So we bought our(her ) "2014" MINI this past June and have been driving it since this last August.
Our first service is schedule for 8,000 miles.
But we are approaching 5,000 miles, I'm very diligent with our cars, and with newer cars I always do an oil change every 5,000 miles using fully synthetic oil regardless of what the maker recommends. Now being new to MINI I'm not sure what their 3yrs/36,000 miles no cost maintenance program includes or does not...

Can I schedule an oil change every 5,000miles at no cost or do I have to pay for it?
What Oil do they use and will they charge me more for Fully synthetic?


Can anyone shed some light on this for me before I contact my service manager.

thx, Greg

 

The dealer only gives me an oil change every 10k miles on their dime. A lot of members here change their own. The oil needs to be fully synthetic. Do some searching on this forum, you'll find lots of threads on this subject.

 

wow! 10k miles . . . Are you serious. That's ridiculous.

I always try to do some search but the forum isn't particularly easy to search i'll keep digging.
Thanks!

 

The dealer will only do the included maintenance in the "free" program when the OBC indicates it is due (or one year). If you want to do a shorter interval, you will have to pay for it. If you do a paid oil change, make sure the OBC is not reset if you are covered by the maintenance program.

The dealer should use MINI branded oil which is a special mix of Castrol synthetic.

 

You should have a service and warranty booklet with you MINI, that will tell you what services are included.

Its either as the computer recommends, or an annual oil change if you don't drive that far. We tend to get the annual oil changes as we only drive 6-8k per year.

 

You will have better results using google or YouTube, IMO. An oil change is pretty straight forward on these cars. It's just a bit of a challenge to reach the oil filter if you have a turbo, but not that big of deal. Goodluck!

Sent from my iPhone using NAMotoring

 

I went to look for it and there it was. I should have known. It was quite informative.

. . . and yes it states that intermittent services are NOT included.

Also something that was very interesting is the system apparently calculates the amount of service needed based on how the car is driven (city or highway, stop-go or cruising, idles, cold starts, etc...). This may explain why ours is 8,000 miles versus someone else who mentioned 10,000 since we are doing a lot of city driving. In addition I suspect the first interval would have been done sooner anyway as a precaution. I could be wrong.

It also states the Oil to be used though it does't clearly state fully synthetic. I know some oils are partially synthetic oils.


Anyway thanks for the feedback on this. now I have to decide what to do... ask them to do it or do it myself. I usually bit the bullet and let them do the work while the car is under warranty (while its new).

 

At one time it was 15K miles! A contributing factor for the timing chain failures on the N14. Oil and filter every 5K and check your oil level at least weekly. Let the dealer change it when they think it needs it, but for <$40, it's cheap insurance to make sure it's changed at 5k yourself. Filter from the dealer or online and Mobil 1 0W40 from Walmart @$24 for a 5 quart jug. Just my opinion.

 

There is an old wives tale (sorry ladies!!) that oil need top be changed at XXX miles that is based on the old engine and lubricant technology of the 50's Too many still subscribe to it and so many of them are the "keep it for three and throw it away" crowd. I once owned a mid 90's BMW 740il that had a mileage minder for oil changes. IIRC it would often let me go for 7-8K and more before requiring a change. Oil failure is probably the LEAST likely reason for an engine to die.

 

You are new here aren't you?

I do a topside oil evac, and refill half way through my "free factory" cycle. Let them mess with a drain and filter. The key is the oil.

That said I made it to 8k on the factory original CBS. They reset it to 7k as my next change. I like my dealer.

 

The only way the long oil change interval may have contributed to the timing chain problems is if people were letting their oil levels get too low because they didn't understand the difference between checking their oil and changing their oil.

 

Do whatever the OBC tells you, I've been running up to 24,000 miles between changes.



Nik