TO MY MINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My mini turned a year old today and I had to work late so I didn't even get to take her for a nice spin around the block to celebrate . Just over 7000 miles isn't too bad though for a year. Do you think I should bring my Mini in for its first service or wait for the service reminder thing to reach zero? Right now it says 3250 left till service due but by that time it will be new years!! Tell me what you guys think and dont forget to wish her a happy birthday. Also any presents for her would be highly recommended, as everyone loves presents on their birthday .
Happy Motoring To All,
Steve

 

Happy Birthday!! How about a funny decal or two for it, you know, dress it up a little. I dont mind a funny shirt or two on my birthday

 

Happy B'day to your MINI, Steve! You are entitled to an annual oil service, whether you hit the number on the prompter or not. Give your dealership a call.

 

Thanks Guys,
So I'm not supposed to wait till the service reminder hits zero? I guess its either when the prompter hits zero or a year comes up whichever comes first correct? One other thing, do any of you know where Mini stands on tire rotations? Do they cover that as part of their yearly service or any service for that matter or is it up to the customer? I didn't see any mention of tire rotations in the owners manual.
Thanks,
Steve

 

The oil service under MINI maintenance is every year or until the service indicator counts down, whichever comes first. Schedule an appointment with your dealer.

As for the tire rotations, it doesn't say anything in the owners manual about it but I'd recommend doing it. On my 03 MCS I wore down a set of front tires while the rears stayed at almost full tread from not rotating. I also have almost 7k on my 06 MINI and I've had it 4 1/2 months.

 

Steve, do the tire rotation yourself! (I rotate my tires every 5k miles...they wear much better that way.) The dealership does not include it, and it's not cheap! :impatient

 

Happy Birfday Mini!!

 

when you rotate them, what tire goes where?

 

Thanks for the help, I'll be scheduling my service this week sometime and make sure to bring my car into work and rotate my tires....its too bad Mini doesn't mention anything about rotations considering the price of the tires that they put on these vehicles. Oh well just one more reason to get some rims and summer tires for cruising.
Thanks Again,
Steve

 

They're directional tires so front left swaps with rear left, front right swaps with rear right.

 

No I know that. I work at a dealer right around the corner from my Mini dealer so I can just go to work on our day off and put it up on the lift and rotate them myself. Our shop has come in very handy many a times when doing work on my vehicles.

 

Oh, that's great! That makes it really simple for you! Cool!

 

That's how I've always rotated tires on my vehicles too and so far good luck. I've also read that cross rotating belted tires is not good for them becuase the belts get "worn" in one direction and cross rotating changes the direction of the tire and can cause vibrations as well as uneven wear

Steve

 

Ours turned Two yesterday. You know those terrible TWO's.

 

Would you happen to have the torque specs for the lug bolts?

 

They say 75 lb.

 

Do you have the Bentley Manual for your MINI? Here's what it says:

Tightening torque, wheel to wheel hub is 89 plus or minus 7 ft-lb, so about 90 ft-lb.

 

A bonus for the do-it-yourself tire rotation is that all you need is an inexpensive floor jack, which is easily capable of lifting an entire side of the MINI at a time. I rotate mine in my own garage in less time than it would take me to drive to a shop with a lift.

Oh, and you need a torque wrench and a tube of "anti-stick" so your wheels don't get fused to the rotors.

 

A name would be a nice gift (if not now).
What's wrong with me? I motored 18k my first year.

 

Yeah unfortunately I suck at names so I just dont bother plus I'm gonna trade "her" in like a rental after the four years because I just can't bring myself to spend money fixing "her" at the price of BMW parts and $110/hour at the dealer!!!!!!!! So I'm just gonna stick with the warranty and maybe get a car that my dealership sells. Its just that much easier to deal with.
As for the miles, my last truck which I still have got about the same mileage as your Mini did the first year I had it. Traveling back and forth to college 110 miles a day added up the miles quickly. So I try to drive my truck often to keep the miles down on the Mini and hopefully keep "her" value up.

Steve