I assumed it was at 7500mi but I havent really been paying attention to the "Service interval" message every morning when I start my car. I noticed today i was at 7600mi and the service interval reads "3400mi" Could my first 'mini' oil change really be at 10000 miles? Or did I just pass it at 7500?

 

the first scheduled service on my '02 MCS was around 10000 miles
the first scheudled service on my '06 MC was at around 9000 miles

You haven't passed your first servicing yet. Take it in when the mileage indicator tells you to. In the meantime, check your oil level and add oil if you need to.

 

That would be 11,000 but it varies depending on driving style - I am just over 11000 and have about 500 left to go - doing it tomorrow. Will be 362 days of ownership.

 

Officially they will not change the oil unless it is within 1000 miles of the indicator. D&R here in Indy said not to call to schedule untill you are within 100 miles of the indicator.

The catch that applies in jreaney's case is that if the car is over 1 year old and the indicator still doesn't say it is time, they will go ahead and do the oil change.

Something else to remember the miles untill service number is calculated on how hard you push the engine. If you baby it all the time, it calculates a longer service life. If you drive the Dragon aggressively every day or your MINI is a Phil Wicks race MINI... It calculates a much shorter shorter service life.

 

10K or 365 days, which ever comes first.

 

yeah who'd a thunk it...going so long without an oil change on a Chrysler engine....
But, i do as my car message screen tells me

p.s. Sorry about the bad "C" word

 

It also depends on whether you have a lot of highway miles or sit in traffic a lot.

 

Took it in 11,054 miles and 1 year of happy motoring. They changed oil, filter and such - put in new wiper blades (thought they were ok imho).

They also programmed the DME - 21-02 for a defect code 12-14-90-35-00 (cold stumble on first startup). Dont know how this will work. But will let the group know. Anyone else have 21-02???

 

My indicator went to 12,660 miles!

Like you, I was brought up with the notion that oil should be changed every 3000 miles, 5000 at the most. So for me to wait 12,660 miles for my FIRST OIL CHANGE(!!!) was very difficult.

In fact, I called my dealership, and they flat-out told me to not even bother coming in until the indicator read 0 miles! They wouldn't let me come in early.

So it depends on your dealer. Some will allow you to come in within 1000 miles of when your car's indicator tells you to come in, others, like mine, are more strict.

 

I just had my first oil service yesterday. I called and made the appointment when I had 1025 on the count down. It actually read 525 when I took it in (went on a road trip over the long weekend). I think my total mileage was around 11,200.

When they reset the service count down it now starts at 15500.

 

Actually, it is when the counter reads 0 miles remaining (which as others have posted could be + or - from the 10K mile interval based on driving conditions. You are correct about the 365 days if the car is not driven much.

 

Called Hank Arron Minin in Atlanta. She said it had to read at 0. However, I live at least 5 hours away from a dealer. If I wait, Iwill be over. It says i have 2,100 miles to go with 9548 miles on the car. How far over can you go and do they make exceptions?

 

Any particular reason why you didn't ask the SA what over/under-age it could be? If you are wanting to take the car to a particular dealer, you will be playing by their rules, regardless of whether those rules are imposed by MINI or the dealer. So, back to my original question: did the SA give you a range? Typically, if you bring it in with say, 50 miles left, the SA won't refuse to service the car. If it were my car and they refused to service it with 50 miles left on the counter, I would take the matter up with the Service Manager. Or, I would go to another dealer.

 

I brought mine in after 1 yr (annual state inspection)...only had 5000 miles on it but dealer did "low mileage oil change"...(oil/filter, and new wiper blades)...I was pleasantly surprised because I didn't expect it...fuel mileage seemed to improve after that, too.

 

MINI will change your oil every year for free REGARDLESS of what the indicator says. I know because they did it for me. Free.

 

Does anybody change their own oil? While under warranty I don't mind driving the distance to have an oil change, but once I'm out of warranty I don't want to have to pay out the wazoo to do something I can do.

 

Yes, first time is the most difficult but if you have changed oil in other cars, it's shouldn't be a problem. You'll probably need to purchase the socket to get the filter housing off. Very detailed directions (including tool requirements) are given on another post (link attached.) Total cost is about $8.00 for the filter plus oil. Which oil to use is another debat but you must use full synthetic which will run $20.00 to $40.00 depending on brand.
http://www.tech-esq.com/MINI/MINIOilChange.htm

 

Yep I change my own. I did the first one at 2,000 & will change again at 6,000. When the counter says it's time I'll let the dealer do it. Then I'll do it at 15,000 & so on. I just can't bring myself to drive 10,000 miles before an oil change. It's not very hard to change the oil on the MINI. There are a couple of good write ups available here if you search.

 

Yep I change my own. I did the first one at 2,000 & will change again at 6,000. When the counter says it's time I'll let the dealer do it. Then I'll do it at 15,000 & so on. I just can't bring myself to drive 10,000 miles before an oil change. It's not very hard to change the oil on the MINI. There are a couple of good write ups available here if you search

I plan on exactly the same intervals for the same reasons. Purchased 2 oil filters when I picked up the car (dealer 120 miles away.) First one was at 2099 miles and it will see another around 6000. When the Mini goes in for the free oil change, I'll pick up another filter.

 

There is no way, I can wait for 10K of miles before the first oil change..I will call the dealer and pay for an oil change at 5K.

 

You have to understand that the MINI uses synthetic oil. Conventional oil would never offer such a long duration inbetween change intervals.

This holds true for other bmw's. My m3 is scheduled for changes every 15,000

 

Yes I understand it has synthetic in there. I just can't bring myself to go that long. It's ok with me if you do though.

 

I am one of those people that can't wait the full duration before the counter says to change the oil and filter. Especially for the first iteration while the engine is breaking in. I changed the oil and filter myself at the 1,250 mile (2,000 km) point; and again at 5,000 miles.