Just got home from my appointment at the dealership.

I have about 14K miles on my '02 MC, and it's not time for my 25K service yet, but I wanted to get an oil change. Obviously, you have to pay for the servicing that's not "dealer recommended." I was surprised at the pricing.

-- Oil Change 129.00!
-- Tire rotation 139.00!

I decided to just have the fluids topped off, and change the oil myself next weekend.

I also picked up a screw in my left front tire last weekend, and I took it down to Goodyear tires and they patched it. When I told the service guy this, he said that technically they aren't able to be repaired....

-- A replacement runflat tire (from the dealer) 300.00!!!

That's just absurd, but that's BMW labor pricing for ya... I decided when I have to get new tires, I'm gonna just get new rims and some performance tires.

Anyway, just wanted to rant a bit

 

Tire rotatation at the dealership in Kansas City cost $65. Not sure about the oil change. Sounds like your dealer needed some lunch money! :smile:

 

Go to Discount Tire , they'll rotate your tires for free!

 

Wow! Desert MINI actually a bargain for something! They wanted $20 to rotate my tyres when I had my 10k oil change done. I told them to forget it. Did it myself and 20 mins at home.
A cheapie trolley jack under the standard jack point will lift the whole side of the car up so you can remove both wheels.

 

for 129.00 dollars you could change your oil yourself 4 times!!!

You should really learn to do the minor stuff yourself. You could save a lot of money that way.

Be glad you don't track your cars!

My supercharged M3 (330 rwhp 287 rwtrq) costs a lot to track and maintain. Luckily I do a lot of the work (maintainence) mysefl.

brake pads
fluids
tires

can add up when you're running through them like they are going out of style. Imagine if I had to pay someone to do these things.

 

kapolani - spot-on! Maintain your MINI/BMW yourself as much as possible, and the financial load will be dramatically lightened. Oil changes, tire rotations, brake jobs, and rattle fixes all should be done personally. These "frivolous" items add up in a big way at the dealership.

Also - It's plain stupid to buy tires from your dealership. You local Discount Tire (or other specialized tire shop, and better yet: Tire Rack) not only has the correct tools, but competitive pricing, and (gasp) a selection!

$0.02,
Ryan

 

Wow! I paid for my first oil change ($70 at Niello MINI local dealer) and had a much needed tire rotation for all of $20...it was all worth paying for at the time...

I am planning to do oil changes myself in the future, and I have changed my tires myself, but for $20 sometimes its worth--it gets done! instead of being "on my list"...

Do you live where there might be another dealer within a reasonable distance?
Its not very fun to get gouged...might be worth establishing a relationship with a different dealer, even if meant a drive (why not??? )

Good luck!

 

I got one extra oil change done at the dealer (Towson, MD) and it was $45. I am approaching 40k miles and, so far, thats the only money i've spent on maintenence. Of course I've spent a ton on aftermarket mods and repairs from my run-in with a guard rail.

 

Costco also rotates tires free, they even balanced them for me for $5 on my olds
:smile: I think the cost for an oil change, 1st one (buying rhino ramps) ~$60, 2nd one, maybe ~$25 w/filter. plus the :smile: of a job done well! Many FAQ's on this site about changing your oil...

tires- go to alex @ tire-rack. He'll do you right!
The Tire Rack

 

Incredible prices.....I hope no one pays to have this stuff done. Even at $100/hr. labor a tire rotation shouldn't be more than $20, ( which is still way too much).


Do it yourself, it's easy! :smile:


R.E.

 

What happened to my post.

I went to discount tire and got Ace Alura 17x7.5s and Yokohama AVS ES100s with liftime roadzard - free replacement free rotation and balancing flat repair along with lug bolts and locks for $1,060.80 plus tax which in CA comes to $1,138.36 out the door.

 

Yeah, I decided to do the oil change and tire rotation myself, I was just asking the service advisor how much those items are. Obviously, they're too much.

And Rye, of course I would never buy a tire from the dealer. As you said, that's just stupid

 

Being a disabled senior citizen with an uncovered parking space and lots of rules at my condo, doing most anything to my Mini myself is not an option.

My car came 7/1/02 and I have an appointment to have the oil changed on Wed. and was told that since it's over one year (but only 5600 miles), it would be covered.

But for the future, is there a reason my regular (from previous car) mechanic cannot change the oil??? Do I need to buy special oil from the dealer or elsewhere and could he do it then? When my windshield wipers suddenly shredded, neither he, Napa or Checker had replacements.

