I ask because in just about 1000 miles my 04 MC CVT will go in for its 10k mile service. I have the a CAI and aftermarket rims on my car and I know they will give me a problem with that. Such as they might say they won't touch my engine if a problem arises and there is a CAI there. Also if they are to rotate my wheels they might not touch then being aftermarket.

Now I have taken my MC in for some minor things I complained about, including having something programmed. At that time I removed the CAI and reinstalled the stock airbox but I left the aftermarket wheels on.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for this? I do have all my original Mini parts including wheels, tires and airbox. I have these because my car is leased and I know I need to return the car to its original state when I return it.

Thanks in advance.

 

Just as a heads up i had a problem with my 04 mcs with aftermaket wheels. I had asked for them to "rotate" my tires, durning the first 10k service. I then came back to a bill of 80 clams for rotation and balnce. I was told rotating isn't included in the serivce and they wheren't factory wheels so it wasn't there responsablity.
I would leave the wheels on but just ask for just a tire rotation and see if there is a charge for it. If so just ask if they do and brake checks while in service. If so they should remove the wheels to check. then all the have o do is roll the tires to the front and vice versa. I hope this helps

Motor ON!
Mike

 

I haven't had any problems whatsoever with my dealer and my mods- I think we are playing "don't ask - don't tell"

So far so good- But I think every dealer is different
-S

 

Well I just assume a tire rotation is part of the 10k serivce. I can do one myself. I have a floor jack and stands. Its no biggy, I popped my aftermarket wheels on myself. I plan on popping my wheels off just to make sure there is no issues. I'm not in the mood for any extra cost or headaches.

 

Take it to MINI of Towson if you want to avoid the headache of mod-paranoia.

They won't fuss about it...

Marty

 

Thats an idea, but one heck of a drive for me. I will take it into consideration though.

 

The only thing Ive heard regarding mods and normal service...is to remove your strut tower brace if you have one. It gets in the way during an oil change, and they may charge you for the 10 seconds it takes to remove it. Just what Ive heard.

 

When I picked up my MC a couple weeks ago my husband and I started talking to the the Service Advisor. We asked him about tire rotation. He said MINI recommends rotating every 10,000 and that rotation IS NOT COVERED under the free service maintenance, even if you made no aftermarket changes. He said you can have the rotation done anywhere to save some money. And, of course, you can do it yourself.

 

Speaking of tire rotation, I actually read that MINI did not recommend rotating the tires for these vehicles. I either saw that in the owners manual or Bentley service manual. First time I'd seen that for any car.

It would be a shame if you get a hassle because of a CAI or aftermarket wheels, but each dealer is different from the sound of it.

 

Tire Rotation is not part of the 10k service.
Don't ask me why. It cost me $40 when I took mine in... I just paid for it since I live in a condo and it is sometimes a pain to do these things for myself
Course I have stock wheels I have no idea why it would make it more expensive if you did not... but whatever.
Good Luck

 

You don't even need the jack stands. If you put your floor jack under the front jack point, you can lift the front and the rear of the car easily.

 

I don't remove any mods when I take Alice into the dealership. At my 10k service, I asked them about rotating the tyres and they told me it would be $30, so I did it myself. As Scotteast said, the front jack point lifts the entire side of the car, rotating all 4 took me about 15 mins.

 

MM2 only goes to the dealership for warranty issues; I service him myself (wow, the intonation! )

 

Rye, what size exhaust pipes does MM2 have?

 

CAI and aftermarket wheels can be left on and not be a problem for most dealerships.

The reason for removing aftermarket wheels is to protect the rims from casual incidental damage.

In any case tire rotation at any interval is not covered and your cost to do it will vary from dealership to dealership. I'd suggest doing it yourself or get a MINI club friend to help you.

Strut tower brace or any other aftermarket item that blocks any access to engine bay or battery (aftermarket subwoofer) may cause you to be charged for their removal and reinstallation. I've been charged for both.

