I have a "friend" who is going to be pretty lazy maintaining his car this winter. Des he really need to pop the bonnet to check the fluid levels? I assume the fancy OBC will alert him to low levels early enough before he needs to do something about it. The low windshield wiper fluid indicator got pretty annoying.

 

Doesn't everyone check their oil when they fill up, and tire pressure once a month? I always have, on every car, not sure why anyone wouldn't.

 

Not my "friend".

 

I have yet to check the oil or any fluid level since i bought the car. I figured the onboard computer they want me to use is what I will use...

 

Note that the car will NOT maintain itself. Some cars burn oil, some don't. You should check your oil level at least monthly - once the oil light goes on (no pressure because there's no oil) it could be too late. There's a thread here somewhere about a guy cooking his engine because he didn't check the oil in 10K miles, and it burned enough to burn it up.
If you don't want to check it, take it to a shop (or at least full serve) to have it done.

 

But a brand new car shouldn't have those isses? :impatient Is there even a dip stick for the oil? When my folks got their BMW, the salesman told them they never had to check the oil as there was no dipstick.

 

On my wife's 2004 bmw 3 series, an oil warning light did come on 14k after the oil was changed. It indicated according to the book that the oil was down at least a quart. I added a quart and it went away. I can only assume that a mini cooper wihich holds 5 quarts has a similar warning system. So, maybe checking the oil level every month is not so important. However, tire pressures are another story since the warning system on my early build 2007 does not actually check the pressures in the tires only the diffrence from one side to the other based purely on rotational speed.

 

I'd be curious to know which model BMW that is. I think the salesman was blowing smoke. Without a dipstick how would one know how much oil to put in after an oil change? The amount left in the car will vary.

See this thread for others' experience.
Note: my recollection was wrong, he didn't cook his engine, but he was several quarts low.

 

Maybe your friend shouldn't raise the bonnet. I mean, he could leave a hud nut loose or damage the muffler bearings.
He could call AAA and have somebody drop by, once a month or so.

 

I have heard that BMWs no longer come with dipsticks. There is an idiot light on the dash that says when the oil is 1 quart low. Hopefully this is not a trend developing but it seams all the Japs copy BMW. There is no doubt that the automobile is heading in the direction of all maintanence to be performed by the dealer. There is no doubt that cars are alot more reliable than 30 years ago but they are much harder to work on also by the average guy. You should definately check your oil at least once a month and check your tire pressure every 2 weeks or so. These runflat tires don't hold air pressure as well as non runflat tires.

 

The R56 MINI does indeed come with a dip stick, and my car at 12k miles has had 3/4 qt of oil added and is below the full mark. Every new car burns some oil until everything gets set.

Even with one month intervals on tire pressure checks all 4 tires got down to under 18psi on me in between checks. That's about half the tire pressure they're supposed to have.

All I can say is no wonder so many other people have had troubles with their cars. If you don't care enough to do the basic maintenance, then you deserve every thing bad the car hands you.

 

Danf
My 2004 bimmer has a dipstick and an idiot light. I ran into the same issue with the tire pressures dropping and no warning.

 

No smoke was blown.... it's an '07 328xi. I will check my oil level before I start my car next time... I'm a bit worried at the moment. It was my understanding that all this type of maintenance was to be performed by the dealer (free of charge), so that is why I never worried about it... when the onboard computer tells me it's time to change the oil, I will take it in. Until then, I really shouldn't have a concern. I mean, that's how the situation was portrayed by my MA.

 

I stand corrected.

Can't say as I'm a fan of that much automation, though.
Excerpt from Yahoo user reviews:
Three of the five first reviews mentioned it as a weak point.

Odds are you're fine, but I'm stunned that the MA would act like you don't even have to CHECK your oil, even if MINI changes it for you.

Thanks for the info, though - first I'd ever heard of it. Time to re-up my subscription to Autoweek.

 

As a tech at a dealership, I really want to reach out & smack you, but hey, if everyone took care of their cars I wouldn't be able to afford a new mini

On most cars, the oil light doesn't come on until it registers VERY low oil pressure, eg. your motor is toast, pull over & light a match...
New cars, especially those with turbochargers, can consume all sorts of oil.
A side note, sludge isn't usually covered under the factory or extended warranty plans as it's considered customer abuse, not a defect.

 

You won't get a warning for low pressure unless you have the new TPMS with the metal air valves. The old TPMS will only warn you if one tire is rotating at a different speed than the rest. If all the tires drop to 18psi they are still rotating at the same speed, this will not cause the TPMS to alert you with the old system.

 

How much does synthetic oil cost these days? I don't plan on ever changing the oil in my vehicle (I'll just let the free maintenance program serve its purpose), but in case I am running low... Will synthetic MobilOne work or does it neet special oil?

 

how does sludge happen in a motor?

 

$5-8 a quart. MobilOne would work, but if you're going to have MINI do the oil changes they 'recommend' (and I assume aka they use) Castrol, so I would top off with the same. At least that's what they have on the stickers under the bonnet of the R53.

 

If you use Mobil, you want Mobil 1 Extended, which is usually around $7/qt. You can actually buy the Mini recomended Castrol at the dealer for less than $6/quart. Sludge is caused by going too long a time between oil changes.

 

If all is going well, the computer-recommended intervals will get you into the dealer often enough to keep current on all the maintenance, but you really need to check fluid levels yourself in case things *don't* go well.

None of the fluid levels are really "monitored" in any meaningful way by the car's electronics, except for the washer-fluid level.

If you have a coolant leak, the first automated indication will be your temperature light telling you you're running too hot.

If you have an oil leak, the first automated indication is the low-pressure light, which is more akin to an "engine damage imminent" light.

Same with the clutch/brake hydraulic fluid - there's a "low" light, but you really have to lose a significant amount for that to come on.

 

The MINI branded Castrol Syntech that your dealer sells is less expensive than Mobil 1. If you go with Mobil 1, the standard Mobil 1 wont do. It is only good for about 5,000 miles, not the 15,000 the MINI needs for regular service intervals. You would need Mobil 1 Extended, which can be more difficult to find and more expensive.