I know that MINI used to not recommend tire rotation (odd!), but I've heard it said that they now suggest it on the R56. I've looked through the maintenance book and the owner's manual and can't find any reference to rotating the tires...am I blind? Anyone have the scoop?

 

My opinion:

If MINI were to say rotation was required at the standard interval, then they would have to cover it under 'pre-paid maintenance'

since the standard tire rotation interval is far fewer miles than their oil service, they would find your car in their shop frequently for nothing more than a rotation

do the math

or they could risk classifying it like alignments ... something very subject to driver error, but my opinion is they have a get out of jail card on this one....

OTOH since dealers say they make NO $ from car sales, only from service; you'd think they would want to exploit an opportunity to get the car into the shop and sell you an extra (uncovered) oil change ......

I dunno ... but I rotate my own every 5k....

 

Hey VeryRedMCS,
I just picked up my new mini on Friday 10/5. They recommended rotating the tires every 5K. We bought the package giving us new tires for the life of the car every 25,000 miles and that requires we rotate every 5K or 8K as the max.
Hope this helps,
mne mom

 

My Manual (Page 95):
"The manufacturer of your MINI recommends that you do not swap the front wheels with the rear wheels as this may impair the handling of your MINI."

 

OK I'm confused. Rotate or not? is this specificly related to runflats on not rotating.

 

Is that manual for a pre-2007? Mine says nothing of the sort!

 

I knew there was a conspiracy behind this! 5000 miles sound right to me.

 

Skeeter is a 2007 week 27 production MCS and in the manual on page 95, bottom of the left column of text under " Swapping tires between axles" it states the same thing.
When I asked the SA about this his response was since the tires are not covered under the warranty, this is Minis way to avoid any tire responsibility. He did recommend
rotation from from to back every 5k miles.

 

From page 93 of the 2007 Owners Manual -
The manufacturer of your MINI recommends that you swap the front wheels with the rear wheels and vice-versa at intervals of 3,000 to 4,000 miles. This will counter the varying rates of tire wear at the front and rear axles, which will have a positive effect on the handling characteristics of your MINI. The direction in which the tires rotate should be kept the same.

 

BAH !
If you get them worn to the point that you might have issues swapping them !

I swap them every 5000Km ( 3 000 Miles ) there is so little wear that it could not compromise the handling !

If i did not rotate them the fronts would have their edges worm OFF !

 

I guess I will go rotate the tires now.... (3100 miles) I got nothing to do. Time to go jack up the car and inspect the underbelly!
Thanks!

 

Thanks artsmini, for pointing out something that I had completely overlooked! I think it's a hoot that the '06 manual warns that rotation could "adversely effect handling", and in '07 it "will have a positive effect on the handling characteristics." Double-talk!

 

Since you mentioned it, and I'm sure it's been brought up before...what's the best way to jack up one side at a time to rotate tires? Jacking point/s? Type of jack?

 

My MA said he rotates his tires every 5k miles, and while they'd be more than happy to do it for you it's not covered by the 3yr maintenance plan.

The cheapest method would be to just use the included jack, and then get a pair of adjustable jack stands at your local autoparts store. However if you're going to be doing this regularly it'd probably be very wise to invest in a hydraulic jack along with the jack stands.

 

While it's very cheap mans way of doing things. Couldn't you also use the spare tire if your car came with one? So put on the spare, roll the tire forward, swap the tires, then take the spare off.

 

Yea, I've used that method on other cars, but in their infinite wisdom the folks at MINI have decided that runflats make a spare unnecessary.

 

I just took my MCS in for some warranty work and had them rotate the tires at the same time. Well worth it for $14.95.

 

I got the runflats and the spare, wasn't there something where later production models now come with spares regardless of the tire type. I had to use the spare within the first week too. Stupid freeways.

 

I lift the whole side by using a floorjack ($80 low profile aluminum floorjack from Harbor freight). I place a 2x4" wood that is about 3 ft long on top of the floorjack and place it between the rubber jack points. When the side goes up I put a jackstand under each jack points.

I didn't take pictures (as it is difficult whenever I work on the car because I am wearing latex gloves and they get dirty and I don't like to change them to save $$$ until the job is finished.). I am glad I rotated them.
While they were off the car I inspected them for nails since these are runflats they are probably less sensitive to tiny puctures.

 

I think it's more that their exhaust setup that doesn't leave room underneath the S for a spare makes the runflats necessary.

The later production model Ss now come with the jack and lugwrench; there's still no spare unless you provide one yourself.

 

Do you leave the 2x4 in place between the jackstands and jack points?

 

Sorry for confusion. Let me get a picture real quick.

 

The one I am using is more like 1.5x3"... 2x4" might be actually too wide.
In the picture is my wife's e46 but I do the same thing on my MINI as well. I used to do the same thing with my Z3. So at least for those three models, there is a strong metal support inside of the plastic body moldings along the sides. When I have to lift the whole car to do the tranny flush I carefully lift the other side using the same method while the first side is resting on a pair of jackstands. I usually leave the jack with some pressure as a back up in case something terrible happened to one of the jackstands.

 

Front of the MINI is heavier so I place the jack a little toward the front of the center while keeping the 1.5x3 in the middle. Carefully observe where you place the 1.5x3". If you place it too far in (toward the exhaust pipe/transmission or the central line of the car) you will be putting the 1.5x3 on a plastic ridge. So make sure you are only putting pressure on the flat part of the plastic molding under the car.

 

For what it is worth, I end up buying 2 new performance tires about every 5-6k miles. Then I move the rear ones up to the front. I just keep replacing two tires since I like the particular tire I use.