I dont like having to go 20K miles before changing oil on my car and decided that I will change every 10K miles. Here is my question:

If I was cheap/lazy and at 10K miles wanted to pick either:
a) Change the filter and keep the same oil
b) Change the oil and keep the same filter

Which one should I do? Which is better for the engine?

 

c) change oil and filter.

 

These topics never cease to amaze me.

Think of it more in these terms:

a) A new filter, filtering worn-out oil
b) New oil, being filtered by a worn out, dirty filter

- and an engine that costs several thousand dollars at stake.

If you had considered taking the oil change interval way out to 20k then thought better of it by halving the interval for your car's sake, why skimp and take it only half way? And when the next 10k rolls by, do you do (a) if your did (b) prior or vice versa? You are even worse off in this case.

My suggestion is to do oil AND filter at 10k intervals. The filter itself is a whopping six dollars, and unless you are driving ten thousand miles a week (or a month even) the added cost of a filter wont make a difference in your budget. If it does, well, start clipping coupons and save money in other areas. It will more than make up for the added expense each 10k.

 

Given your scenario (hmm, should I shoot myself in the left foot, or the right foot??) you'd be better off changing the oil. But hey, if you're already dirty, change the filter already! The service interval seems to be 15K (vs 20) for the third oil change.

 

Honestly, changing the filter adds maybe 10 minutes to the whole ordeal.

 

People need to control their anger.

First of all, I would be changing oil or changing the filter 10K sooner than my oil change interval indicates or the manufacturer recommends, so saying that I am compromising the life of the engine by not doing BOTH is a big harsh.

Second, the reason I was asking is I would like to avoid changing oil more frequently than is needed. Oil is a major contaminant and I do not like polluting just to make myself feel better - i.e. if I am not prolonging the life of the engine by a whole lot then spilling 100 quarts of oil instead of 50 over the life of the engine is a waste. Oil also needs to be properly discarded which adds additional trips to the hazardous waste sites.

Third, I live in a neighborhood where it is not easy for me to fiddle around with my car. I am parked on the side of a heavily utilized road so spending more time than needed under a jacked up car is not desirable.

Forth, synthetic oil can last more than 10K mile if kept clean, so I was wondering if changing the filter alone would help do that.

None of this has anything to do with the cost of the oil or the filter, both are completely nominal when looking at the cost of the car, but I thank you for calling me cheap anyway - always a pleasure!

Ok, I am done. You can now get back to behaving like Jerry Seinfeld's Saab machanic.

 

The best choice for the engine is to change both oil and filter every 7000-10,000 miles or so depending on how your MINI is used. Change oil more often if you have lots of urban driving and shorter trips and change less often if you do long trips on the highway under ideal conditions (no gridlock).

Your environmental concerns are well taken. Best choice is to change oil at MINI recommended intervals AND drive easy on your car as much as is possible. Unfortunately and with great enthusiasm most of us drive with great vigor and probably need to change oil more often than what MINI recommends.

If you plan to keep your car 5 years or less then don't sweat the oil changes and just follow the MINI recommended intervals. For those that want to keep their MINIs at least 10+ years then more frequent oil changes are a good investment.

If you do decide to change oil or change oil filter I would recommend doing both at the same time to gain the maximum benefit of doing the servicing.

I will take synthetic oil (Mobil One 5W-30) and a MINI oil filter cartridge and O-ring to my local Goodyear garage along with a coupon for oil change for $19.95 and they will charge me $14.95 to use my stuff and change the oil. My work is nearby so I drop off my car and walk to work a few minutes away. They do charge for oil disposal.

 

Who is angry? Greatbear??

If you feel badly about using more oil, then don't change the oil until the service indicator says to.

IMO, the filter is there to screen out particulates. Just changing the filter would be appropriate if the filter was filled/clogged, but I doubt that would be the case. The filter does not remove combustion byproducts or (condensed) water from the oil. I would not think that changing the filter alone would be worth the mess/effort if you're not also changing the oil.

 

Vano-

If it's one or the other, change the oil. No question.
Plus it should be easier for you to do in a restrictive environment.

 

Thanks. Thats what I was looking for.

 

If you have a shallow oil pan, I found you can do it without jacking up the car once you know where the plug is, and the filter is done from the bonnet.

Do oil&filter, eventually you will get confused which time you changed what.

Change your oil&filter as often as you want. I follow manufacturers specs since there is typically a 25% margin engineered on top of that. BMW/MINI has been doing extended service intervals for many years and has much data to back it up.

It always seem to be a failed water pump that causes head gasket problems and premature engine failure, not oil/wear in modern engines.

Once you make a choice of your methods, stick to it.

 

Whoa. 20,000 between oil changes?

I see it like this. Besides my coffee maker, my MCS is about the least maintenance intensive item I own - about the only thing I do on a routine basis is wash it and check the tire pressure.

Go ahead and change the oil and the filter once or twice between the dealer oil services. It won't cost that much and when you decide to sell it you can show the potential buyer all the receipts you have for extra maintenance.

And have the peace of mind that you're taking really good care of your car.

 

just sits on top of the engine.

 

I always do oil and filter. As far as getting rid of the oil, I can either drive it to the local recycle station, or recently our trash hauler has a program where you give them a call and they deliver an oil container and a plastic bag for the filter. You put them on the curb with your trash and they pick it up for you. No charge.:smile:

 

OK, I have to spend 2 cents here. First, 20k miles seems like a lot between oil and filter changes. Just this afternoon I did my first at-home oil change after 5K miles. That full synthetic oil was slick, not sludgy, but geez it was BLACK! It could just have been burnt, but it didn't look like anything I wanted in my MINI engine. The filter was also black and soaked to the bone. I replaced with OEM filter ($9) and Mobil 1 full synthetic from Walmart (go on, tell me they sell lower grade oil...) for a total cost of about $35 plus my totally worthless labor. I'd say this was the easiest work I've done on the car, which has included aero grille, VGS and bypass valve replacement. And to be honest, once you have the sump plug out, you might as well replace the filter--it makes way more oil drain from the engine and not a drop on the garage floor!
WRT the environment, we all need to keep this in perspective. Properly disposed of disposable diapers cause more environmental harm than the properly disposed of oil you change twice as often as the manufacturer suggests--should we stop making babies?
WRT changing oil more frequently than necessary--so how often do you brush your teeth? Given that there's flouride in the local water supply it's unlikely your abrading the enamel excessively if you brush 3 times a day, so why not? Your co-workers will appreciate it.
And so will your car.

good luck.

 

 

My mini only has 6000 miles on it but I'm ready for an oil change now. I cannot bear to let it go much farther. Data or no data. Plus I own a NAPA store so synthetic oil is no problem. Castrol makes a 5W40 this is recommended for german cars.