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One of the most common tasks to perform is replacing your engine oil. Frequent oil changes are perhaps the most important procedure you can do to maintain and prolong the life of your engine. With the better oils that are available today, the requirement for frequent changes is diminishing. Even though MINI recommends oil change intervals that are much farther apart than in the past, I usually recommend that you keep the changes under the 5,000-mile limit. If you don't drive your car too often, you should change the oil at least once a year to keep things fresh.

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have everything that is required for the job. Nothing is more frustrating than emptying your oil, only to find out that you don't have a replacement filter or enough oil. You will need an oil filter kit, (See Figure 1) a 13mm socket, a 36mm socket, a new drain plug, a roll of paper towels, a very large oil pan or bucket, and 5 quarts of oil. Start by driving the car around, and let it heat up to operating temperature. You'll want to empty your oil when it's hot, because the heat makes the oil flow a lot easier, and more particles of metal and dirt will come out when the oil is emptied.

Once you get the car parked, place the oil pan bucket underneath the engine. At the bottom of the engine sump there is a 13mm plug that is used for draining the oil from the engine. Remove this plug carefully, and make sure you have a very large oil pan: at least a 7-quart capacity - under it, with a drip pan underneath in case you underestimate. The oil will be very hot, and will empty out extremely quickly, so be careful not to burn yourself (wear rubber gloves). (See Figure 2 and Figure 3)There will be no time to grab any more buckets or oil pans if you underestimate, so make sure that the one you choose is big enough.

On the MINI, the oil filter is a cartridge-type filter, which is contained within a metal oil filter housing. The filter housing is located between the firewall and the rear of the engine on the passenger side. (See green arrow in Figure 4) There is a 36mm nut on the cap that is located on top of the housing. It's a tight fit to get the socket on there. I recommend using a long breaker bar to reach the housing from the top. (See Figure 5) Remove the top slowly to allow the oil to drain back into the housing, and underneath you will see the cartridge filter. Simply remove it from the oil filter housing. Have plenty of paper towels on hand, as oil will spill from the filter if you're not careful. (See Figure 6)

When all of your oil has finished draining, take the new drain plug and screw it into the bottom of the sump. Torque the drain plug to 25 Nm (18 ft-lbs). The drain plug is designed to be used only once as it has a small rubber seal built into the plug itself. You can choose to re-use the old drain plug, but it may leak when you re-tighten it. The plug itself is cheap, so it's added insurance against oil leaks.

It's a good idea to clean out the inside of the oil filter housing before installing the new oil filter cartridge. This will be a bit difficult due to the location of the housing, but a few wadded paper towels should do the trick. Take the new filter cartridge and place it in the housing and press it down into place. (See Figure 7) Take note of the rubber seal on the top of the filter. This should be facing down when you install the filter. Push the filter down as far as it will go into the housing.

In your oil filter kit, you should have the oil filter cartridge as well as an large O-ring. Look at the cover for the oil filter housing. Below the threads, you will see the old o-ring in place. Remove the o-ring and clean the housing cover (both inside and out) thoroughly. (see Figure 8) Once clean, slip the new o-ring from the filter kit over the threads and into the groove on the filter cover. A light film of oil can help to slide the O-ring into place. Take the cover and screw it back down over the new filter cartridge. Take care to make sure the threads are lined up and it seats correctly.

Now it's time to fill up your MINI with motor oil. A lot of people aren't really sure what motor oil to use in their car. Traditionally, the characteristics of motor oil were linked closely to its weight. Heavier-weight oils protect well against heat; lighter-weight oils flow better in cold. In general, if you live in a cold climate, you should use a 10W-40 or similar oil. This oil is a 10-weight oil that behaves and protects against heat like a 40-weight oil. In warmer climates, you should use a 20W-50 oil. This oil doesn't flow as well at the colder climates, but gives an extra "edge" on the hotter end. In our case, we chose Mobil1 0W-50 synthetic. This is Mobil's recommended oil for use in the MINI Cooper.