Sorry, this is my first new car since 1969, and first "exotic" one. I appreciate all the help on this site.

 

Your mechanic should be able to pull off the oil change. The only "specialty" tool is a short 36mm socket ($7 at Sears). As long as the car is covered by the warranty I think it's wise to use MINI parts and oil. These will run you about $25 or $30 from the dealer and you'll have the piece of mind that'll be 2 less things any troubles can be blamed on if it comes down to a warranty issue.

 

Sylvia,

All of us are here to help you out if you need it. There are a lot of MINI enthusiasts in your neck of the woods.

As for oil changes, you will need the correct weight synthetic oil. Costco Iwilei carries Mobil 1 which I use and I the correct weight for the car.

Maybe at the next MINI & a Movie we can get together to plan a DIY session.

 

Tell me about it My Mini costed me nearly 10k worth of parts in only eight months It's a good thing I maintain it myself

_________________

 

>>My car came 7/1/02 and I have an appointment to have the oil changed on Wed. and was told that since it's over one year (but only 5600 miles), it would be covered.

Given that the first oil change should be roughly 10-12K miles or about one year then you are just about due based on time alone. You do need to check that the oil level stays good in between oil changes.

>>But for the future, is there a reason my regular (from previous car) mechanic cannot change the oil??? Do I need to buy special oil from the dealer or elsewhere and could he do it then? When my windshield wipers suddenly shredded, neither he, Napa or Checker had replacements.

You next oil change will be in about 15,000 miles or roughly 1.5 years or you could have your mechanic change the oil at one year from now.

Just buy for your mechanic, the oil filter cannister and O-ring, 5 quarts of full synthetic oil (BMW recommends Castrol but many of us use Mobil 1, Redline or Amsoil). Have your tires rotated at Costco if you are a member and check your fluid levels.

 

>>Just buy for your mechanic, the oil filter cannister and O-ring, 5 quarts of full synthetic oil (BMW recommends Castrol but many of us use Mobil 1, Redline or Amsoil). Have your tires rotated at Costco if you are a member and check your fluid levels.

Thanks so much for the valuable information

 

Minihune is absolutely right. Buy the oil and filter and go somewhere else. Anything over $55 for the oil change is excessive. What dealer are you going to? He SHOULD be mentioned here in this forum. We need to separate the price gougers from the reasonably priced ones.

 

You can get the OEM filter at Classic Campus for about $6.50, you can get Mobile One at Walmart for about $20.00. For about $26.50 and 30 minutes of work you can get it done yourself, and in my opinion it will probably be done a whole lot better and with more pride.

I found the 16" OEM runflats for $159 at tirerack and had the tires put on for $10 at a local shop. they also rotated the tires for free.

 

You should do the oil change yourself as it only takes about 20 minutes and around $30.00 for the oil and filter. Tire rotations can be done by pretty much any tire shop for next to nothing.

I recommend The Tire Rack for the runflats. My 16"'s ran $117.00 each + $9.00 for shipping and ran $30.00 per tire for the local recommended shop to install and balance with new valves which is about half of what the dealer charges.

 

What would you guys recommend for jacks?

Do you guys recommend buying the little pedestals that you drive up on with the front wheels? Or will that cause it to be too slanted?

Thanks...

 

I use the aluminum racing jack from Checker. I bought it for $199, but prices kept changing and last I saw it was $189 WITH aluminum jack stands. For teh same price, Sears has a really nice 2 ton aluminum jack.

It's good to have jack stands and rhino ramps.

Here's another racing jack for $99! I don't jhave it but a friend does and it is comparable to the Checker jack. http://www.softwareandstuff.com/misc_alumracingjk.html

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Despite what others may think, I'm here to help.

 

DUDE!!! I was charged $57 at long beach MINI for an oil change...

 

My oil/filter change cost me $49.92 (31.03 for parts, 14.20 for labor, 1.42 misc., 3.27 tax) at my dealer. They wanted about 50 bucks to rotate the tires, which included balancing. I passed on that because I was planning to get new wheels and tires anyway.

I ended up getting rims, tires and a torque wrench from Tirerack. I'll be rotating my tires myself now. The MINI jack that came with the car is pretty great, very easy to use. Even having to use a spare to rotate isn't that big of a problem and it doesn't cost a thing.