I see the "15k miles" figure used a lot as the factory-recommended change interval, but if you strictly follow the OBC's service indicator, it usually works out to closer to 20-22k miles between oil changes.

The service interval counter may *start out* at 15,000 miles right after you have the car serviced, but unless you're constantly driving in stop-and-go traffic, the service counter counts down less than one mile for each mile driven.

With the first-gen cars, the first oil change would usually come due between 10k and 12k, and subsequent intervals were frequently 20k miles or longer. But with everything I've read here on the R56/R55, the OBC seems to go straight to ~20k mile intervals right from the start.

 

I am not handy at all but I would love to change the oil at 3-5K. Would you guys recommend any third party place, like Pennzoil or Jiffy Lube?

 

In general, no. Not only will they frequently not stock the oil filter for the MINI, they often have problems correctly replacing the filter in a system like the MINI's that has a replaceable filter element inside a permanent non-replaceable canister. I don't know if the R56 is the same as the R53/52/50, but the canister in the first-gen cars is notoriously easy to cross-thread when you're re-installing it. Also, if the oil change place uses aftermarket filters, not all of them have the appropriately-sized o-ring for the canister, which can lead to the o-ring tearing, leaking, or coming dislodged when you replace the canister.

If you're not "handy at all", I'd find a friend that is, and treat him to dinner every few months in exchange for changing your oil for you.

 

Sorry to tell you this....you got ripped off. If you went to the delaer and had this done, I would make a phone call to managment, no way to treat a customer.

I do my own oil changes but, when I was at the Mercedes Benz dealer the other day the sign said $62.50 for an oil/filter change and they use Mobil 1 and a factory filter!!!! I thought that in the ballpark.

 

Yup, coveting those ramps myself -- and stuff for two oil changes was $20 for two filters online, $50 for nine quarts oil at the dealer, and $5 for the 27mm socket on eBay (but you may wanna spring for genuine OEM filters, not the MANN filters ... my service tech was not impressed with the quality of the latter.)

 

Off the shelf at Advance Auto Parts (retail cost):

27mm Socket = $4.99 (1 1/16" 'deep-socket' was $4.68)

8mm Hex = $3.93

 

I paid $108 with tax.

 

Thanks everyone for the compliments on the garage and lift. Yes, it is a Kwiklift and works great for my needs. Yes, you could do clutch work, transmission work, exhaust work, rotate tires, etc. I looked at several lifts, hydrallic 4-post included, and decided this one would meet my needs the best.

It works manually by jacking-up the rear cross-tube to raise or lower the lift to drive on or off. I also have casters so I can move it out of the way when not in use. ( I have an extra bay in the garage.) Or, it can be lowered to lay flat on the garage floor and park a vehicle on it.

I have used it for our Mini, our Corvettes and my Jeep. All fit well and are easy to work on. The lift will give you 18 to 20 inches of height above the floor, plus the height of the vehicle above the lift.

If you decide to get one, the biggest hassle is the delivery. The package weighs 650lbs and is delivered to the Freight terminal. I did not have anyway of getting it home from the terminal, so I paid extra to have it delivered to the house. Assembly is pretty easy, especially for you younger folks. At 60, it took me and my wife a couple of days to get it put together. Mostly, because of the weight once the ramps are bolted together.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Mine said around 3000, which is what I did for my R53 4 years ago. Had 2 pay for it tho, no biggie.

 

As I've said before here and probably will again, I changed my oil after about a 25 mile run on the highway, going from 2000 rpm to 5000 rpm, then coasting back to 2k and doing it again. Seats the rings in nice.

Then, change the oil and filter and away you go! There is an assembly lube all manufacturers use to assemble the engines easily. That needs to get washed off by the regular oil and eliminated - it does not contribute anything to the plan, and can get in the way.

After that - drive it like you stole it!

p.s. I'm a MA. for 6 years, since before March 02.

 

This "when to change the oil" thing has been floating around for quite a while. I recall when changing your oil every 3000 miles was recommended/required by auto manufacturers......now most manufacturers rely on the car's computer to calculate when the oil should be changed based on all sorts of things, miles driven being only one factor -- and, of course, we have MUCH better lubricants now than when the "every 3000 miles" was the thing. I have trouble understanding why so many people simply refuse to accept the manufacturer's recommendations, and continue to insist on frequent oil changes. The oil companies just love you. I guess there are a lot of amateur lubrication engineers out there who have better information than the engineer who design our cars. But until I see some solid evidence that the factory engineers don't know what they're talking about, I'm going to continue to follow the manufacturer's advice, and change oil per the factory recommendation.... but then, what do I know????

 

The problem is, there's a big difference between changing the oil every 3,000 miles and changing it at the 20-22k intervals that the MINI's onboard computer often recommends.