If you have an electrical problem you would do well to return all electrical systems in the MINI back to stock. The dealership cannot troubleshoot if there are many electrical add ons present. This may include aftermarket alarms and extra lights or light mods.

 

Ask around to MINI dealers in your area, and see if they are mod-friendly. There usually are a few out there of each kind of vehicle dealerships. But even then, they'll have a limit as to what they'll accept, and then on top, you'd still be liable if something DID go wrong as a reuslt of your mods.
Then there are the dealers that are real picky, and will try to blame problems on your mods even when it has nothing to do with the problem, just to get you off modding it out.
Normal logic is that "If you can't afford to payout repairs, don't mod it." I think that's personally pretty lame if you have a problem with the car due to modded parts (for example), take off all your modded parts and return it to stock just to keep yourself under warranty. That's not the problem of the dealership or MINI. It's a result of your choice, and you should be responsible for your own actions. If you want to risk it, get ready to pay for it your own self.
Most dealers won't have an issue with an intake filter and wheels, as they are very low risk mods for anything going wrong. But there are the more strict dealerships out there that don't tolerate it at all.
Also, I brought up an example a little while back of a member on a Subaru forum, when this was last discussed. This punk kid modded the hell outta his WRX and it blew up big time because he didn't know what he was doing by how to mod the right way, thus totalling his engine. Tows it home, after getting denied at the first dealership that wouldn't do anything due to modded parts. He puts back all the stock parts and goes to a different dealer. The new dealer was going to replace the engine under warranty. Then he comes back on the forums and starts braggin about how stupid they were to do it and how cool he thought he was that he's getting a new engine and so on. Then someone on the Subaru forum informed Subaru of this guy and what he just did. The denied him any coverage and flagged his car for any other dealership he may go to. Thing was, he was a real loser about it all, and that's why someone ratted him out. Because he thought he was the **** by screwing over the dealer and Subaru. But I think it was fair what he got in the end, which was a hefty repair bill that he has to dish out. He got what he deserved. It was due to his own lack of knowledge and the fact that he took the risk of modding. I wouldn't go ratting someone out on here or anywhere, but there are MINI dealerships and MINI head honchos on here that may read this and do something about it if you feel like trying to sucker out a dealer or MINI for some new parts and warranty issues. It's kinda like robbing a bank and then unknowingly brag about it after right in front of a cop that you didn't know was there.
Mod at your own risk. Can't afford the risk, don't do it. If you know that your dealer will give you problem with it all, then that's YOUR problem. If you find a dealer that's mod-friendly then you're clear.........that is until, if something goes wrong as a result of the modded part.
Just my two cents.
Cheers,

 

MINI-MadMan and all the other responses are very helpful. I will contact local dealers and see what they say about mods. Depending on their responses I will see about removing my mods. Thanks everyone !!

 

I wanted to add that not all dealerships even know anything about mods. I took Alice in for the recent software recall, and when I got him back, my drivers side brake lights were only about 40% as bright as the passenger side.
While the dealership had the car, they must have noticed the "brake light mod" and wondered why my top brake light came on, so they took the light assembly out to look at it. Then when they put it back in, they did it wrong, with the wires in front of the panel so the board couldn't click back into place. I was very annoyed when I worked out what happened.

 

Hmm... I'm not sure about this strategy-

It's better to ask for forgivness than permission- I have a feeling that any dealer, when presented with the question "do mods void my warranty" - may be forced to answer according to BMW policy. Just a thought. I seriously doubt that modest modifications such as air intake, wheels- even springs would pose any sort of problem - but i certainly wouldnt point them out to the dealer

Just my two cents

-S

 

Let me guess, heated garage?

Since I did not want to lift the car with all the snow around in 8 degree weather, I asked the dealer to rotate them (I do it every 5k) while they were replacing my window motor. $40! They said a "certified BMW tech did it", and their hourly rate is $130.

So far it's the only money I had to lay out.

regards,
Red