I chose 2,500 miles as I wanted to keep any factory anti-scuff additives in to facilitate break-in and protect the the engine. used oil analysis have demonstrated that factory additives either added to the oil and or come from generous assembly lubricants are present. Dumping the factory oil too early is not a wise idea. Ed
2008 Mazda3 2.3 -- when to do first oil change?
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impending doom? It's a fact. It seems silly to swap out the oil filter assembly anytime you need to go to the dealer. Especially if the car isn't running on the side of the road somewhere because of a totally unrelated failure. I haven't seen any evidence that the spin-on is better than the cartridge in terms of efficiency anyways.
Did the oil change today. Refilled with Motorcraft. The cartridge filter is fine. I always have a torque wrench around anyway, and with a filter cap wrench the cartridge really wasn't any more trouble than a normal spin-on (and way easier to get to than some I've changed before). I think I'm going to like being able to see the filter media without having to cut open the can.
General observations as compared to my Civic:
1) The 3 is a PITA to jack up! The Civic's got a thick steel radiator support on the subframe for jacking up the front end, piece of cake. On the 3 there's no subframe section on front and the jack point is behind the engine. I had to drive up on some plywood to get enough clearance for my relatively low profile jack.
2) Splash guard is a little annoying. It'll be nice for keeping everything clean down there but 7 bolts and two clips seems excessive. Also makes it hard to spot fluid leaks.
3) Because of (1) the front of the engine is very open underneath. Now I understand why they put a splash guard on. This is pretty nice and it looks like swapping out the starter, alternator, clutch slave cylinder, etc from underneath wouldn't be too bad.
General observations as compared to my Civic:
1) The 3 is a PITA to jack up! The Civic's got a thick steel radiator support on the subframe for jacking up the front end, piece of cake. On the 3 there's no subframe section on front and the jack point is behind the engine. I had to drive up on some plywood to get enough clearance for my relatively low profile jack.
2) Splash guard is a little annoying. It'll be nice for keeping everything clean down there but 7 bolts and two clips seems excessive. Also makes it hard to spot fluid leaks.
3) Because of (1) the front of the engine is very open underneath. Now I understand why they put a splash guard on. This is pretty nice and it looks like swapping out the starter, alternator, clutch slave cylinder, etc from underneath wouldn't be too bad.
I changed my oil on my "3" today as well. Instead of removing the complete splash shield to access the filter, I took a dremel and cut a hole in it below the filter. Works like a champ. That splash shield is a royal pain in the a$$ to deal with.
I may convert back to Rhino ramps. I used to use them. I have a set but I just don't like driving up them, especially with MT cars. I drove over them in the GF's old car a while ago (it was an auto trans, don't have an excuse for that 
) and I haven't used them since.
Plus, can't rotate the tires with ramps. I may go back to ramps for my Civic too now that I have free tire rotations from the shop where I got my new tires but I'm tempted to keep rotating them myself with oil changes so I can inspect the brakes and to avoid having the tire shop overtorque the lugs and warp my rotors.
) and I haven't used them since.Plus, can't rotate the tires with ramps. I may go back to ramps for my Civic too now that I have free tire rotations from the shop where I got my new tires but I'm tempted to keep rotating them myself with oil changes so I can inspect the brakes and to avoid having the tire shop overtorque the lugs and warp my rotors.
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