First oil change on the R56 and figured i would purchase the Fumoto oil change valve since i have it on two other vehicles and they work great. Never thought about looking underneath until the oil change today and to find out that the drain plug would happen to be right on the bottom of the pan, i was thinking it was on the side. As you can see from the picture the valve hangs down 1 inch and on a low vehicle as the mini i had to take it off. Oh well!

 

Interesting. On my R53 it is sort of on the side of the pan and is not at risk. Mine has been on for several years, without any problems.

 

Yeah...
Great on a gen1, but a real problem on gen2 cars....kinda a shame.

 

Info on where you got it? I saw on their website it is a F108 for the R56 and F106 for the R53.

 

Fumoto valve website , it is a F108. Thanks

 

So you got yours from their website? Because I don't see anything about buying from them.

 

NVM found a place,http://www.qwikvalve.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1
I will be getting one very soon for convenience.

 

www.fumoto.qwikvalve.com/

 

did you snap any other pics while it was still on the car? i'm still interested, just want to see how bad the clearance would be

 

I've had this in my office for a while. I have yet to install it since I'm waiting for my oil change interval to come up, which is soon. The clearance really doesn't bother me...I bought it on Amazon.

 

I'm a BIG fan of Fumoto on a GEN1 ... I also have them on my Mazdas and Hondas - in all cases the drain is on the SIDE of the pan and the valve does NOT extend below the bottom of the pan.

you do NOT want one on a GEN2 . . . BAD IDEA . . . the valve would hang off the bottom of the pan just BEGGING to be ripped off.

 

I measured from the ground to the bottom of the valve and it was 4 inches. To low for me, wish it would have worked.

 

that doesn't sound tooo bad, but probably the fact that it's just protruding is worrisome. i cant necessarily think of anything that would cause a problem that wouldn't cause the lip of the car a problem though

 

The big difference is that the lip can flex/break and you won't lose all of your oil! If you break that valve off, you're in a world of hurt.

 

i know.. was just saying i don't necessarily see a circumstance that would cause an issue.. but maybe a really steep speed bump or garage entry and that thing could get broken right off..

 

I figured when driving and if i ran over a piece of wood, rock, tire recap, being this would be the lowest thing on the bottom of the engine and I was not comfortable with that. Chimera is right on!

 

I had one on my Gen2 and took it off on the next oil change because it was pretty scraped up. Made me nervous.

 

jeez all right.. guess i'll have to pass on it

 

hey ... do what makes you feel good man

don't let us talk you out of it

put the bugger on and come back next year and prove we worriers wrong . . .

I stick by BAD IDEA but if you feel like peer pressure is driving you rather than data . . .

do your thing

 

no i think it's a bad idea too lol i just lament that the drain plug is at the very bottom like that

 

Well, reviving this thread because as skeptical as everyone is, I went ahead and kept it on. A bit over 3k miles now and I have no issues with it with my lowered MINI. Was at the track @ Streets of Willow with no issues and daily this MINI through LA/Santa Monica and again, no issues. It may be low, but I have yet to have any issues with it whatsoever.

BTW, if anyone gets the GP2 undertray, it effectively covers the oil pan and the drain plug, so it would never snag anything since the tray will be protecting it. So has it been a smart move for me? Yes, oil change today after the track this weekend and it was the easiest change I've done on the MINI to date.

R56 draining has always been a pain since when you release the drain plug oil tends to "spit" out instead of flowing smoothly out; always causes splatter and a mess around the container.

I don't even have to raise the car up to do the oil change.

 

thanks for the post - it really is long odds that something would be on the road that would wack that off, or if there's some really steep dip in the road or driveway

 

Interesting, I was planning on putting the undertray on mine, you think it would clear this valve? From this angle on your last photo, the valve does not look like the lowest point under the car, the Cat is lower?

 

it's just the angle of the shot. The valve is lower than the cat. I'm sure it'll clear. if not, not gonna be too much of an issue to remove and place the engine shield.

 

If you're going to put a Fumoto on a Gen2, at least use the version without the nipple.