The question of whether to use synthetic or traditional "dinosaur" oil often comes up among car buffs. Consumer Reports (July 1996) ran an extensive test on the two types of oil, altering amongst many different brands. The testers installed freshly rebuilt engines in 75 taxicabs, and then ran them through the harshest conditions on the streets of New York City. Placing different brands, weights, and formulations in the cars, they racked up 60,000 miles on the engines, tore them down, measured, and inspected the engine components for wear. The oil was changed at 3,000 miles in half of them, and the rest were changed at 6,000 miles. The results: regardless of brand, synthetic or dino, weight, and oil change interval, there were no discernable differences in engine component wear in any of the engines. Their conclusion? Motor oils and the additives blended into them have improved so much over the years that frequent oil changes and expensive synthetics are no longer necessary.

Still, some people swear by synthetic oil. In practice, I don't recommend using synthetic oil if you have an older car with old seals in the engine. There have been many documented cases in which the addition of synthetic oil has caused an otherwise dry car to start leaking. If you own an older car that doesn't have fresh seals in the engine, I would stick to the non-synthetics. However, if synthetic oil was the only type of oil that your engine has seen, I usually recommend sticking with it.

Fill your engine with the new oil from the oil filler hole in the top of the valve cover. Add about 4 quarts to the engine, and check the dipstick. Continue to add about a half a quart at a time and keep checking the dipstick. Fill it up until it reaches the top mark of the dipstick - the engine oil level will automatically lower when the oil filter fills up with oil. Make sure that you put the oil filler cap back on the top of the valve cover, otherwise, you will end up with a messy engine compartment when you drive away. (see Figure 10)

Now, start up the engine with the hood open. The oil pressure light should stay on for about a second or two and then go out. Hop out of the car and look at the engine compartment, then take a quick look underneath the car. Verify that there's no volume of oil seeping out of the engine. Now, take the car out for a drive and bring it up to operating temperature. Shut the car off and then recheck the oil level (careful, the car will be hot). At this point, I like to top the oil off at the top point on the dipstick. Make sure that you dispose of your old oil at a respectable recycling station.

Finally, the MINI has an internal oil lamp reset lamp that needs to be reset when you perform your oil change. You can use a special tool to perform this reset, and the Peake Research R5 tool discussed in Project 28 also does the trick. There is also an easy way to reset the oil and inspection dashboard lamps. With the ignition off, press the trip reset button. Then turn the ignition switch to position 1 (ignition on, engine not running) Within 5 seconds, the odometer display will show the current Service Interval Display (SIA) status. These are the oil service and inspection lights.

Once you see these lights come up, release the trip reset button. Then press the reset button again and hold it for 5 seconds to change the lights to reset mode. The display will flash "RST" if performed correctly. Press the trip reset button again. The SIA status will be reset and will show the new status for 5 seconds.

On the later MINI cars, (R55/R56/R57), the oil change procedure is a little bit different. The oil drain plug is located on the bottom of the oil pan and uses a hex plug instead of a drain bolt on the side of the engine block (See Figure 11). Use a 8mm hex socket to loosen and remove the oil drain plug (See Figure 12). Let the oil drain out of the pan until it stops. Be sure to have a drain pan underneath to catch all the old oil (See Figure 13).

The oil filter housing on these cars is located at the front of the engine, just underneath the coolant expansion tank. The housing is oriented differently for Cooper (See Figure 14) and Cooper S (See Figure 15) models. Use a 27mm socket to loosen and remove the oil filter housing cover (See Figure 16). Now carefully remove the filter housing cover. The old filter element will be right inside the cover. Pull the old element out and place the new element in its place. Also remove the old filter housing O-ring (green arrow) and place the new O-ring from the filter kit in its place (See Figure 17). Now place the filter cover back on the housing, make sure the threads are lined up and it seats correctly.

Additionally, the oil service light reset procedure is a bit different. These cars use a computer system called Condition Based Service (CBS) which needs to be reset after changing the oil.

Get in the car and do not press the brake or clutch pedal. Now insert the key and press the start button to turn the car on, but do not start the car. Look at the tachometer and wait until the oil change service light goes out. Now press and hold both buttons on the tachometer.

The car will perform a dash light check. Keep holding the buttons. The car will then show the VIN/menu on the tachometer. Continue to hold the buttons until the time appears on the tachometer. Now release only the right hand button for approx. 1 second and press it again while still holding the left hand button. After another second or two, the display will show the front brake symbol. You are now in the service menu.

Use the BC button (on the turn signal stalk) to scroll through the various service symbols until you get to the oil service symbol. To reset the service light, press and hold the BC button until RESET appears. Now press and hold the button again until it resets.