Checked out your link on the Potenza's $900 is kind of expensive without installation and paying shipping. I think I can buy a few roadside visits with AAA and risk the flat tire thing for the $500 you would save with the Kumhos, or Toyo all seasons.

 

I got barely 27 mpg on a 80 mile highway round trip this morning. It seems to be getting worse by the day. May push for a loaner and them to keep the thing until they figure it out. I also smelled a burning oil smell when pulling in the garage this morning. checked the oil and it appeared dark for being synthetic and having been changed less than 5K miles ago. 16600 miles.

 

9,000 indicates the mileage until your next oil service, 10/2013 is the date it would need to be done regardless of miles. The miles to next oil change are displayed when you first start the car.

It sounds like the service may have been done prior to you purchasing the vehicle.

I don't want to get on my oil change / maintenance soap box again, but I'll just say that the MINI recommended oil change intervals and lifetime fills of other fluids are not condusive to the longevity of mechanical components.

 

Even more confused. So an oil change may have been done before 6500 miles? When I start the car up the display says 10000 miles, 5/2012. I am assuming that's for something else than the oil change?

 

Now I'm confused too. On start up it should show the mileage count down for the next upcoming service. If the service menu says 9,000 miles for an oil change, that should be what you get on start up, not 10,000.

It is possible that an oil change was performed based on time instead of miles. I think you said your car is a 2011 model that you bought used. If you bought it from a dealer and it was about a year old, they may have performed a time based oil change at or close to the one year mark and reset the count down timer for oil service. If it was a MINI dealer, that info should be reflected in the car's service log accessible by any dealer.

Back to your original question, you would go in for service when the mileage count down gets to zero or close to it. Some dealers will perform a service under the MINI maintenance plan within 1,000 miles / one month of when the car says it's due. Some will want you to be within 200 miles.

You can request any service to be done at any time (it's your car, you maintain it how you want to maintain it) but it may come out of your pocket.

 

See my confusion? The manual says you can check individually when you need certain things done and that is how I found the oil symbol with the 9000 miles, 10/2013 information. When I start my car it says 10000, 5/2012.

So, I guess the computer will tell you when you need to do any maintenance? Or do I have to look it up individually?

 

There will be some sort of a warning light and a chime when it's ready for service.

 

Okay.... that's what I thought. Thanks. But I am sure it will give notice ahead of time?

 

Going by what the BMW's have done in the past, I would expect to get a yellow warning light on start up a couple hundred miles ahead of time, and eventualy a red light if you go past the time / miles. It should be the same concept as when you are getting low on gas: Yellow warning light that goes away first, followed by red. Trust me, you will know when your car is not happy...

 

LOL.... thanks again for all the information FredoinSF.

I love my CMS All4 6 Speed. He is so fun to drive and I do want to keep him happy. :O)

 

What is this opinion based on? Have you done any oil analyses on your Mini?

 

I have had oil analysis done on some vehicles, but mostly it's based on having had older BMW's following the pre 1997 maintenance schedule and going well into the 200,000 mile range without major component failure. According to Carfax, the 1991 318is I sold to a college kid 6 years ago is still on the road and passing CA smog test at 350k miles, as is my old 88 325i convertible - albeit at a lower mileage.

In my opinion, the BMW / MINI maintenance schedule is great if you plan on keeping the car 100k. In my experience, the pre 1997 maintenance schedule means the car will hold up.

To add to this, during a recent search for a used BMW xdrive, I had two candidate vehicles inspected by my independent repair facility. They recommended I pass on them due to original fluids being in trans, diff, and transfer case. They basically told me not to buy an all wheel drive auto trans BMW with more than 50k miles unless the owner can prove the fluids have been changed. As a result, I am now the proud owner of a new CM All4...

It may seem old fashioned, but I have spent over $200k on the 2 BMW's (650i coupe and 330ci convertible) and 2 MINI's (see sig) currently sitting in the garage. I really don't mind spending an extra couple hundred bucks a year on maintaining them the way I want.

Here I got on the soap box again... Sorry

 

There are high mile MINI's on here that always go by the CBS for OCI and I have seen oil analysis reports on those rediculous OCI's that looked fine. The make-up oil always needed in a MINI would have to help.

Then there is the 400,000 mile MINI here.

 

Thanks for sharing that info, you have some very good data there. I think your data shows that changing fluids at the interval you have done likely precludes abnormal or premature engine wear. However, in your previous post you said the following:

But your data doesn't show that. Your data shows that the fluid change interval you have selected is ok, but it does not show that the factory change interval is NOT ok. That's why I asked if you had done any oil analyses, which are really the best way to know when to change your oil.

Because oil analysis data I have seen from several friends (and user MCS Fever above confirms) is that the ~15,000 mile is perfectly fine when using modern synthetic oil and good filters.

So while I think it is perfectly reasonable to conclude that your oil change intervals means the car will "hold up", I think it is dangerous and incorrect to advocate that the MINI recommended intervals are "not conducive to the longevity of mechanical components" when there is ample evidence to the contrary.

I understand that your post is your opinion, but we reach opinions based on facts and data, and as of yet I haven't seen any data to show that the MINI intervals are too long. If you know of some, please share, we are all here to learn.

 

Don't think I'm doing oil changes every 3,000 miles. I typically change oil every 7,500 miles or yearly - whichever comes first. I use Liqui Moly synthetic motor oil. I change trans / diff every 30k, brake fluid every two years, and coolant every 4 years. Plugs, belts and filters I typically go by the recommended intervals.

It's not just motor oil intervals I am weary of, it's the lifetime fill components and I have two real life examples of that:

1. A close friend had a 2004 MINI Cooper that she purchased new and maintained as recommended by MINI. At 90k miles, her transmission with lifetime fill failed. She traded the car in and got nothing for it. She basically walked away from an otherwise perfectly nice car that was only 5 years old at the time.

2. A colleague owns a 2005 BMW 325i with 110k miles. It's his wife's car, was purchased new, and has been dealer maintained. The diff is whiny and the trans "clunks" when going in reverse. He has not taken it yet so I can't confirm whether the transmission needs to be replaced or not, but it's not sounding good. He is car shopping and will probbaly trade the car in, hopefully before the transmission fails completely.

My independent tech told me I was rolling the dice buying a used car that had more than 50k miles and had only been maintained per the BMW / MINI schedule. All he does day in and out is fix out of warranty BMW's. While it does not mean every single one of them will self destruct, I trust his advice which some might say is his opinion.

I realize there are examples of cars that have gone the distance with less maintenance than what I perform on my cars. I think that's absolutely fantastic, I really do. This is a very sensitive subject to some people and I am sure we could go on forever finding examples of cars at either end of the spectrum - from early failure to mind boggling longevity. Having stated my opinion and a few facts, I am going to get off the laptop and change the oil on the 650 - it's at 7,800 miles

 

I have a new ALL4 being built. My previous BMW was supposed to go 15,000 miles between oil changes. Not me. I took my car into the dealer and had oil changes every 7500 miles. I don't care what BMW or the computer says. I can afford $75 or whatever on a $35k automobile.

 

Wow.... seems like everyone has a different opinion/factual based on the maintenance of a MINI/BMW. Hence I now have to form my own thought on what to do. LOL..... thanks everyone for sharing. I found it all informative.

 

cold starts kill cars.

the more short trips you do, the shorter your oil life. the reason is that all the moisture in the engine doesn't have time to evaporate and blow out the PCV system and condenses. the condensate mixes with the oil and eventually lowers the pH of the oil making it more acidic and causing more damage.

if you start the car and drive it once a day and drive it 100 miles it's far better than starting the car twice a week and driving it 1 mile.

that's why mileage is a secondary consideration for oil change intervals. some big rig manufacturers recommend 50,000 miles between changes. Sure they have a bigger oil capacity but they also don't turn off the trucks much.

here's the way I would look at it:

if you drive short distances often, change twice a year.

if you drive long trips often, change twice a year.

if you only drive a few trips a week and they're over 15 minutes, change once a year.


Since I only drive my miata a couple times a week at most and my commute is 20 miles, I change it annually. It probably gets nowhere near 5000 miles a year but that's ok. My MINI will probably go 7000 in a year with most of those being my 20 mile commute so I'll probably also change it annually.

I really just pick a day (first day of spring works well) and do oil changes.

 

Do you take into consideration if the car is garage kept? Does this make a difference? I average 300 miles a week and my car is garage kept.

 

for oil changes? not sure it matters. water vapour is also a product of normal combustion and going to find its way into the motor regardless of climate.

 

Extreme ambient temps do shorten oil life - even shelf life of oil - so garage storage can only be better.