Even changing oil every 5,000 still requires an oil check every week or so. I an truly amazed at how many people do not check their oil. :confused5: Being lazy can be quite costly. :wink: Back on topic... ostcount Normally Columbian for me too. I was at a fancy place this morning & splurged on a flavor.
This is true... I check my oil and tire pressures once a month. LOL- a "fancy place" I figured they wouldn't allow you in a fancy place? :lol:
I may be wrong but I thought that in general only regular dino oil can sludge up like those pictures show. I feed all of my newer cars a steady diet of Mobil1 0-W40. Our E320 Wagon gets its oil changed as per the dashboard computer interval of every 10-12K miles. The car burns virtually no oil and at 156,000mi. still has no sludge to be found anywhere a boroscope can reach. Since the MINI is a turbo I am going to change it every 7500 just to play it safe but I bet 10-15K would still be fine. Porsche says every 20K or once a year is all that is necessary for my Boxster. So I really feel that the days of 3-5K intervals went away with conventional oil. BTW- I still change my old cars at the old intervals because I still use dino lube in them.
My wife leased a new 2002 Audrey A4 with a 1.8T engine. Audrey paid for all the services on the car. Oil every 10,000 miles. By the time the A4 was at 30,000 miles the engine was full of sludge. Yep they used dino oil. I'm sure that was one reason, but me thinks 10,000 is very long for that engine. Thanks God it was a lease & we could dump the car back on them. Different engines will react differently. What works in an E320 may not work for a Prince engine. For me oil is cheap insurance. Your mileage may vary as they say.
Little big car, technology has moved forward, but some people have not, as you can see. :lol::lol::lol: Jim
I'm happily changing my oil Jim. Come on over & the oil change is on me. It doesn't hurt, easy peasy. :wink:
All this talk about oil changes.... mine is going in for it's 30K oil change while getting inspected and an alignment on Monday
Both Porsche and Mercedes state that they only allow the long change intervals if synthetic oil is used. Porsche takes it further and specifically states not to use conventional oil. I would not dare put regular dino juice in any modern engine and try to run it for 10,000 miles.
That is very nice of you Chuck, but by the time I drove to Ohio and back I'd be ready another one. :lol: I hope that everyone understands that I am not trying to be a PITA about this. M/A is growing fast and new to MINI folks are coming on board looking for information, just as I did four short years ago, every day. The "what octane gas to use" debate seems to have died, but the "oil change interval" and the "oiled air filters kill your engine" debates continue on. As long as 1) proof is provided in a post or 2) the words "this is my opinion only" are there, I feel we are doing a service to the community. Otherwise it is only rumor mongering, which helps no one. BTW: I forgot the fictitious one about "an "S" is better then a Justa. Simply crazy talk. Jim
I don't completely agree with that Jim.... I loved my '03 Cooper. Loved it a lot more than my '09 S. But I love my '06 S the best :ihih: And at least we're not arguing over WHAT brand of oil to use :devil:
Yes, the "what type of oil" threads on some forums go way past the point of being stupid and wind up going straight to insane. Keep something clean in the engine and then SHUT UP AND DRIVE!!
Staying on track with this thread.... Some more info to consider.... Can the OEM oil filter handle 15K oil change intervals? May be.... Maybe not..... Are you intending to keep you MINI longer than 100K miles.... Maybe.... Maybe not... Mini Cooper Service Bay Area | EDGE Motorworks
Now you have put the Oil Service Indicator light on the table, MM. IN MY OPENION ONLY I wouldn't trust that stupid thing as far as I could throw it. Jim