Its my first MINI and I just hit 5k on the odometer. Is tire rotation still suggested on this car? I'm assuming the dealer will do it but charge me.

 

I think the 5000 mile interval is definetly fine. If you do a lot of freeway driving maybe even 7500 miles. If you have runflat tires and see yourself changing over to nonrfts in the future than I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Handy tools I just got to help make tire rotations easy .....

http://stores.ebay.com/GOOD-OL-BEARs...h&_sid=5931062

 

Thank you for the reply guys, looks like I will make an appointment for January.

 

I have 11k on the 2010 I am trading in and the fronts should have been done 5000 miles ago on these run flats. I woudl have them done at the oil change which is coming up. Is the rotation part of the mini mat. program?

 

I dont think it is. I thought ive seen it mentioned that for some reason it is in the manual that you dont have to rotate them, which is a huge crock of BS.

Do it at regular intervals like 'mini on' stated and itll keep them around much much longer.

 

It's NOT covered and it IS pricey. I think they wanted $39 or $49.

I do the rotations when I'm changing the oil at 6k or after the dealer changes it when the computer tells them too. The good part about the MINI is you can jack up one whole side of the car using the jack point behind the front wheel. That allows an easy swap of the wheels front to rear.

 

It's not covered. My dealer wanted $60 to rotate/balance the tires. No thanks. 5000 miles is probably jumping the gun. 10k is more like it.

 

I'm sure a local tire place will do this for less than a dealer.

If you pay anyplace to do this 4 times you will more than cover the cost of a small rolling hydr' jack and those fancy wheel hangers and maybe even a torque wrench from Harbor Freight and do this yourself in about 15 minutes. It also gives you an opportunity to eyeball the brake pads (replace B4 the sensor goes off and save $$) and clean the inside of the wheels . . .

 

A local tire shop did mine for unlimited miles for $59.00 included rotation and balance. I got 33,000 out of my oem performance runflats and then switch to high performance all seasons. If you can find a package deal do it every 5000. I personally do not have the space, tools or inclination to do it myself.

Also, some tire dealers will rotate and balace for free if you buy tires from them [like Tire Discounters in Cincinnati]. After you've used up your runflats, do yourself a favor and switch to non RF on lighter wheels

 

my dealer quoted me $99.00! Ouch! I guess I will look into rotating on my own since my car is new (7300 miles) and I am not in need of new tires anytime soon. Is it dumb for a newbie to try to rotate tires on their own?

thanks all!

 

It is not, I repeat NOT dumb to rotate tires if you are a newbie or 400 years old. If you can change a tire you can rotate them! Probably takes about 20 mins. if you goof off. You save $ and you gain experiance (sp?) on doing your own work + your fingernails get dirty ( hense, you get to buy some soap) Good luck and have fun. Also rotate every 5,000 miles, IMHO. Or whenever you change oil, (read every 5,000 miles, ( probably hear opinions about this))

 

Maugre: thanks! I don't mind getting dirty if it will save me money and earn me experience. And like you mention, it gives me another reason to wash my MINI too!

 

If you buy your tires locally the dealer will usually rotoate them every 3-5K miles free. I just got 4 Goodyear F1 A/S tires with a $160 rebate locally. Dealer told me I should rotate these directional tires every 3k miles and he would do it free. Love the tires vs my Dunlop Sport runflats.
Great in heavy rain & light snow and corner rock steady...

 

Out west Les Schwab stores will ussually do it at no charge. BS the dealers do not do this at oil changes. I have 11K on my 2010 and the fronts are getting pretty worn and due for a rotation to the back. I figure about 25K is all they would get with a rotation every 10K. VW rotates the tires as part of there program why not Mini. For a company that is trying to promote Mini as a premium brand they sure seem to nickle and dime you for basic stuff. Mini if you want to be a premium brand act like it! I went in for a tire sensor issue.
They tried to sell me a $300 tire. I passed and took it to my tire shop because for 50% more I can by 4 NRF. Turns out there was no nail in the tire. A nail head was there but no penetration just needed sensor reset. I ordered my JCW from another dealer as my buying experience with the other dealer was not a good one. So far so good. Only one other Mini dealer around. They screw up they will be on my never buy again list along with BMW, and MB. Plenty of choices out there to choose from.

