I haven't searched exhaustively on the site for this info so sorry if this has already been covered. I have a 2005 JCW coupe which is now out of warranty. I'm having a real hard time swallowing the expensive oil changes at the dealer. Sounds like, from what I've read here, most dealers charge $90-120 for a plain old oil change. I called my dealer today to schedule one and was told they offer two types of oil changes. Anyone heard of this? The basic was $117 and the "better" oil change was $227 (gulp!). They said the basic change was just filter and oil... it doesn't include re-setting the service count down indicator. I thought the whole point of that count down was to let you know when to get your oil changed! I guess not. The $227 service includes the re-set and they also look for any fault codes while it's hooked up to the computer (which I always presumed was part of a basic service anyway). Funny thing is, when my car was under warranty they'd always re-set the count down thing at every oil change. Granted, mine were always annual oil changes (low mileage service) because this is a second vehicle and only gets driven a few thousand miles per year. Anyway, what's up with this two tier oil change business? I think they called the cheaper one a "30B" service... not sure what the code is for the more expensive one. The expensive one includes such necessities as "topping off fluids," "cabin air filter" and "lubing door seals and gaskets." Huh? For $110 additional?!?!

Anyway, aside from the insanely high price, my main question is... why would Mini do any kind of oil change and NOT re-set that service indicator count down? It's not really an issue for me since it will take several years for me to drive the miles to make it go off. But say I had several "basic" oil changes and never paid to have the count down re-set. Then one day my service light goes off even though I may have just had the oil changed last week. I just don't understand how they can send cars out the door and NOT re-set that service indicator. Does anyone know more about this? And do other dealers have two types of oil changes? Thanks.

 

Wow, it sounds like a crooked dealer, who is trying to rip you off!
Is there another dealer, or better yet, an independant MINI shop near you?

Dave

 

Buy your own oil and find some place else to go...you can reset the service indicator yourself. When I didn't buy my own oil it would $80ish to get an oil change and that wasn't even at the dealer.

 

As I recall there is an oil change and an 'oil service'. The latter includes replacing the cabin air filter.
Sounds like they were blowing smoke about not resetting the service indicator, that just doesn't make sense.
I definitely wouldn't go to the dealer for non-warranty oil changes - an independent shop will do the same for far less.

 

If you aren't in the habit of doing oil changes yourself, put up a request with your location and ask NAM who they would recommend in your area. Everyone here is more than willing to tell you where to go

 

I went to a local European specialist shop to get my oil changed back in April. Cost was $88 and included the oil reset (you can find out how if you search the forum). I don't believe they checked the ECU for codes (I can do that myself, as I have an ODBII adapter), but I don't think they would have really charged much if at all to just read what it had. The other thing the shop may check for is the belt condition.

The MINI calls for 4.3 quarts of oil. If you were to use Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30, the Walmart price is $5.96/quart. Figure that's $30 since you have to buy 5 quarts of oil to do the change. Now include a ball-park figure of $10 for an OEM filter. That's $40 total. Most shops charge 4/10 hour of labor for an oil change, and many are $100/hour of labor. There's your oil change cost.

As for cabin filters, I don't think the one in my '06 MCS had ever been changed. Moss MINI (http://www.mossmini.com/) carries the charcoal (or carbon) enhanced ones for $28 each ($33 for '07+ models), and that's a hard price to beat compared to the other MINI parts dealers. Just go to your MINI year category and click "Accessories" under the "Interior" section. It's a relatively easy thing to change out.

 

Unfortunately, I'm in the Midwest so dealers are few and very far between. And "import" shops are also much less common here than on the coasts. The dealer, btw, is Omaha Mini (Markel). However, I called Baron Mini in KC and got a similar (although slightly less expensive) price. But the thing that gets me is the "we won't reset the counter for $117" thing. That just floors me. These dealers must make ALL their profit on out of warranty service.

Yeah, I should probably just do it myself. If it was simply an oil change I would but I always like to have the factory trained tech have a look at things and check the things I'd probably miss (since they know the cars better than I do). And since I only go once a year it's good to have it looked over carefully. I just don't think it should cost $117 (+tax) to have that done. And it should include re-setting that stupid counter.

 

Any dealer is going to charge you out the wazoo! Just find a local mechanic that can change the oil. Most likely he already knows how to reset the indicator but if he doesn't there are instructions on MINI2 on how to do it. Pretty simple.

If you do it yourself be careful with the o ring and make sure you lube it before you try to seat the cap otherwise you might split it.

 

for that money i would just do it myself and treat the car to a expensive brand of oil.

 

I think the issue may be the service indicator is only reset when a full "service" is done. That is, checking all the fluids, replacing filters, checking for codes, etc. I believe for the R56s this would correspond to something like Inspection I and Inspection II?

A basic oil change (just the oil and filter) is not intended to serve as the point to reset the counter. Kind of like when you are in the maintenance program - if you decide to spring for an oil change before the counter is indicating it is needed, you should not reset the counter. That way you don't miss out on the "free" service.

