I've been circling the Mini for several months, and thinking it's time to pull the plug. One concern, however, is that the nearest dealer is 80 miles away! Not a problem to purchase, but a service problem. I travel to this town often enough on business to make major servicing doable, but it's the small stuff that has me concerned. This would include oil changes; I understand that Mini recommends long mileage intervals, but I don't know if I'll feel good about waiting so long. Will the local BMW dealer (there is one in my town) do oil changes, and other minor service, on the Mini? Or is it Mini dealer only? We bought an Acura out of town, but get minor service done by the Honda dealer here in town. I suppose the Honda/Acura heritage is much deeper, but I'm hoping that BMW will do some work on a mini. Any thoughts?

 

They will probably due the service but you'll be charged for it. They may not have the oil filter in stock. In order to get the schedule maintenance performed under the original warranty is has to be done at the dealer. My closest dealer is about 125 miles away. It isn't a big deal. It is a chance to go motoring!!

 

That’s a question better answered by the local BMW dealer. If they don’t sell MINIs they won’t have a MINI trained service person. BMW can change the oil, but it may be very costly.

Now that my MCS is out of warranty I use a local person to do a once a year service on mine. The closest dealer to me is 600 miles so going to a dealer is just silly to have any work done now.

 

My nearest dealers are Charleston or Jacksonville (~100 miles either way). I drive the distance to have it serviced, and it's really not so bad. When it was under warranty it made sense because it was free. I would rather drive all that way to have it serviced for free than pay someone to do it locally. It's out of warranty now, but I'll probably still drive up there.

There is also a BMW dealer in my town but they will not work on MINIs.

IMO it's usually worth the drive to the dealer. Also I don't think other repair shops can reset the car's service interval indicator.

 

Are you talking about pulling the plug, like throwing in the towel, or are you talking about pulling the trigger, like going for it?

It's 120 miles from my front door to Flow Mini in Winston-Salem. Eventually (I hear 2-3 years) there will be a dealer in Raleigh, which will cut the distance in half. In the meantime, I'm counting on the car to be trouble free, and if it has a hiccup or two, and the dealer can work 'em out, then I'll stick with it. If the car gives me fits, it's outta here. I am a tolerant man, but I don't keep 'em if they're not "right". Life's too short to deal with bad machines.

So far, so good.. the lads at Flow told me that if I bring the car up, and it requires an overnight stay, they'll put me in a loaner until the repairs are completed. Ya can't ask for more than that.

I really like this car.. the more I drive it, the more I like it.

 

We don't have a dealer in our state either and the local BMW dealer won't even change the oil (or they wouldn't last time we checked) so we have to drive the 190mile one way trip to the dealer, but it isn't that bad, we call ahead and set up a day during the week and they have given us loaners for the day so that we don't have to sit around the shop

 

It'll be 174 miles to the dealer for me. We are looking forward to it as it will give us a chance to explore Nashville.

 

As you mentioned, the oil change interval is long, if you follow the guidlines you will be going twice the first year and then only once a year after that. If you are planning on changing it more often than what is recommended, I suggest you change the oil yourself. You will get the enjoyment of working on the car and saving the driving time. IMO, oil changes are not a concern; are there other small things you are worried about?

About how often do you go to the town?

 

The oil change interval is pretty long. My nearest dealership is 30-45 minutes away, and I still do the "in-between" stuff myself. I change it ever 5k regardless of the interval, and it takes me around 20 minutes and costs $40 or so. If you take it to a dealership for changes they will charge you somewhere around $100. I'm not particularly handy but the oil change is VERY easy.

But if you are absolutely adverse to doing it yourself, you could try calling other dealerships (whatever's near you) and see if they would feel comfortable doing it. You would probably want to order a filter in advance (available online) and show up with it in hand, but beyond that, any dealership really should be able to do it.

I would NOT recommend taking it to a "Jiffy Oil" type place though. We've got some horror stories around here from them.

 

Maybe it's just me, but if I had to drive over 100 miles to go to the dealer for a "free" oil change, then forget it. Let's say the dealer is 140 miles from your house. If you're getting 35 mpg, then that's 4 gallons up and 4 gallons back. At ~$3 per gallon, that's $24 in gas for your "free" oil change. You might as well stay home and do it yourself. Unless it's something that the dealer has to fix, work on the car yourself. It's fun. Just my 2 cents.

