I have changed to 10K, simply because BMW changed and I am following their plan. All changes documented on dealer letterhead. Going on five years, 70K miles and nothing has changed performance wise. I honestly do not care when folks change their oil. Do what ever feels right and makes one comfortable. I guess, due to my former line of work, "hear say" (he said, they said or would of, could of) does not get my attention. Show me a MINI engine, with sludge and documentation that the oil was changed at the recommended interval, with the proper oil, with no other mitigating circumstances and I will listen. Jim
I wonder how many of these gummed up engines are used only for short hops and never really get a chance to hot enough where bad stuff gets burned off.
Depending on what type of engine.... direct injection it doesn't seem to matter much how you drive on a daily basis. There is way more of a difference in driving styles on the port injection engines.
Now, this thread is heading in a direction I can agree with completely. Driving style, type of engine, length of trips, type of mods etc. These would make a difference I believe. Much better then just the blanket statement about 15 or 10K being too long. Jim
They are especially bad for the newer S models..... those turbos need fresh oil!!!!!! There are plenty of cases of turbos burning up because the owner didn't get their oil changed in how long because the car wasn't telling them to do so. My mechanic (who only works on BMWs and MINIs and is BMW certified out the butt) STRESSED to me when I had my '09 S to come in every 5K for oil changes because of this. He saw a lot of engines and turbos going bad because of this.
Change or don't change. I'll change every 5,000. FWIW I think the main issues with people burning up their turbos come from the simple act of not checking the oil. I have been told by a BMW tech that they are seeing MINIs come in at the 15,000 mile oil change time 3 quarts low on oil. Yep the long interval is not good, but running low on oil is going to kill an engine just as dead as sludge is. Back on topic... What flavor coffee did you drink in your MINI today? Hazelnut FTW!
That is part of the problem with going 10-15K between changes.... If you change your oil every 5, you won't end up running low No flavor for me... just Columbian