OK, so this question will probably keep me in neutral for a very long time, lol, but I have to ask. I got a 03 MCS like 2 weeks ago without an owner's manual, so I'm learning all the stuff by just playing around with it. Buuut... I'm a little confused at the Oil meter that tells you when to get an oil change. I'm guessing it counts down? Because when I bought the car it said 8,000 and now its down to like 7 something.

I know to use synthetic and that lasts a little longer than the normal 3,000 miles... but 8,000? How do you read that oil meter?

And while I'm here, any other little surprises I should know about that would be in the manual? :impatient

 

You are reading that correctly -- you still have 7k miles to the next one. MINIs do not need 3k-mile oil changes. Many on this site will tell you that you should go ahead and change it more frequently than recommended, and you certainly can -- but I've only been changing the oil on my BMW on the recommended 15k intervals, and it's still running strong at 120k miles.

For info about your car, check: (warning: you must have a lot of time to kill)

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=61035

99% of this stuff is straight out of the owner's manual.

 

it counts down


From MINI:
"We use a bit of rocket science to keep your MINI going like one. Sensors and cutting-edge algorithms monitor every aspect of the new MINI’s engine to guarantee that servicing is carried out only when absolutely necessary, rather than at fixed intervals."

if you track the car, you should do it a little more often...but for normal driving its fine.

 

Welcome--I got an 03 a couple of months ago and hope you love your's as much as I love mine!!

The "oil change count down" is a BMW thing. And, the intervals seems really long to me--my other vehicle is a Ford F250 Diesel and it REQUIRES a change every 5000 miles. With the Mini, I plan on changing the oil every 5000 miles regardless of what the count down suggests...with 5W30 (or 5W40) synthetic.

So what does the manual say? Let me go get mine and I'll tell you...

Ok, I 'm back; the owner's manual points you to the Warranty Booklet for oil change intervals. Before I get there, p. 60 states the display shows the remaining distance for an oil change and will flash and by adding a minus sign (-) in front of the number if you exceed the change interval. So, on to the Service and Warranty Booklet.

Let me begin me begin by thanking you for giving me this opportunity to look at this booklet and the owner's manual. Even after researching your question, I still can't figure out why everyone says the glove box is refrigerated. That is the question I really want to answer. But I won't steal your thread.

So, here's is you answer--the warranty book does not address your question directly. On p. 3, the author/coproration explains that the maintenance system countdown (not just oil changes) is based on driving style. Allegedly, the system rewards owners by maximizing service intervals and saving money IF they drive the vehicle carefully (alright, I paraphrased--the booklet says something about the interval being maximized with considerable savings to owners of vehicles subject to light duty).

Hoppy Easter!

 

Man, all of you beat me to the punch, but yes it is a countdown you are looking at. On my car (if I remember correctly), the first oil change came at approximately 10,000 (not a typo) miles, then the intervals switched to about 15,000 miles. I say about and approximately because it does base it on how hard you drive. If I'm not mistaken it really calculates this by overall fuel consumption (even on cars without on-board computers), naturally the more fuel you burn through, the harder you drive or more city driving you do, necessitating more frequent oil changes.

There are many discussions on here about those intervals, and many change the oil more often than that, including me. I split the difference, I got my first oil change at 5000, and the subsequent ones at 7500 intervals. While I'm not of the school that the factory intervals will hurt the car, I also know that changing oil more often DEFINITELY will not either!

douc: the glovebox has a duct connected to the air-con (or heater) inside of it, you can turn it off or on to get air to flow into it or close it off. It's located on the left had side of the glove box, and it's controlled by a dial-like switch. Climate controlled would be more accurate terminology than refrigerated though.

 

I can tell you this is true -- at least from my BMW experience. After I'd drive the car for a while, it might say that there are 10000 miles left before service. Then my wife would drive it for a couple days (she drives a lot less aggresively), and the car would say that there now were 10500 left before service.

 

Refigerated, well not really. There is a vent located in lower right side of the glove box connected to the HVAC system. With AC on it's kept cool, when heat is on it warms the glove box.

 

that's what that is--I wasn't sure what that was. I thought it had something to do with the IPOD!

 

you can get a PDF of the owners manual on Miniusa.com

 

you guys are great... thanks for making my "embarrassing question" a little easier to swallow.

and yea, doug -- i was wondering the same thing! btw, thanks for breaking out the manual and doing all the hard work for me. appreciate it.

 

And congratulations, you're not stuck in Neutral anymore... welcome to 1st Gear!

 

On my BMW, i'd change the oil every 7-8k miles.
If you choose to follow the service interval indicator on your mini, you should
at the very least change your filter every 7k. The oil may last 15k mi but i'm not too sure about the filter. Better safe than sorry right?

 

Oh, no way! i didn't even notice it until i saw your post! Yay! and it only took me 2 weeks! you see, this is evidence that I am addicted.

 

http://www.motoringfile.com/files/20...perCooperS.pdf

from www.motoringfile.com. 2003 MC/MCS Owners Manual

 

so i guess i wasnt the only one going crazy about the miles going down for the oil change.
it JUST hit me after wat you guys said that it counts down..never thought of that..HAHA. stupid me..

 

Addicted to what? Not NAM, I do those 10 posts a day . You must be doing the right thing and are out there MOTOTING!! (Congrats on 1st gear)