I just took my 2012 MINI to a soon-to-be MINI dealer (they are currently a BMW dealer).

Right now they are only authorized to do oil changes and unfortunately, they messed mine up by resetting the oil change counter.

I took mine in before the scheduled oil change (6800 miles) since I don't feel that changing the oil every 15k miles is enough.

Due to their mistake, when my scheduled oil change comes up, the car's computer will say it's not time, even though I paid over $100 for the oil change.

me = not a happy camper.

Then this dealer told me it's not 15k, but 18,600!

Has anyone else been told this? He claims it's the same for BMW. If true, IMHO, that's ridiculous amount of time to go between oil changes.

 

Look on here to for a how to on resetting the oil change computer . IMHO the intervals are way too spred out

 

No way in hell I'm waiting that long to change oil in this engine. Even my 99 Jeep Wrangler get's changed every 5k, and it doesn't spin up NEARLY as high.

 

"CBS"--Condition Based Service. It isn't 15K miles, it isn't 18K miles. It's when the computer decides it's time, which depends on the amount of gas used, and the distance, and possibly the time, and the temperatures, and a lot of other stuff. There's some info about it in the owner's manual; take a look through there.

 

The interval depends on how you drive. I have over 12k on my 2010 Justa and the service indicator says 7k more.

 

BTW, when your service indicator says 7000 they will owe you a no charge oil change and you have the documentation showing they reset it 6800 miles early.

 

Okay - this makes sense - not that I like it, but it makes sense.

However, I feel that I use the car a lot. Nearly 7k miles in 3.5 mos. That translates to well over 20k miles in a year.

With those kind of miles I would expect the "CBS" to be a lot lower than 18,600 mi, which is what the dealer told me today was when I need to have it changed.

Oh well. MINI successfully tricked me with their "free' maintenance b.s. but it is what it is. I will have to come up with a plan on changing my own oil on a regular basis.

 

Correct, except I will have to go more like 12k to get the change.

 

I will take my new Mini to my independent BMW/Mini mechanic for my in-between oil changes. They said they would do it and not reset the indicator.

 

It's actually the other way around. A car that is used often and for distance driving (and thus accumulates miles in a relatively short amount of calendar time) is a car that can go longer, not shorter, on oil changes. Presumably, the computer takes this into account.

I don't understand where this 18.6K number is coming from. Maybe the dealer can pull down the current oil change percentage to date and extrapolate. Maybe he's just quoting what he thinks is average. Otherwise, he is just guessing on when it will come due.

You can certainly change oil more often if you like, but the service counter should not be reset. This way other services stay on schedule. If they paid for your service at 7K, then I can see their POV to say that they don't need to do another until the service counter says so. OTOH, if you paid for the earlier one and didn't request the counter be reset, I would think they should be willing to do an oil change at about the time it would have originally called for.

Most of us who don't want to go to the regular interval recommended by Mini just do one extra oil change at about the halfway point. No big deal.

Mini feels that with the new oils, you can go these long intervals and I doubt you do the engine any great harm by just following their advice. OTOH, I too don't really like to see intervals extended to this extent. And I don't think it is a coincidence that all the Euro mfgs who offer free scheduled service are the same mfgs who have these ridiculously long oil-change intervals - all the Japanese mfgs who charge for service are still at 5K-8K for typical intervals.

As you're finding out, the "free service" deal isn't worth much and shouldn't be much of a economic factor when buying a car; it's mostly a gimmick.

- Mark

 

We all go a long distance between free oil changes unless we drive less. Then we get one after 12 months without the indicator being reset. There are a lot of leased BMWs and MINIs out there that surely are not getting oil changes more often than called for. I've not seen nor heard complaints of oil related engine damage except where people drove with extemely low oil levels due to leaks or never checking the level.

What seems ridiculously long intervals to many Americans appears to have been working quite well in Europe for some time.

 

Good points all.

He said they saved the computer data from my key (if I understood him correctly). And the longer miles interval does make sense (tho still way too long IMHO).

They did agree to change it for free when it hits the 18,800 mark, which was of course the only fair option. I wouldn't have expected anything less.

As for the "free service". I agree that it wasn't a major factor in the purchase, but I did think it was a definite plus.

Live and learn.

 

Not sure about this myself; but I grew up in the 60-70s, when the rule for thumb was to change the oil every 2-3k miles, or 5k on average.

I suppose synthetic oils have changed things, but the filters haven't changed that much, and shouldn't go that long I think.

I hope to get long life out of my MINI (I'm the type that drives their car until it's completely dead)—so I want to change it much more frequently.

 

I'm 65 Number Six. Oil and engine technology have changed. The MINI interval in Europe is two years or the OBC mileage. The engines aren't grinding to a halt or filling with sludge over there either.

That said, changing the oil significantly reduces friction in the engine. I'm an autocrosser where thousandths of a second matter. Change it yourself and save a good portion of that $100.

Markjenn wrote:
"...all the Japanese mfgs who charge for service are still at 5K-8K for typical intervals."

Toyota was at 7.5k and reduced it to 5k in 2005. In 2010 they increased to 10k with synthetic oil. Toyota is certainly charging us for oil changes on our 2010. Honda Accord and Civic were at 10k in 2005 and now use OBC recommendations rather than a stated interval.

 

I'll end with a humous note from Castrol.com whom I believe makes MINI oil:

"The fact remains that every 3,000 miles or every 3 months, whichever comes first, you should change the oil in your vehicle, like it or not."

"While prices may vary depending on your location, the average price for a lube job is between $25 and $30."

"You should consult your owner's manual for the exact manufacturer's specifications for your car, which may differ slightly."

 

I too wondered whether going 15k miles or more (my service interval on a 2003 Justa is usually around 15k) would be too long. There are many who say that it is. I figured I'll settle the question by sending my used oil to Blackstone Laboratories to analyze.

Long story short, everything was within spec after 15k miles and the Blackstone folks said go ahead and use 15k miles again. The oil I'm using is Mobil 1 Extended Performance Full Synthetic 5w-30.

A lot of those miles are highway miles and my MINI is never tracked (yet! ). I also check the oil level regularly - it usually doesn't consume any oil until the last 2-3k miles before changing it.

 

Another thing to add to this thread would be that the intervals depend on the oil. After you said you sent the oil in after 15k miles you said you used Mobil 1 Extended Performance which I believe is a 15k mile oil according to Mobil 1. Just like Amsoil has a line of oil products made for 25k miles. However there are oils sold that have intervals significantly shorter.

I haven't seen anything that says the MINI "samples" the oil...just the conditions. For example, if I put an oil intended for 5k miles in the engine the car will still say to change in 15k. If I went longer than the product recommends then I could experience thickening of the oil and reduced protection as the additives break down.

 

I don't worry about the oil as much as the filter. The oil might be good until 10-15k, but I've never seen a filter hold up for anywhere close to that. Free maintenance or not, I rather do my own, because I trust my own work. I just worry about needing warranty work, I'll be declined because I screwed up one of their documented maintenance schedule events.

 

Definitely true - MINI says use a full synthetic, so whatever brand you use, it needs to be fully synthetic. I use Mobil 1 EP because its easy to get (Wal-Mart) and relatively cheap for the quality.

 

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