Many of us here on NAM have been sending our used oil out to labs for analysis and have been very discouraged at the shape the oil's in after as little as 10k, 7.5k or in some cases even 5k miles.

I agree that changing the oil every 3k "just because" is a little excessive, but so is blindly trusting the OBC and leaving the same oil in the car for 20k+ miles.

 

The Dealer gave me no grief yesterday when Hubby and I took Molly in to have a 6mo. Check-up. Oil Change was $67.62, Tire Rotation $19.95, Top off Fluids. I had her 1st Oil Change done @ 1750 approx. Will be doing them every 6mo. from now on.

 

How do you rotate the tires? The car appears to be sitting on the tires. Is there an attachment for lifting by the jack points? I'd love to have a lift that lifted the car by the jack points, since changing wheels is something I do fairly often.

 

The lift has a "Jack Bridge" (not shown in this photo because I was not using it). Or in case of rotating the tires, you can use a small floor jack or bottle jack and jack the car up off the ramps. In other words you would lift the car off the ramps as if it were on the garage floor. Believe me the ramps are strong enough to handle it. Check the www.kwiklift.com website and they have several photos of cars in different configurations to show the various uses.

 

As luck has it I found a kwik lift on craigslist locally. Im picking it up tomorrow. What type of tools are needed for assembly/disassembly? I have pretty much everything just didnt want to take it all with me. Thanks

 

Phxsteele,

Great! All you need are some standard American wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc. I don't remember the exact nut/bolt sizes, but I'll go out in the garage and take a look. I'll give you more info shortly.



I'm back... You need a 5/8" wrench or rachet with socket to disassemble the ramps. Everything else should be in place using rods and pins - you will need pliers to remove the pins.

Before you buy - BE SURE you have a floor jack with 20" - 21" height at full extension. You will need it to raise the rear cross-tube member and allow the rear legs to raise or lower. The jack should be at least 2.5 tons.

Also, ask the owner for his Kwiklift owner's manual / assembly guide. It he still has it, it will be helpful. If he does not have it, then you can proably get one from Kwiklift or I can copy mine and mail it to you.

Keep us posted.

 

I understand that some habits will be hard to break.....If you are old enough you will remember when you first learned to drive you were told to pump the brakes fast for an emergency stop....to avoid locking up the wheels...right! along came ABS and that statement is no longer true.....The newer cars are able to calculate the oil life based on stop and go; highway driving; outside temp; high low rpm and a host of other factors...based on this information the ECU will calculate when to replace the oil.....also keep in mind that the warranty is much longer that in the past, and the dealer will have to pay for any damage done.

Long story short, I now have 100K plus and I have never replaced the oil early, my cars still run great and gets 38MPG highway. I am a witness!

 

You seem to have all the answers....maybe a little knowledge would help you understand. The breakin/ initial seating of components will produce far more foreign materials then at any other time during the life of the engine. There is also the additional lubricants during engine assembly cam lube, piston ring lub install, crank, etc. that is mixed in with the engine oil fill up at the factory.

Nobody will argue that you can go 100K on the manufacturers recommendations. But consider this, the excess debis could cause scoring on the piston walls reducing compression thus reducing compression and the loss of hourse power...you may not notice this diffrence over time since you drive it daily but it is happing thru the natural course of wear but this can be accelerated during the initial engine break in.

I have built engines and know this to be true. So it is not about waisting money or loving the oil companies as you suggest....that is just plain absurd. I belive that an opinion is just that, but your sarcastic remarks just dont amount to anything or add and credence to the debate.

 

So how often has your OBC been recommending that you change the oil?

 

I too plan on doing one after the break-in period and then every 5K. My question is about resetting the computer after an oil change. If I have it reset (I'll be having the oil changed at a local shop rather than the dealer's) then I'll never make it to a free one at the dealers. Is it okay not to reset the computer so I can at least get one free during the warranty period?

 

Don't reset the service counter if you do an oil change yourself. As you pointed out, this will delay the performance of the rest of the scheduled maintenance, because you'll never "come due" for anything according to the OBC.

Also, there's more to the scheduled maintenance than just oil changes, and you definitely want the dealer to do as much of it as possible for free while you're still under the factory service agreement.

 

So I changed the oil at 2800ish miles. I don't know how they want me to wait another 13k, when I drained it it was black as tar. Ew! I'm not resetting the OD either. The pics on another forum showed how to do it. It was easy except for not having the 27mm socket on hand had to go buy. It cost $45 for 5qts of Mobil 1 synth and an oem oil filter. Thanks for all your feed back. I love the forums.

 

And I don't mind paying another $30 to have it done for me.

 

That's nice where your from.... but the dealer here in Vegas quoted me $180 f@c* that! And there is no way I am going to those Quick lube places either. So good for you if they charge you $75 for yours.