How soon should I change the oil? I bought it at the end of December and barely have 1000 miles on it.

 

There's a great deal of discussion about what's an appropriate oil change interval. Some folks swear that you can wait until your service indicator goes off. Other folks are much more aggressive.

I'm going to be in the more aggressive camp. I've changed my oil every 3k miles on previous cars and it has paid off with engines having a very long lifetime. Those were all non-synthetic oils, so I'm definitely going to go longer, but probably still not more than every 9k miles. I'm going to do my first change (once baby is here ) after about 2k miles. The purpose of this is to flush out any break-in metals before I start thrashing about.

 

first 2k-3k. then every 3k.

 

Do you folks do it yourself at 3k mile intervals? If so, do you guys just change the filter, oil, and o-ring? What do the service departments do to justify the $225 price tag on their 15k mile service? Also, are those service visits also known as "Inspection 1/2/3" around the forums?

 

I usually used Jiffy-lube. :blush

 

Dood

If you're not up to doing it yourself, bite the bullet and pay to have someone who knows MINIs do it. It's a small price to pay to protect your investment. You're playing Russian Roulette with the JL practice...

 

Did mine at 3K. It was black.

 

Relax, that was pre-Mini.

 

Is there a tutorial / how-to explaining all the details on how to do an oil change / change of air filters, etc with pictures on a MINI R56?

I'd like to learn to upkeep my MINI myself but I don't believe the dealership would spend the time to train me in on the different plethora of subjects if I'm not a mechanic in training.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=125703

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=101513

Also very good.