Does anyone know what is the recommended weight of the oil for the MC and MCS? Even something as mundane as my last 2001 Ford Focus required 5W20 motor oil, which is still sometimes difficult to find at you local quick-oil-change shop.

If I have to use some esoteric grade of oil, perhaps I should just buy it now in bulk...

 

I would love to know this too. This is the only car I've ever seen that doesn't list recommended fluids in the owner's manual! I guess it's not too surprising since they don't seem to want the owners to do ANY work on the car. Though I'm not TOO upset about this yet since this will be my first car ever under warranty, and it will be nice to have someone else do the work for once! (I can't remember the last weekend that I haven't been covered in grease trying to keep some 30+ year old car on the road.)

 

SAE 5W-30
$3.80 per quart at your MINI dealer (takes 5 qts)
$7.40 for oil filter replacement (for the Cooper)
Check the forum thread about oil change at 1250 miles. Don't wait until you put 10k miles on your MINI before you get the oil changed.

 

I would try to avoid sing the Castrol Syntec oil, if that is the oil mini is still using, at all costs. That oil is not of anywhere close to a high enough quality to last 10,000 miles. Talk to your dealer and find out if you can bring your own oil without any problems. If so Mobil 1, Amsoil, Red Line and royal purple are all very good synthetics. Mobil 1 and Amsoil or probably better formulated for the extended drain interval then Red Line or royal purple since those are targed more for racing applications.

All 2001 and up Fords, Hondas and some Mazdas have gone over to 5w20 oil to improve gas mileage. All of the 5w20's are supposed to be at the very least a partial synthetic/highly refined petro oil. I forget what the exact chemical structure is.

 

I just picked up my MCS yesterday..........Is the oil drain plug easy to locate (typical oil pan) or is it much like a VW, where if you pulled the wrong plug you would drain the transmission.

 

Look under the bonnet on the driver side (USA) towards the front. There should be a sticker on the top of the air box or nearby indicating oil weight and recommending MINI synthetic oil.

Joe
:smile: