Ok, so I get my wife a new 2015 Countryman S in December. I drive the car today and tinker around with the interface and, by chance, find that it's 600 miles overdue for an oil change. I do see that a "SERVICE" message appears in red for about 2 seconds when I start the car, but is that all there is? Is there no continually lit icon or reminder that will prevent my wife from going past the recommended interval? I've had somewhere around 25 cars in my lifetime and all of the ones that had a maintenance reminder system had something constant that would not extinguish without intentional reset. Please educate me.

 

Yes, that's the way it is in my 2013 R56s as well. IMHO a major 'design' flaw. In fact, on my display there is no reminder, or any indication of any kind other than the miles to service numbers decreasing (and only visible for 2 seconds), and once past zero they increase again, but with a small -negative sign in front. So in the 2 seconds you need to see the tiny -. Or keep track of it yourself. And yes, I missed mine too, even though I've been a car nut for my entire life and would not want to do that to my beloved MINI. The thing is, when I start the car I looke everywhere BUT at the odo.
Silly and really bad design!

 

It's a pretty dumb system but as soon as I see any impending service needs I usually get it scheduled elsewhere, as in my calendar or my fading memory bank. Spousal units aren't always aligned with this method however.

 

Ugggh. That's what I was afraid of. How difficult is it to design a proper notification system in this day and age? Typical BMW.

 

I grew up without having systems like that (non MINI cars) so I typically reset one of my odometer mile readers each time I change my oil. That way I know exactly when I hit the mileage at which I change my oil. I prefer this method than using the sticker on the windshield.