Hi, first post for me.
I just purchased my first mini last month, an 06 MCS JCW. Very low miles.
I've been reading NAM forums for several weeks-lots of good info here. My first puzzle is what maintenance is needed when? It seems the maintenance schedule is a well kept mystery. The local mini dealer gives me a verbal idea of what and when, but it seems there should be a published maintenance schedule somewhere. What's up with this?

 

Welcome on board...

In your owner's manual it will tell you about how all maintainance is controlled by the computer. It reads how you drive and then calculates how often to change things like change the oil (it may tell you oil change at 15 - 20k, you don't want to do that).

Given that you have a JCW (and some would say "the best year" for minis), I would highly suggest that oil should be change at 5000 mile, "fan" belt, spark plugs and wires at 30k. Air filter probably 10k. Use only Mini oil filters and top grade synthetic oil. Brake pads and rotor, just keep an eye on them.


Do a search on NAM about this. There is a wealth of information on this site. A lot of it can be found by searches. Sometimes the best way is to use google but put "northamerican motoring" as the lead-in.

 

Welcome aboard. Maybe this will help. Post some pics.
http://www.bavauto.com/Assets/inst_pages/r53mc.pdf

 

Welcome aboard. Hopefully, the previous owner supplied records of all maintenance done on the car. Going forward from there, make sure brake fluid is changed out every other year. An 06 would be due this year, assuming it was last done in 2010. I would also suggest checking the cabin air filter, which is accessed via the glove compartment. This is often forgotten by many owners, and can get really dirty, especially if the car was driven on dusty roads. Happy motoring!

 

Do a quick search...
Coolant is 4 years (might be 5), brake fluid is 2.
other items are done by mileage....but on a low mile car...doing an inspection early might be ideal.
Most folks do oil changes every 7500 miles...mini recommendd 15,000.
An inspection....first inspection 1, then 2, then back to 1 then 2 etc is scheduled to be done every other MINI SCHEDULED OIL CHANGE.
So an inspection is due evey 30,000 miles....inspction 1 at 30,000, inspection 2 at 60,000, etc,
Cars driven hard (higher fuel condumption) will have the computer calling for inspections/oilchanges sooner if you use the computer....it calcultes due miles by fuel consumption.

 

According to the shop that maintains my car:

On a car with the JCW Tuning Kit the belt gets done at every Inspection 1 (30,000 miles)
and the plugs get done at every Inspection 2 (60,000 miles)

Some owners do the belt and plugs every 30,000 miles just because
They also do the fuel filter at Inspection 2

Hope this helps...

 

They also have a maintenance schedule in the Mini website's "owner's lounge".

 

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions re: a maintenance schedule for a 1st gen Mini. Still making sense of it, but starting to get my brain around it.
Thanks Braminator for the copy of the schedule you provided. I did a search for "maintenance" here at NAM and see I have lots to read still.

I am the 3rd owner of this car (originally a S Calif car). Unfortunately I bought from a dealer and it came with no history except I know the dealer changed the oil. The local mini dealer here in Portland suggested (given it is 5+ years old) I bring it in and have them takes a look at seals, oil leaks, fluids etc. That makes sense rather than just starting out with an oil change. I am looking for a solid, local independent garage who knows minis inside and out.
Again thanks for the feedback and wisdom. I will see if I can figure how to post some pictures.

 

Keep us posted. Post some pics.

 

Finally managed to include a picture, was hoping to get full size. Next time.

I started seriously looking for a Mini last summer. Saw and drove several nice cars. This one doesn't have all the options I wanted (lounge leather would have been great) but it is in "like new" condition so I couldn't pass it up. Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Very nice. Good luck and Remember the WAVE.