How to Change the 2008 R56 MINI Cooper S Oil and Filter

2008 R56 MINI Cooper S Oil and Filter Change www.bmpdesign.com Today we have got a brand new Cooper S on the lift, and I am going to show you how to do an oil and filter change without even lifting the vehicle. We have got this car on the lift right now to do some other jobs to it, but what we are going to do is we are going to essentially draw the oil out of the dipstick to, with the topside oil changer, which is basically going to use suction to just pull the thing into a vacuum. It will just pull all 6 quarts, 5 quarts out of any vehicle. What you are going to do is you are going to pump this thing into a vacuum, get a good vacuum going. Then you are going to take the special suction tube, pull out your dipstick, and we are going to push that all the way down till you feel it kind of bottom out to the bottom of the oil pan. There we go! Now what I am going to do is release the special check valve, and you will feel it already pulling the unit. You see the oil starting to come. When you start here in bubbles, that's when you know it's sucking the air and it's almost completed. So when you start seeing that, give it one last little push down and it will draw the last end of it in. So the crank case is now empty. You pull your tube out. The unit comes with a cap for each side. You remove your pump. You remove your suction cap. You take it to the recycle center, it will be ready to go. Now what we are going to do is we are going to remove the oil filter. To do this project, we are going to need a couple of tools and we are going to need a quality oil filter. This one is made by MAN. We need an 8 millimeter nut driver to remove the coolant reservoir and move it aside, and we are going to need a 6.27 millimeter. In this case what will work is an ancient 116 socket, a swivel, an extension, and a ratchet. So let's do the project. Okay. For those of you who have been wondering where the oil filter is on the Cooper S, it's hidden. It's hidden right down behind the coolant bottle reservoir right there. To get to it, we have got to take this coolant bottle reservoir, retaining bolt out. It takes an 8 millimeter nut driver. Now, I am not going to take the whole coolant bottle out, what I am going to do is just pull it aside and get it out of the way, far enough. Now, these are a lot of plastic components, you don't want to do a lot of hyperflexing of anything. And what we are going to do is take a look right down in here; I will get you a flashlight here. There's the top of the oil filter cover. It's plastic, so you want to use a 6 point socket for sure. Do not use a 12 point socket. Once you are around the corners, then you will be buying a new cover. There, you can see, I have got the ratchet and the flex unit in position and we are just going to loosen it up right now. So here's our filter housing, with the old oil filter in it. It has a little resistance but it just comes out, it snaps out. You are going to take your oil ring, it comes with the filter. Replace the oil ring. It goes in the groove on the outside here. And when you do this, you always want to put a little grease or a little bit of oil. You can put some old oil on it. That will typically take care of it. Then what we are going to do is we are going to take our new filter. It doesn't have a direction, so what you are going to do is you are going to put that in there, and it will fit snugly into the housing. And then what we are going to do is we are going to fit it over the filter mount on the engine. Once you have got it started, you will be able to thread it all the way down, almost finger tight. When you start getting a little bit of resistance, you will get 5 or 6 turns on it, and then you will get a little resistance, and that's when you are ready to go with your ratchet. You will feel it start to get a little resistance, then you will feel it slowly bottom out, and you just want to snug it. There's no reason to tighten it too tight, because what's going to happen is you don't want to damage the threads on the filter housing. Now we are ready to refasten our coolant reservoir bottle. There's a small pin at the bottom of the bottle that has to fit into a rubber grommet into the front of the core support, as a stabilizer for the bottom end. And that unit will fit in, and there's 2 safety tabs right up here that will catch over, the small little tabs that will catch over the bottle. You feel it latch into position, then you are going to refasten that 8 millimeter bolt. And you are set. Add your oil and you are ready to go. For more Tech Tips like this one and for parts information, you may visit us online at www.bmpdesign.com