So I tried to change my oil today went to five different places looking for a 36mm socket. After that I got my oil put the car on ramps and found the drain plug rounded off ( damn carmax).

So drive an hour the closest mini dealer to let them do it and replace the plug. Carmax told me that they change the whenever they get a new car on the lot, but I don't trust them and wanted to do it to make sure it had synthetic.( I have only had the car about a month)

so service looks up my car histoy a tells me I still have 10k miles left on the last oil change. I say excuse me 10k miles, what are the oil service
intervals? He says 15 thousand.

So my car has only had TWO oil changes in it's entire life! I'm pissed. Eventhough the oil cost 200$ bucks and comes from mini I will never trust any oil for 15 thousand miles.
it.

Do the rest of you change your oil every 15 k miles? I think thats crazy. I willallways change my oil every 3k for conventional 5k for synthetic.

So depressed and vary worried about my new to me mini I bought a new drain plug a went home.

 

I do.

 

Many do, many don't.

I would not assume that the previous owner only did it every 15k either. You have no way of knowing. It would be the same with any other used car - 3k miles is the recommended interval, but maybe the previous owner only did it every 12k. Who knows?

Not sure why you're "incredibly angry". It's what they recommend - you can either choose to follow their recommendations or not.

 

I change it at about 7500

 

What is this oil that you speek of, and why do you want to plug it? 5K on symthetic here.

 

Do a search on "Oil Change" you will find much discussion on this topics.

I think it is safe to say most MINIacs change much more frequently - 5,000 to 7,500 miles

Here are a few links to some -- there are many - many more.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-options.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...l-changes.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-warrenty.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...h-pics-11.html

 

My '05 is changed (on my own) roughly once a year or 7500 miles.... BUT if the dealer looked up the service record it would only show the computer recommended "15000" mile intervals. So, you can't always just go by the dealer's records.

 

Every 15000 here and an oil analysis showed it was ok.

 

The car doesn't know when the oil is changed. The computer may/may not have been reset at the last interval. 15k is the standard interval for MINIs, many cars have 7.5-10k intervals for years (decade+?) now with no ill effects. I will probably go with 7.5-10k interval myself. The only thing I would be angry about, is getting taken for $200, for an oil change and a bolt (drain plug). I spent $25 on synthetic oil, ~$7 on a quality filter, and used a crescent wrench to remove the oil filter cap (I have since spent an extra $7 on a 36mm socket for next time). Even a trusted independent shop shouldn't charge more than about $50 for an oil change.

 

2 times a year beginning of summer and beginning of winter. roughly, 4-6K miles.

 

Im talking about the oil drain plug.

The previous owner of the car took it to the same dealer I went to today and the service guy was able to look up the cars service history at that dealership for me.

i just hope the long intervals haven't caused any damage yet, and every thing will be fine

 

...but, as was previously stated, how do you know that the previous owner didn't do additional oil changes DIY or at another shop?

 

You do it when you want to. Just make sure that if you go that 15k make sure to check it about once a week or may be twice a month.

 

Exactly, the dealer records don't mean much, as a previous owner could have done a DIY, or taken it to a Jiffy lube or independent tech, also if Carmax changed the oil, there would be no record of it on the MINI dealers computer.

 

15k while it was under warranty and then 7.5k thereafter on both.

 

The recommend interval is 15k or once a year. I have mine changed at 7.5K but it does not hurt the car to go 15K.

 

I do mine every 3000 miles (5000KM). Just last week I exchanged emails with a service tech at my local dealership. He does his the same interval.

 

Do yourself a favor and install a Fumoto drain valve.

 

I would recommend 7,500 mile intervals. It's not the oil that's the issue but the filter.

 

Use only BMW and you shouldn't have a problem. Been doing it since 06 and not had a problem once.

 

If this is enough to make you "incredibly angry and disappointed" I would suggest you just sell the car now and save yourself from something that might happen in the future that would actually justify such feelings.

 

I think a lot of the reason MINI says you can go that long is not because the motor can handle it but because the oil can lost that long. A lot of synthetics are starting to come out with 15k/1 year oil. If you check it regularly to make sure that you aren't going dry then you will be ok

 

WOW,lots of anger from the OP, over something that is just recomended by the manufacturer.
I will hate to see your temper when something breaks and you find out how much the dealer will charge you or another failure occurs and you scream your ready to sell your junk Mini.

Just my .02 cents but before you purchase any vehicle you should investigate as much as possible ,like on a forum such as this, to get a better idea of the good the bad and the ugly of the car.
With better info going into a car purchase there may be less shock of potential future needs.

BTW...every 5k here for my oil service.

 

So you're so incredibly angry and disappointed because BMW was able to engineer the engine to go 15-20k miles between services?

They've had 10k service intervals on BMWs since the early 1990's... and 15k intervals since the 1999 model 3-series came out. I'm sure if this was a bad idea we would have heard about all of failures by now, it's only been 11 years!

Most recent BMW and MINI models can go 20k+ miles between services, and once again there are no reports yet that indicate that there are any problems because of this.

 

15K oil change interval is also recommended across the entire BMW range. You'd be just as angry if you had bought a BMW instead.

Check the BMW forums. There are the same raging discussions about how frequently the oil should be changed.