I'm coming up on 3,000 miles on my Cooper, and I'm itching to get rid of the Castrol (I can't believe how much I've had to top it off) and put in some Mobil 1 to tide me over until 10k. Is there an air temperature at which it's cold enough to cause any sort of problem (other than discomfort) for an oil change? It seems like the engine might cool down quicker, necessitating working faster, but is there anything else I need to pay attention to? I don't mind the cold hands and snowy back so much. The oil viscosity, for example, shouldn't be affected, right?

I whine about global warming and how it never snows anymore, and just when I really wouldn't mind a 50-degree day in January, there are none on the horizon...

 

Oil doesn't freeze until Arctic temps, so really anytime you can stand your nosehair frozen, it's fine.

How much have you had to top off your oil in your first 3k miles? Anybody else familiar with this? I would probley stick with the Castrol, it's what BMW recommends (which is usually what's best, although rarely the most convenient!)

 

I've topped off with almost an entire quart over 2,600 miles, which seems like an awful lot to me, but then again I've never broken in a brand new engine. I've read just about all of the MANY opinions on this site regarding motor oil, and done some other casual research of my own, and I can't really find any reason to go with the Castrol other than BMW's recommendation, which amounts to someone lining someone's pockets, nothing more. Anyway I don't mean to bring up that whole debate again (!), so I'll humbly ask simply for answers to my actual question.

Good to hear from you, Ryephile... cheers

 

I have an oil change coming up later this week on my 325i, which I am NOT looking forward to, as it is 3 degrees F outside now [YIKES!]

I really, really hope the temp bumps up a bit, mother nature have pity on my good-natured and best-of-intentions-A$$

 

I'm weird. I have the facilities to change my oil easily (disposal tanks, indoors, floor jacks, hydraulic lift...)... yet I'm just having the dealer do it for the prescribed times. Synthetic oil lasts longer, so I'm not gonna do the **** 3000 miles that I do for a normal car.

 

Just warm up the engine first and the oil will flow right out. I do this even in Florida summers. (Stop engine before draining oil.) Duh.

_________________
Vince

 

You will be fine just make sure the motor is up to operating temp before you change the oil I would also keep the new oil inside where it will be warm untill you are ready to pour it in. Mobil 1 pours pretty much the same at any temp untill you get in the negatives but it will still be easier for you and the motor if it is room temp.


The topping off does not surprise me at all though. Castorl syntec, not synthetic at all just a highly refined conventional oil, has a fairly high Volatiltiy rating. The higher the rating the more oil evaporates.

http://popularmechanics.com/automoti...il/print.phtml

Here is an ok primer on different types of oil and oil specifications.

 

>>I would also keep the new oil inside where it
>>will be warm untill you are ready to pour it in.

Now that's a good idea. Thanks. Right now it's in the boot, and it can't be much warmer than 25 F in the garage where my car is. I'll be sure to remedy that before I change it.

 

Doing all my service/s at what ever MINI recomends... However, I did usually have my tires rotated every 3K miles... Is anyone else doing this??? Is this covered in our MINI service?

Paul

 

>>>>I would also keep the new oil inside where it
>>>>will be warm untill you are ready to pour it in.
>>
>>Now that's a good idea. Thanks. Right now it's in the boot, and it can't be much warmer than 25 F in the garage where my car is. I'll be sure to remedy that before I change it.


You should see me trying to pour 20w50 into some old white guys, only old white guys use 20w50, old car when it is around 30 degrees outside. The stuff comes out like honey and the whole time he is saying how he has always used 20w50 in all his cars and each one made it past a 100,000 miles.

 

Chris,
I also was topping off alot with the Castrol but this does seem to
have diminished with the Mobil One. I think having the Castrol in
for the first 3000 is a good idea, since it really isn't a synthetic.
I wouldn't use Castrol beyond that. Leaving Castrol in for 10,000
miles is crazy. People should do some research on Castrol and how
it was reformulated.....
I have a BMW motorcycle and they recommend regular motor oil,
depending on where you read it, for the first 6000 to 20,000 miles
and then switching to a full synthetic. The BMW riders site has done
extensive testing of oils and found that the BMW motorcycle oil(not Castrol) is
tops followed closely by Mobil One. An interesting aside is that they
found no difference between Mobil One car oil and Mobil One motorcyle
oil. The car oil is 15/50, the new $8.00 motorcycle oil is rated 20/50,
which just happens to be the weight recommendation of Harley Davidson.
I use the 15/50 in my Bimmer...

 

Were you checking your oil peroidically, or did you get the dummy light to tip you off? I've had two trips in because of a flickering dummy in low gear after medium to longish drives (100-400mi). The first time they topped it off with a half qt (at 4K). But I started getting the light immediately- so I am either burning oil at a tremendous rate. I went about 800mi after top off, and then they replaced the oil pressure switch, and I got the light immediately (I don't know if they topped if off again for the second visit). I go back tomorrow for another go round.

 

I haven't had a light come on; I just tend to check it once every week or two. I'm hoping that the Mobil 1 won't be quite so volatile.

Is there enough room to rotate a crescent wrench through enough of a turn to reseat it? My ratchet is about that same length (12&quot, and I found that I could only get it to turn back a couple of clicks before I came up against something.

One minor problem that I had was that I loosened the canister quite a bit with the socket and ratchet, and then didn't have enough room to remove them (and since I was right up against the firewall, it was a pain to get my finger in there to switch the direction of the ratchet). With the height of the socket that I have, it turns out that I have to stop loosening after just barely loosening enough to turn it with my hand, then I have to remove it. (Did that make any sense?)

 

Oops, the crescent wrench comment I was referring to is on another oil change thread... I'll ask over there.