 

My wife takes her Subaru to Sam's club for tire rotation. I would have been reluctant to have them work on her car until I watched them at work through the glass panel to the shop. They rotate and spin balance and even spin again after placing weights to assure accuracy. I mention the second spin because I haven't seen other shops do that. When installing, they do the final tightening with a torque wrench.

(When I asked a local tire shop about their use of a torque wrench, their response was that they didn't have time for that. We don't go there anymore.)

Sam's charge for this is $15.00. This is not a money making operation for them but it does impress members and encourages continuing shopping at their store.

I do the rotation on the Mini myself and find that it's very easy since the wheels are so light. Actually I did the first rotation 2 days ago and took the opportunity to wash the back side of the wheels and added a touch of anti-seize to the torx screw that maintains the brake rotor when a wheel is off. This was at 5,000 miles. I've rotated the wheels on the Subaru, but at my age those wheels are heavy. That car is 10 years old and I have noticed that the wheels get heavier with each year that passes.

 

everyone has been most helpful! I have previously gotten tires from Costco, and with a purchase, rotation is included. I am not in need of new tires yet, though, so until I reach that point, I will rotate them myself at home.

Thanks!

 

As linked in post #3 above, get the right tools - the wheel alignment tools - and a torque wrench. Re-check your torque after 50 miles of having wheels installed. 103ft lbs for your 2010.

Wheels can and do come loose, especially new wheels. Had wheels come loose that a tire shop installed, they had torqued them incorrectly to the lesser Gen 1 torque spec, and never mentioned they would need re-torque after 50 miles.

 

My husband and I completed the tire rotation yesterday and it went pretty smoothly. We purchased a real jack, 2 jack stands, chock blocks and the calibrated torque wrench. While the wheels were off, I cleaned them thoroughly and inspected the tread. I was surprised to see how far the tread wore on the front wheels after only 7500 miles. My previous car tires were always rotated at that interval, and that was fine. But for this car, I may rotate a bit sooner, perhaps around 5000 miles. After we were done, we checked the torque afterward with a calibrated torque wrench to the manual specs of 103.3. I will recheck the torque again next weekend to make sure the nuts remain tight. Thanks for all your help!

 

Recheck torque after about 50 miles or so . ( I know you already read that earlier, just a kind reminder)

 

By the way, tire rotation on the Mini is not only not covered but not recommended. I am a die hard tire rotator but I am pondering BMW/Mini recommendation on this. My present set of Conties will be run IAW BMW/Mini's thought process. If I die because of it I will let you all know

 

it works into "cost of ownership" calculations done by third parties, which makes them look less competitive. I think BMW plays exactly this game, and indeed run at least radio ads touting these kinds of supposed cost of ownership stats. Similarly, if you put it on the recommended service list, then it normally gets swept up in the free maintenance interval. Thus, when Audi offered "free" service for years, similarly tire rotation magically disappeared.

Among the basic reasons I don't buy into claims of things not needing to be done to extend longevity, and especially if underlying suppliers recommend differently. "Lifetime" fluids is another example.

 

Not sure if the language has changed, but MINI does not recommend swapping the front wheels to the rear wheels. This would be consistent with the recommendation that new tires go on the rear axle, even on a front wheel drive vehicle. The manual is silent as far as tire rotation.

 

the manual syas that tires MAY be rotated. Permissive language means its up to the driver to decide. My front tires are worn enough that I am not comfortable with them being in the front anymore. The rains here in South Florida can be really crazy, and I feel better having rotated them from front to back.

 

thanks for the reminder!