Took it in for the yearly service. They did the oil/filter and I paid $66 for tire rotation/balance. I got it home (100 miles away) and checked the oil just for the heck of it and it's an inch over the max fill indicator. The receipt says they used 5 qts. Nowhere in the owner's manual nor in the service manual (which wasn't touched at the dealer btw) does it list the oil capacity for the car . I guess I'll have some drained out tomorrow here in town. I sent the dealer an email just now . I sure hope 100 freeway miles didn't hurt anything. Pisses me off, how hard can it be to put the right amount of oil in a Mini at the dealership?

 

No worries mate. This has happened with others here as well. I'm always a bit concerned that the mechanic either doesn't know that "full" is less than 5 quarts, or that they don't care, or that they might not be pulling/changing the filter.. In any case the level isn't high enough to do any damage.

Bill in P.G.

 

You know back when VW offered free maintenance, they wouldn't change the oil filter w/ their free intermediate services how frick'n cheap is that ?
Of course most of the dealerships would do it anyway or offer you the option of paying for a filter yourself

Most dealerships don't have real techs changing the oil, there's usually a dedicated lube boy, eg. village idiot...

 

Over filling your oil can cause your main seal to leak .

 

So do I have the excess oil drained out today? I'm thinking yes. And how the heck can I tell if the seal leaks?v Does anybody know what the oil capacity of the R56 is? Since the manuals don't disclose that I wonder if the freaking dealership even knows. Coolant capacity isn't listed either. I guess that will never need changing though, I think it's synthethic and somebody said that it's good for the life of the car.

 

it take about 5qts from fully empty, being a quart overfull likely won't have caused any real damage, but it would be wise to suck/drain the extra out asap. too much oil can blow out seals or even hydraulic/break moving bits.

The coolant's good for the life of the warranty (same w/ the engine if you do the 18k oil changes), that's about it. You should really check it's PH or just change it after ~4-5 years, it will degrade, everything does.

 

4L of oil is needed with fiter change.

From the PSA/BMW documentation on the motor


"The engines are filled initially with 4.2 litres of light running oil, with 3.7 litres
being required when changing oil."

 

Yep - four liters including filter matches my experience as well. Four quarts is never quite enough, but I've never needed to add anywhere near a fifth quart to top the oil off to the "full" line.

I can see the engine taking five quarts if you've just finished rebuilding it and you're refilling it from dry, but not for a routine oil change.

 

I just removed about 3 oz. using clear tubing (an let me tell you it ain't easy getting tubing to go almost 3 feet down the hole that the dipstick goes in. There are several joints or direction changes and it took many tries to get it into the oil). That dropped the level from almost 1" above full to the full line (cold). So there wasn't that much extra oil in there after all. I'd guess from this that about 4qts + 28 oz would fill the puppy to full. I feel better, but a few extra oz. of oil probably was no biggie after all.

 

I recently changed my own oil in my garage (45 minutes including a refreshing adult hoppy beverage afterward) and used 4 and 1/2 quarts of oil. Mobil One to be exact. I know, I know, not "recommended" by the genies living in MINI bottles everywhere. I don't care.

Anyway. I would call up SDL MINI and ask them how much oil they put into the crankcase during an oil change. See what answer they give. If it's 5 quarts, tell them they jacked it up. See what they'll do...probably nothing, but maybe you can get a free hat or shirt from there after you tell them you spent 2 hours siphoning out your extra 1/2 quart with your clear plastic tubing and you used 1 gallon of mouthwash to finally get the oil taste out of your mouth.

I will be on the lookout in the next 5 months or so, when I drive all the way up there for my 1st free oil changeroo. I will insist they not overfill it, as I've heard they've done that before.

Who was your service guy/girl? I've not been up there yet for service, so I have yet to have a recommended one.

 

Justin Gray has always taken good care of me.

Lou Gatti is always fantastic as well.

Do it yourself next time if your worried. Did mine the other day, not bad at all. It took 4.5 quarts. Filling it with 5 quarts isn't going to hurt anything. They work on enough MINI's to know what they're doing believe it or not...

 

Thanks. Justin and Lou. Perfect...in 6974 miles, I'll ask for them.

 

They assigned me Justin Gray, but all he does is shake your hand and leave. The service dude does the rest. I wanted my tires rotated/balanced. He "suggested" an alignment (said it's recommended at 15k), and I passed on that of course (not covered in free service either). If they routinely use 5 qts that's probably fine, but it does indeed fill the thing in excess of the dipstick marking, and the manual says it can result in engine damage. How was I to know? I just wanna drop it off, get 'er done, and leave. Maybe most people never use the dipstick, I don't know........

 

BigNewt, It's good you started this post, if for no other reason than to get the word out that our little bundles of joy need 1/2 qt. less than what a lot of us are use to, and also to arm us with the knowledge before we hand our vehicle to the dealer, to insist they do their job right, that we're checking such things after they give it back. I'll pop the hood and check it before they can walk away.. I intend to change my oil and filter myself at 500 miles, 2000 miles, 5000 miles, and 10,000 miles. At 10,000 I'll mark the oil filter, then I'll let the dealer do the next change. I will do the following change and see if the filter has been replaced. Cheers, Bill in P.G.

 

3 ounces caused a 1" change in dipstick reading?!

Were you on level ground?

 

Yeah I was. The level may have been as little as 1/2" over though. I didn't remove much oil to get it to the top mark. To get it between the 2 marks it would have taken more extraction of course.
Got a call from the MA Justin Gray today about it. I had emailed them Saturday when I found it too full. He said they probably put 5qts in and the correct amount is 4.5 qts (as some have posted). He apologized, offered to pay for any costs I incurred in removing excess oil, and said that an extra half qt of oil would not hurt the car in any way, the excess will just burn off (as several have posted). He said Mini was going to call me about the service I got and asked that I give them thumbs up ("my job depends on it") and I said sure I would, thanks for getting back with me, etc. I don't know if Mini routinely calls people when they take it in for service, or just when they gripe as I did (I just replied to the email confirming my appointment there). That's about it. What I learned is to check your oil before you take the car away. I actually thought about doing that but didn't bother. Never did it anywhere else.

 

BMW always calls after every service with their cars to have you rate the service. It is essential that they receive "excellent" to keep jobs and ratings. I believer MINI does the same thing as it is BMW too.

 

Costs incurred:

$5, one 6 foot long plastic tubing
$100, one hour of labor (including negotiated breaks of 30 mins per hour)
$28, one case of Guinness to rid your mouth of the oily taste

Well, maybe settle for the case of cerveza!

Glad he followed up and at least chatted about it.

 

Mobil1 is a MINI "highly recommended" oil in both 5w30 and 5w40 viscosities, according to my owners service and warranty manual. (08 Clubman).