MotoringFile Most liked posts in thread: MINI Shortens Oil Change Interval

The manufacturers don't want to over engineer an engine that lasts forever.... They want you to experience the "Buying Experience" again and again, and the sooner the better......

 

Oh Oh..... Justa Jim.... What are you going to do now???? Stick with the 15,000 mile change?

 

Do you Merkans not get 'condition based servicing', where the display in the tach tells you when to do various service activities? In Yurp, BMW proudly say that the computer works out what servicing the car needs, depending on how it's driven. My R57 justa Cooper did 21,000 miles until it asked for its first oil change and then did 20,000 miles to the second. But it does get a nearly ideal use with plenty of 30-40 mile trips and very little under 5 miles, which is not the same for many Yurpeen users - here the Mini is the affluent housewives' fashion choice and I bet there are lots that regularly don't get up to full operating temp from one week to the next.

I guess oil life is very different between Death Valley and here - personally, with a fully synthetic oil going in my non-turbocharged car, 20,000 miles between changes sounds right. If it was ordinary mineral oil, 3,000-5,000 miles might be right but I haven't seen an oil change period as short as that since my 1960s Morris Minor.

 

All of us don't buy into it either......a 3-5,000 mile oil change schedule seems to be the norm....




Well.... Except one.....:fingerscrossed:

 

I think it's safe to say that most people on this forum change their oil somewhere between 3000 and 15000 miles.

That's about as specific as you can get on this topic while being "factual".

Beyond that.... truly YMMV.

Me... used to swear by 5000. Now doing it at 7500. With Royal Purple. And I don't track the car (at least not often). And thrash it a lot less than I used to.

Oil still looks "fresh" when it comes out at 7500. Having seen and smelled "burned" oil come out of this same car, I'm confident I'm doing it frequently enough for current driving style. Probably much more frequently than needed. But better safe than sorry.

 

^^^ Race cars are built with looser tolerances.... ergo.... Use more oil....

 

Update on the oil change interval. Got to MAG this morning and found out that the new interval only applies to cars with build dates of 3/1/12 and after. I left a little frustrated by the fact that I was told that my '11 Clubby was included in the interval change and not willing to pay dealer price for an oil change. When I got back to the office I called the service manager and he explained what the official service bulletin states about the interval change and that he will make sure that the SA are all aware of these details to prevent mis-information getting out to other customers. He is going to give me a copy of the bulletin, so I'll post it once I get it.

 

Here is the service bulletin

 

Well it's about time they got off that 15 k garbage.

 

I'd guess they are seeing too many warranty issues due to those long intervals. Maybe their cost saving interval is really costing them money.

 

Well, there is a lot of talk about the 15K causing lots of problems, but I have yet to see all these problems documented. It is just like the "oiled air filter", lots of speculation about "what could happen", but no real documentation. I see it as basically "fear mongering". Folks can do what they think is best for them and that is fine, but at this time, the rest is simply "talk"

Mini says 10K or one year, then that is fine with me. I have and will follow their plan and I have every change documented on dealer letterhead.

And that is all I have to say about the matter.

Jim

 

I think it interesting that they are posting it on the window sticker now. I went back looking to see if it was on my window sticker.....:frown2: Does that mean I have a much better built engine that didn't require oil changes every 10,000 miles..... Bruhahahahahaha....Sheeeesh.....

 

I'm sure the fear mongers made MINI change the interval to 10,000. :lol:

There was an article in MC2 mag a while back on oil & oil change intervals. The folks at blackstone labs mentioned they are seeing oil samples from BMWs & MINIs that are showing problems. More fear mongering?

I think Chad wants to rebuild a R56 engine.

 

Now isn't the first change 10,000 and 15,000 after that? So did it really change?

 

ostcount

Jim

 

im not sure about you guys, but i change my oil every 3000 miles. since ive had my license and my first car, the oil gets changed regularly every 3000... I dont trust this whole 10,000 or 15,000 mile business they got going on. Just my 2cents

 

Looks and smell are subjective observations that have little to do with objective measures. True chemical analysis is the only way to know the health of the oil being changed. Boutique oil manufacturers lack product consistency; no confidence to be had for their brand only loyalty.

It was only a matter of time before the bean counters allowed reality to make it on the window sticker. Excessive oil consumption is a critical problem with some R56 + cars, and even the shortened OCI will not cover the amount of oil used before wear problems occur in those vehicles. Due diligence should be stated on the window sticker as well, and stressed at product delivery. This only addresses consumption, and not the oil coking the turbo causes.

 

I've read reports from Minis being delivered recently with a March 2012 build date, and the oil change interval says 9000 miles with less than 20 miles on the car. However my Jan. 2012 build car had the usual 15K mile interval (and oil change date of Jan. 2014) when I took delivery. It will be interesting to see if Mini will cover the oil change at the new, earlier mileage/date for 2012's built prior to March.

I plan to change oil at the 1 year mark from build date, Jan. 2013, or 7500 miles max, regardless to whether Mini covers it.

 

True. I used to have analysis done every oil change until I understood what needed to happen.

That said, I haven't had an analysis on "burned coffee" oil that said "you know, you could have run that a LOT longer, and been just fine". All the burned coffee oil analysis said "Duuuuuuuuude....."

So, yeah, subjective... but there's a definite correlation in my experience.

:cornut: