter cover and filter, go to replace the filter and am unpleasantly surprised to see that the dealer sold me the wrong f@cking filter!!! So, I had to put in the new oil with the old filter and basically contaminate 4.5 quarts of brand new oil. I'm going to go back to the dealer and complain but I highly doubt they will do anything other than say "oops...our bad...here's the right filter..."

What they should do is either give me 4 quarts of oil or offer me a free oil change.

Anyway, that's that part of the issue. The other issue is with the actual procedure.

I have a 2011 R57 convertible. I have the Bentley manual for it and following the instructions, it says that the drain pan plug has a sealing washer that is supposed to be replaced. When I removed the plug, I did not see any washer there. I looked closely and unless that washer was stuck very tightly to the drain pan itself, it seems my car doesn't have one. Is this possible? I put the plug back in as it was. Should I be ok or should I expect an oil leak? I did tighten it with a torque wrench to the specs in the bentley book.

Also, the Bentley manual is wrong about what size socket the oil filter cover uses. It says it uses a 36mm socket. It does not. It uses a 27mm one.

Last, when I pulled the filter off, unfortunately I didn't catch all of the oil and some splashed onto the components directly underneath it. I cleaned it up as best as I could but could I have damaged anything by doing this? The Bentley manual says you can damage hoses and electrical harnesses that are directly under the filter. Is this something I should be worried about?

 

How many miles on your old oil filter? You let the old filter drain, before you re-installed it right? The tiny amount of old oil in the used filter shouldn't hurt anything, heck, you can't get all the old oil out in an oil change anyway. Put the new filter on it, top up the oil, and forget about it.

Does the drain plug leak? If it doesn't, don't worry. If it drips, get a washer next time.

Rubber and motor oil don't get along that well, but it has to soak in it for a while, before there is lasting damage. Clean it up with detergent, Dawn works well, and don't stress about it.

Dave

 

Cool, thanks. I can sleep better now!

And yeah, I checked the drain plug and didn't see any leaks. I cleaned the area up with a paper towel and checked it several times and there is nothing leaking from it. I'll check again after I drive it for a while.

btw, since the filter had some oil left over in it, even though I did let it sit there and drain, I slightly miscalculated the amount of oil I put back in the car. I put in just under 4.5 quarts and on the dipstick the level shows it to be just a hair over the top of the top indicator. Should it be ok like this?

As you can see, I tend to be a little paranoid about these things since the last thing I want to do is damage my car. I can turn a wrench just fine but I'm not overly knowledgeable about the mechanical aspects. This is actually the first car I've changed the oil on myself.

 

Just a little high on the dipstick is all right, the dealer filled mine just a hair high when they changed my oil.

When you put the new filter on it, you'll have an opportunity to correct it anyway.

Dave

 

New oil filters for 2nd Gen come with a drain plug washer....Could be the old washer was dumped with your old oil ?

Always best practice to check the new parts first before removing the old ones....lesson learned by most of us the hard way

 

I didn't see a washer at all. And I was specifically looking for it since I've read a few posts here that mention it and the Bentley book also mentions it. Like I mentioned before, I suppose it could have been stuck very tightly on the actual drain pan but from what I could tell there was no washer there.

As a matter of fact, I did have a washer available to use because when I bought the filter, I recalled having read about it here and I specifically asked the guy at the parts counter if the filter came with a washer. He said it did not and sold me a crush washer separately.

But I didn't use it because when I took the drain plug out, there was no washer there.

 

When I changed mine for its first one, when I looked for the washer and couldn't find, I realized it was schmoosh flat against the bolt. There wasn't any way besides slicing my hand up trying to get it off. So I added the new one on top of it and tightened it up. No leaks whatsoever.

 

If the crush washer is the kind that is crimped rather than simply a flat washer of soft metal, it will sometimes crush very thin and bond itself either to the pan or the plug. A utility knife inserted between the two will pop it free. You do want to get it out of there if you're using a new one - a new one on top of an old one will be leak prone. If you didn't put a new one on, you're reusing the old and as long as it doesn't leak, you're good to go.

Are you sure you have the right repair manual and are looking at the correct section? The 1st gen cars are 36mm, the 2nd gen cars 27mm. I've found the Bentleys to be fairly reliable and accurate.

- Mark

 

Ok, so my guess then is that it's bonded to the pan. Since I didn't put another one on top of it, hopefully I'll be ok.

And yes, I have the right manual. It's the one that was just released for the R57s. And I'm looking in the maintenance section which is the section that has the oil change procedure. It is most definitely wrong about the size socket needed. Fortunately, I had bought the socket in advance and I actually checked to see if it would fit before I left the auto parts store. I walked out with a 36mm and had to go back in and exchange it and try a few different ones before I found the right size.

 

Damn dude. is this the first car you have ever worked on.

Did you buy this at a Mini dealer? All the filters I've ever bought (BMW/MINI) come with the drain plug washer, and new Orings for the filter cap.

The first time I changed the oil on the Mini (1500 miles, yea, that's right), I had to pry the original drain washer off the oil pan. (gentley pry, with a pick, carefully... Not with like a crowbar...)

 

First gen Mini's use the 36 mm socket the 2nd gen use the 27 mm socket for the oil filter. What Bentley manual are you using. There are 3 issues at this time.

 

The one that was just released for the R57.