However, the MINI only has 8800 miles on the clock. I got to thinking I had better get to 10,000 before the 3 year warranity runs out so I can get my free oil change

 

congrats. Im still at like 15k miles and bought it 9/03... so I need to drive more this year too.

 

The dealer should change it as indicated by the service level indicator or after one year, whichever comes first.

 

Well I have topped off the oil a couple of times. One of the things for 05 that I plan on doing more of, was to drive the MINI at least 1000 miles a month:smile: I know, I know. I just baby this car way more than I should, but I plan on keeping it for a long time. There are only a few smooth roads here in OKLA and that accounts for the low miles for the MINI. As much fun as it is to drive, I just don't want to trash the car out on our crappy roads. Rattles suck big time

 

Your right! You should change the oil at least once a year or when the indicator tells you to.

Once a year seems to be the most common around here! :smile:

 

Yes once a year is the MAXIMUM interval for synthetic oils. I think for regular oil it's 4 months.

 

Also, make sure you get your brakes bled and fresh fluid. The MINI service booklet says this needs to be done at 2 years, regardless of mileage.

 

What are the negative effects of NOT doing this????

 

I believe brake fluid absorbes water over time and will corrode the brake lines and components

 

Since your brake fluid absorbs water, and if you have used your car on the track for any length of time, you get poorer braking performance. You can even develop rust in you system (I have been told). My 2002 MCS is also fairly low mileage, I just turned 20,500, I had the oil/filter and the brake fluid changed as part of the maintenance agreement (I did point out to the dealer that the service interval was 2 years on brake fluid). The dealer agreed. The reason I brought this up is on my wife's 2000 323i, I did not point out that the brake fluid needs changing at 2 years, so they didn't do this service when I had this car in for it's last "oil service" (different dealership however). I learned the hardway (it's $50 to $100 to have this done outside the maintenance agreement).

 

Brake fluid is hygroscopic, for the benefit of all ya vocabulary builders!

MINI 2005 Owner's Manual (I luv quoting it, it's like bragging that I read the thing) mentions the once a year regardless of mileage thing (or when the service interval says so, it's a whichever-comes-first thing). And no, I aint telling you the page number, because it's late and I'm surly, and you (yes you and you too) really ought to RTFM! :smile: At a MINIMUM, you can get the satisfaction of knowing where it's flat out WRONG like the dipstick diagram for example .

They ought to know better than to let those Owner's Manuals fall into the hands of professional technical documentation writers. I'm going to send MINI the assembly instructions from my gas grill, but not until AFTER I get my Care Pkg),
Tatt

 

The bigger problem with absorbsion of water in the brake fliud is that it lowers the boiling point of the fluid over rust in the system. Boiling brakes = poor performance or failure. Doesn't matter if ou have driven the car on the track or not, old fluid that has absorbed a bunch of water is not good. Best advice is to change the fluid every two years

 

Thanks to the above posters concerning the brake fliud. I will get that checked out and go ahead and have the oil changed also.

 

My dealer did at the one year mark, but he added some miles on the PO for some reason. Because BMW won't?

regards,
Red