 

If not remaining oil service life then what does the counter count down?

 

Nope, it is supposed to be reset at the oil change. It will then countdown 15K miles until the next change. The R56 setup is totally different.

 

There are three different service levels within the computer. The Peake Tool allows resetting all but the airbag: http://www.eurosportdesign.com/p-53-...eset-tool.aspx.

 

I recommend checking it - they get pretty nasty in just a few years.

 

Here's a link to the thread here, that tells how to reset the service counter on both series one and two cars:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...intenance.html

Dave

 

For a point of cost reference... I just got these prices in an email from Autobahn Motors here in Kansas City.

Oil Change ($92
Oil Service ($185
Inspection I service ($254
Inspection II service ($366
Brake fluid flush ($110
Coolant flush ($120

 

Dave you are one nice fellow. You've saved the OP $110.

The MINI is not a hard car to change the oil on. The cabin filter is easy to do. If you must have the oil changed for you go with the lower cost. Do NOT go to Iffy Lube!

You can lube your own hinges & buy a can of silicone spray for the weather seals.

Sad, but true, MINIs can't be serviced for the same costs as cars like Honda's.

 

prscott933 can you elaborate on the difference between these services? What's an oil "change" vs an oil "service?" And what's an inspection 1 vs. 2?

Incidentally, I used to go to Baron in KC and I called them for a price check. Although a little less, they were similar to Omaha's price.

 

Oil change. Only change oil and oil filter. Should run around $100 at the dealer. MINIs use synthetic oil so will be a bit more expensive than your normal Honda Civic. Does not include reset of the service indicator because it does not check for anything else in your car. Since our cars run synthetic oil, it is debatable whether or not our cars need additional oil changes. But many of us will just to be on the safe side.

Oil Service. Change Oil and filter, air cabin filter, lube hinges and whatnot, quickie visual inspection. Maybe even replace wiper blades. Should run in the low $200's or high $100's. This also includes reset of your service indicator. (there are ways you can reset it yourself).

Inspection 1. Oil Service + check a whole bunch of other stuff like brakes, adjust parking brake and a few other things that require maintenance adjustments.

Another Oil Service

Inspection 2. Comes after another oil service. Could run you around $500 but only happens every 4 or 5 years. It's Inspection 1 + replacing spark plugs, timing belt, and other major wear and tear items. Frankly, I think they should also include replacing the upper engine mount on this.

Driven normally, a service indicator should come up around once a year. So overall, it's not really that expensive. However, the numbers are eye popping.

You don't have to go to a MINI dealer to have these done. A competent mechanic should know what to do.

This is for R53. I think that's how it works.

 

Inspection I and II are in the service manual in your MINI packet. One is at 30K and one is at 60K.

 

According to a 2003 and a 2006 owners manual that I found, the information indicates:

This is in the section about the Service interval display. This implies to me that an oil change by itself is not an event that triggers a reset of the counter. The display is meant to indicate the mileage until a full Engine Oil Service or one of the Inspection services.

 

Here's the OBC maintenance schedule cycle in a nutshell.

The cycle has four steps:

1) Oil Service
2) Inspection I
3) Oil Service
4) Inspection II

These will occur roughly 15-22k miles apart, depending on how you drive. You reset the OBC counter after each one (even the "Oil Service" events, which are just oil changes). After Inspection II is completed, the cycle repeats itself.

You can do an oil change in-between the OBC-recommended services, either because you want to change the oil more frequently than the OBC recommends, or if you're changing the oil based on time and not mileage. You shouldn't reset the OBC counter in these cases because it'll cause you to run through the cycle too quickly and will also delay reaching Inspection I and Inspection II, since you'll never accumulate enough miles between resets to actually "come due" for anything.

 

So, how does this cycle work when you're putting on very low miles? My car, for example, only gets driven infrequently... say 2000 miles/year. Obviously, I only change the oil once/year. But how should I handle the OBC at those oil changes? If the major services are at 30k and 60k it will take me years and years to hit those mileage limits. I'm working on time in my situation.

 

The services aren't necessarily at 30k and 60k - they're whenever the OBC says you're due for them, which will vary with driving style. On my car, the events fell like this:

1) Oil Service - 12,000 miles
2) Inspection I - 31,200 miles
3) Oil Service - 53,000 miles
4) Inspection II - 73,000 miles

If you're only driving a few thousand miles a year then yes, it will take you a long time to reach Inspection I and Inspection II. but that's okay, because most of the items addressed in those inspections wear according to mileage rather than according to time.

When you do oil changes based on time and not because the OBC is telling you to, don't reset the OBC. If you keep resetting it every year and then only drive a few thousand miles until you reset it again, you'll never come due for any services, according to the OBC.

Note that with your low-mileage car, in addition to annual oil changes, you should be doing brake fluid flushes and coolant flushes based on time as well. I can't remember the intervals off-hand, but I think they're three years.

 

Yep, did coolant and brake fluid at 4 years. Hmmm. Hope my independent shop (I decided to ditch the dealer) can keep all this straight.