YES! Schedule service now.....



You just asked this a couple weeks ago......

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-service.html

 

I have an 05 R50 with 136k miles on it and I change the oil (synthetic Royal Purple) and the filter every 7500 miles. The engine still runs strong with a lot of pep and very little valve chatter.

I would feel comfortable with extending the mileage on the oil an additional 2500 miles, but I would NOT go beyond 8k miles on the filter.

 

Yes, but when I asked my MA about it he said that it was NOT part of the service. I'll phone Mini and see what they say....

Followup... I checked with 1-866-ASK-MINI and they stated that an oil change is ONLY paid for under their maintenance agreement at 15, 000 miles. MCS Fever, do you have any information that indicates otherwise?

 

I've been told by the MA at my service center that the oil change interval was both mileage- and time-based: 15,000 miles or 1 year, whichever comes first. And they've performed free oil changes on mine at yearly intervals with less than 15,000 miles since the previous change.

When you talked to MINI, did you also mention that a year had passed since the oil was last changed in your vehicle; or did you only mention the mileage...?

 

Oops...double post

 

Tim,

I always thought it was 1 year or 15,000 miles too but that's not what Mini says. Yes, I mentioned both the mileage and the time. I'll look over the maintenance agreement and make sure how it addresses this point.

I'll probably change the oil and filter regardless but my dealer is over 250 miles away so if the agreement is that they change the oil I'll have them do it, but if not, I'll do it myself.

Thanks for your thoughtful input!

By the way, my dealer is Ralph Schomp in Denver. If anybody else has experience with this and with this dealer, please post how they handled it with you.

Thanks...

 

Hmmm. I'll have to review my maintenance agreement as well, but more out of curiosity. It would appear that maintenance schedule interpretations vary from dealership to dealership; some seem to take the hard-line "corporate" approach, while others are more flexible... Guess it's just luck of the draw...

 

How do you do it for less than $40?!?! The oil alone is $45 and the filter is another $11.

 

Well...I bought 10 OEM filters for $81, including shipping (i.e. $9 a piece). I buy Valvoline Synpower Synthethic 5W-30 oil for less than $25 dollars at Wal Mart. So, my oil change, not including my own labor, is less than $40. Go for it!

 

Perfect! I didn't know that Walmart sold the appropriate Synpower oil!

As a side note, I am a little surprised that MINI doesn't require the MST version I found on Valvoline's website:

SAE 5W-30: Is the most recommended grade in today's new cars. Exceeds all car and light truck manufacturers' warranty requirements for the protection of gasoline, diesel and turbocharged engines where an API SM, SL, or CF oil is recommended. SynPower 5W-30 exceeds the requirements of ILSAC GF-3 and GF-4 for API Gasoline Engine Oils and meets Energy Conserving Standards and ACEA A1/A5.

SAE 5W-30 MST: Exceeds European ACEA A3/B3/B4/C3 and meets or exceeds the engine performance requirements for BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls Royce, Volkswagen, Volvo and other high performance vehicles.



Just an update for those that may have missed it, here is the MINI/BMW recommended list of oils:

MINI High Performance Synthetic 5W-30 Oil (MINI part number 07 51 0 143 829)

The oils listed below meet MINI's Long-life rating and are acceptable for use in MINIs in the US market with gasoline engines.
Long-life rating LL-01 Approved Synthetic Oils for the US Market

• - Castrol Syntec European Formula SAE 0W-30
• - Mobil 1 SAE 0W-40
• - Pennzoil Platinum European Formula Ultra SAE 5W-30
• - Valvoline SynPower SAE 5W-30

Use only synthetic oils with an API rating of SM or higher. In other words, the good stuff. The choice of the right SAE grade is based on the climatic conditions in the region in which you normally drive your MINI. To best determine which SAE grade is best suited for your vehicle, contact an authorized MINI dealership.

 

I got news for you oil worry worts - The LL rating is about the oil having a Long Life - not any better protection for the engine. With shorter change intervals like most will run, any "synthetic" oil would do.

 

I had read on a different posting about MINI changing the 1 year free oil service interval. Here's background and what I learned:

In my case, I changed the oil myself around 9-10K miles and then MINI changed it at it's 1 year anniversary during 1st days of APR10. Maintenance mileage indicator still had about 4500 miles left to go and so they told me to come in again when it zeroes out...which was just the other week and they changed the oil again.

I asked what the story is about when I bring it in again for a free oil change since rumor was that something changed with the free maintenance/oil change regarding the yearly anniversary date (which mine presently indicates MAR11). I was told that MINI/BMW changed the policy effective this month (SEP10) in that they only chnage the oil at the 1 year anniversary only if the customer has driven leass than 6000 miles on the MINI. So...he indicated since most customers put well ver 6000 miles during a year, they will now be bringing it in for the free oil change when their maintenance mileage indicator zeroes out again. Hmmm!

Well, my advice besides changing the oil a bit earlier...at 5K, 7.5K, 10K or whatever is to double check your manual for all maintenance rqmts (not just oil changes) that is time based or mileage based and recheck with the dealer to clarify when the services are to be done. I will do the same because oil changes is one thing but I noticed in the manual it indicates the brake fluid shold be changed every 2 years or when indicated by the maintenance mileage indicator (conditiion based maintenance). So, my question will be that at my 2 year anniversary, will they change the brake fluid or am I to wait till the maintenance indicator zeroes out which this being it's second time around...I will probablly have about 38K miles on by then......and then off the the std maintenance warranty based on mileage ! (......though I have the extended maintenance to 100K)

 

Hears what I have gleaned for a maintenance schedule from the 2010 manual:

Oil Change 1 Year or CBS
Micro-Filter 2 years
Brake Fluid 2 Years or CBS
Air Filter 2 Years or every 2nd oil change or CBS
Tires 6 Years
Spark Plugs 60K
Auto Transmission Service 100K
Oxygen Sensor 120K
Coolant "..long term rating as does not need to be changed except for system repairs".
V-Belt N/S
Fuel Filter N/S
Power Steering Fluid N/S

 

My first oil change was at 20,000 miles and the second at 39,000 miles as recommended by the car and my highway driving habits. I agree that BMW would not risk their reputation with bad information. I haven't heard of any Mini or BMW engine compromised by this recommended interval. If it were a problem in todays information, recall and sue society then we would have known by now that BMW is a terrible company. I think that there are enough opinions here to safely say that : the computer is reliable; that once a year is a good indicator; that 15,000 miles is good; that somewhere between 2,500 miles and 7,500 is good: and that you can change oil as you feel that you want to. Remember that changing oil often will never hurt your car and that with receipts and proof of needed oil change as precribed by Mini and your cars system that you should be covered.

 

Would love to see oil analysis done on 20K old oil......... You must of added at least a quart or two over that time? Adding fresh oil helps oil life also.

 

 

Do whatever makes you happy! I change mine usually when the OBC says its time. Usually between 15 and 21k. With almost 240,000 miles I would say that it hasn't hurt much following the OBC.

Nik

 

unless you regularly track or otherwise race yr. car, with good syn oil every 5K is overkill. every 7500-10K for is fine for normal driving. Dont listen to those who can't break old habits. In searching for peace of mind, they are being very wasteful of a perfectly good product. It ain't the 20th century, people