Hi all, I just bought my Cooper S this past Sat. and am loving it. I've got a question on the oil filter and the wrench needed to unscrew the filter can. Can the filters be purchased any where other than the dealer ? My dealer told me I had to use their filter. Also what size socket or wrench does one need to unsrcew the filter can. Sorry if this has been discused before but I did a search and couldn't find it. Thanks.

 

heh, We seem to be getting a lot of oil change threads today!

Check out these MINI2 links.

How to change your oil/filter.
A post where I think I got really cheap stuff from the dealer.

Check out the other posts in that forum and this one too.

 

Thanks Pebble. That answers all my questions on the filter can. What about where to purchase the filter it self?

 

>>Thanks Pebble. That answers all my questions on the filter can. What about where to purchase the filter it self?

Only at MINI dealers - price ranging from around $7.50 to upwards up $12, depending on the integrity of your dealer.

 

I paid $6.66 from the dealer. This is Cheap as some delers charge as much as $12.00

You should expect to pay around the $7-$10 mark for a filter, I belive there are aftermaket filters coming out. Try the forums again when you get clser to doing your fist oil change.

:smile:

Oh here's another good thread. Spin On conversion..

You could probably spend an hour reading the MINI2 mantanance forums on oild changes!

:smile:

 

ive never changed my own oil....

 

Oh here you go...


Aftermarket filters.

 

>>ive never changed my own oil....

It's fun! Well if your into that sort of thing.

 

You have to buy the filter at this point through the MINI dealer. Purolator (sp?) is coming out with a MINI filter element, though I don't know if it's available yet.

Classic Auto Campus (look in sponsors) advertised discounts on OEM stuff, too.

Jeff

 

If you scroll down thru the filter link in Pebble's post you will find a picture of the Purolator filter NOW available. My picture, and on my car. Farther down, some observations and specs.

 

Yeah I paid $12 and change plus tax at Ferman, which is the only place I could find the filter.
I used a 12" Cresent wrench to (carefully) loosen the filter cap. Piece of cake.

_________________
Vince

 

Just finished the oil change on my Cooper, and I wanted to point out one thing that might save others a few minutes of "stupid time". I spent about 5-10 minutes under the car trying to figure out where the filter canister was. Then I realized that you have to get at it from above, which is different from every other vehicle I've owned.

The 36mm socket I've got (Sears) is JUST shallow enough to work. I could only use it to loosen the canister just enough to turn by hand; if I loosened the canister any more, the ratchet was up against the firewall and I couldn't get the socket off.

Next time I might try this without the ramps; the drain plug is within arm's reach of the front of the car, so as long I can get the pan situated properly, it seems like the ramps are unnecessary.

_________________
2003 Red/White Cooper - Brookline, MA

 

>>ive never changed my own oil....

As Pebble says, it's fun...AND ultimately pretty cost effective. My MIN dealer (which I think ranks relatively high on the integrity scale .. but it's all relative) charges $65 for an oil change. At worst, the parts (synthetic oil and MINI filter) wouldn't run you more than 1/2 that. Probably a lot less. Yeah, sure, MINI throws in 3 of these for free, but that still doesn't justify gouging you for the ones you do pay for. Besides, I'll bet that the $65 oil change today will go for nearly $100 three years from now.

Better learn to change it yourself now. IMHO.

 

I changed my oil filter today after the first 1,250 miles. Normally I'll do this every 5,000 but wanted to clean the oil during the break in period sooner. It was a big help what Pebble linked on "How to change your oil/filter." One thing I did instead of using the 36mm socket was use a filter wrench with a Swivel Head that Pennzoil sells. Their is plenty of room under and behind the filter for your hands to move.

The dirty little secret with oil is it doesn't need to be changed as often as people do. The filter is all you need to change. Say what? Mobile One will hold up fine for well over 20,000 miles and conventional oil's over 10,000 miles. I've been in the fuel filtering business for 17 years and the oil itself doesn't go bad at say 3,000, 7,500 and 10,000. It's the contamination, sludge, particulate, metals etc. that need removing. If you don't believe this call any fuel testing lab.

Brad

 

Hex on canister is 36mm, I cut the length of a socket down so it would fit & I could use a torque wrench (value on canister), drain plug not marked, dealer says 26 n/m.