 

The typical oil change interval on the MINI is 15,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first. That is the oil change you need to go to the MINI dealer for to maintain your warranty. My dealer is 90 miles away. A once-a-year trip for service doesn't seem oppressive to me.

Many of us here feel that for frequent oil changes are desired. I will probably do mine myself. There is a DIY thread here that has photos and instructions on how to change the oil and filter. Search on "DIY oil" and you will find a few other threads as well.

If you don't want to DIY, find a local garage you can trust that handles European cars. They should be able to do non-scheduled oil changes for you. I would NOT recommend a Jiffy Lube. I had a horrible experience with them.

You can mail order the filters from several of the vendors listed here. I bought this kit from Mini Mania in anticipation of doing my own oil change before 15K miles.

 

You need to have the required oil changes done at your dealer to maintain your warranty. Every 15K miles, or once a year is not that oppressive.

 

Just shy of 200 miles one way to the dealer for me. Got a BMW dealer about 35 miles from here. They wont do anything on the MINI. Got in some sort of trouble trying to do a guy a favor and work on his MINI, now its a no-go for them, they wont even look at it. Like others have said, you can buy the filters on line and if you dont feel like doing it yourself, you can have a reputable mechanic do it for you. I dont drive down to the dealer unless I absolutely have to. They are always working on the roads in Salt Lake City, and the people drive like they all stole their cars. A rock took out one of my fog light lenses last time I went there. I'll just stay home and do it myself, and save time, money and the hassle.

 

OOOW yeah, stay away from the speedy oil change places...they are scary bad for MINIs!!!

 

Right now I'm going there at least every other week (bigger airport than the one in my town, so I go there for business travel, which has been very frequent as of late...unfortunately). That actually makes it a pretty easy deal...drop the car off as I leave town, get a ride to the airport, then pick it up when I get back into town. I shouldn't complain compared to what other people are apparently putting up with!

 

Does it actually say that in the warranty? I'm just curious. I don't even have the car yet, but that would be good to know. I find it hard to believe that any car manufacturer would make this a requirement or it will void the warranty. I've never had a Mini so I don't know. Thanks.

 

My salesman told me that I did not have to come back to him for oil changes in order to keep the warranty valid. In fact I specifically do not plan on going back for the 'free' oil changes. Just keep your records in an orderly manner.

I have not and will not drink the 'BMW kool-aid' regarding oil change intervals. Doing it yourself is super easy and it gives you a chance to keep an eye on everything under the bonnet and also under the front end.

YD

 

I would check with the service manager at your dealer. If you can prove that had the oil changed to BMW specs. they might accept that. I wouldn't trust what a salesperson told me.

 

Looks like you have had plenty of advice on oil changes, they are no big deal, really. For other service issues (heaven forbid!), MINI comes with AAA for the entire warrenty life.
How can you go wrong? If it goes tango uniform over a widget part, they tow it to the nearest dealership for free. Ours also came with a loaner commit, if it takes more than two hours you get a loaner. That's good bull, there.

 

+1

 

i guess i am lucky...i have 3 mini dealers in 30 mins of me. 4 dealers within 45 minutes.

 

If I didn't trust my salesman, I would not have purchased the car from him. My salesman, and this is weird to say about a car salesman, has become a good friend.

Also, if you can prove that you had the oil service done, then they cannot deny warranty.

I've already done three oil changes and I'm still more than 2,000 miles from the first service according to my OBC.

I just cannot fathom spending $25K on a car and then being chincy on the oil changes. I don't care what anyone says about tolerances are better now, oil is better now filters are better now. Thirty some dollars and whatever time it takes twice a year is nothing to ensure I have no problems with worn rings or bearnings or oil consumption or leaky seals or sludging down the road.

Sorry for getting on a soapbox, just one of my pet peaves. I'll crawl back in my hole and take a nap now.

YD

 

Can you send one of the extra ones here? I'd be happy only needing to go 100 miles.

 

Hmmm, could that be Concord, Pleasanton, and Mountainview..the 4th San Francisco?

 

nope..Morristown, prestige, Manhattan.....and then Princeton