So... presume for a moment that you don't want to do your oil change yourself.... mostly because I don't have the facilities and don't relish the idea of crawling under my car and don't trust myself to not screw it up. It took me four months to get up the nerve to go out there, lift up the bonnet and pop out the plastic bolts so I could install my new grill and I just did that today.

Where would you go to get your oil changed? Would you take it to a local mechanic or go to a chain store? I'm planning to provide my own oil, I just want someone else to do the work...

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

In the past I've found that local mechanics cost the same as the chain joints and are much more accomodating. With the MINI I'd take it to the dealer or Detroit Tuned.
One caveat - call first. My ex's dad owned a shop and pretty much wouldn't do an oil change (didn't want to bother) unless it was for a regular customer or part of more extensive work. He was also an *** and his shop was in a cash only, what can you do for $100 part of town.

 

If I didn't do it myself I would take it to the dealer I guess. But I've I would do it myself.

 

I am not a mechanic either, so I ordered the oil (Royal Purple Synthetic) and filter + a new oil drain plug from MiniMania.com and then went to a friendly Jiffy Lube and for about $25 they helped me with changing my oil. They provided the pit, the crew, and the oil drain facilities as well as let me supervise the entire process at every stage (got under the car with them and inspected each part) as well as inspect the entire underside of my Mini.
It was well worth the price of admission.

They were impressed I had the "good stuff" and all my own parts helped make it a breeze. I will be doing all of this again very soon!

Note: Go ahead and order your oil by the case. I got free shipping on my deal.

 

Yeah my dealer is six hours away... not really feasible to have them do every oil change. I might talk to the guys at my local jiffy lube. The ones down the street did all the oil changes on my corolla and were really nice. I bet they would let me bring in my own oil and help me do it myself..

Can't hurt to ask..

Wish me luck!

 

Good luck!

And that's pretty cool to be able to do that at Jiffy Lube. Nice.

 

I had problems with Jiffy Lube when they use to change my Jeep's oil. They either overfilled or underfilled, they cross threaded the drain plug and would always leave oil smudges all over the interior. I guess if you can crawl down in the pit with them and supervise the whole thing then things might go little a smoother...

 

I'm in the same boat... I don't have the accommodations to change my own oil (like a driveway or a garage), and I don't really want to drive up to the dealership to get it done either. Good to know I can order everything and just take it to a local place.

 

Man there has just got to be a better place to go than Jiffy Lube. Ask someone in your town who drives a BMW where they go.

 

This is exactly my experience with Jiffy Lube and my Jeep Cherokee. Actually it was my sister's experience (she borrowed the Jeep for a year...), but ugh. It's not like a Jeep is complicated in the least, and they still managed to screw things up.

I would definitely supervise them if you had them change the oil on your MINI. In all reality, if I didn't do my own work, I'd probably try to find a good BMW/MINI independent shop.

Be sure to use good oil that meets BMW's LL-01 spec. I've been using either MINI-branded oil, or Lubro Moly - both seem to return good UOA results for my car.

 

I have a local garage that has taken care of my wife's cars for over 10 years and mine for the past 5. They have done two oil changes on the GHOST thus far. (I have 16k miles now and have another 3500 miles to my first 'free' service at the dealer) The garage take care of all of the supplies and parts.
A decent mechanic in your area should be able to do any service you need outside of what the dealer provides under warranty. My closest dealership is a 50 mile drive each way and would cost way too much for me to have them change my oil at my preferred interval of 6 to 7k.
I also have a problem with the generic oil change places. I can't imagine that they would take the time and care my car requires and I fear that they would scratch or (worse) dent it. Their reputation for lax service doth proceed them.

 

Same thing happened to me when I loaned my Honda Prelude to my brother for a year. He was good about having it serviced, but when I was looking through the receipts, I saw one from Jiffy Lube that said they noticed the power steering fluid was low and added a pint. Problem is, my car didn't have power steering. Best I can figure is that they added a pint of power steering fluid to the clutch reservoir. Never had any problems with the car as a result, but it didn't instill me with much confidence in Jiffy Lube.

 

In the southeast I use express oil change. I take my own oil and filter and they do the work, with me standing right there. They are also a near full service garage. They've done brake jobs on my Hondas, radiator flushes, transmission fluid changes, and never a problem. I've used the same shop now for about 15 years and have a good relationship with the chief mechanic. He knows I'm **** about my cars and makes sure I'm properly taken care of. They've changed oil in my Mini now three times and are extremely careful.

 

I'm getting mine at the dealership, at least for the first three years, but if I'm buying I only use Amsoil, and I get it dirrect from them:

http://www.amsoil.com/

 

I had my first oil change done by a local performance shop that carried oem mini stuff at 6k. I wouldn't trust a local chain place myself unless I was driving a pos car I didn't care for or could actually oversee the oil change being done. Years ago, a friend of work mentioned she just had her oil changed the day before, but she had to take it in the again because it was leaking oil. I did my own oil changes back then so decided to take a look. Maybe the new oil filter wasn't tightened right so decided to save her the trip back, I thought. Checked underneath and there definitely was oil leaking from the filter except it wasn't what I thought. They had actually cracked the old oil filter trying to get it off and just decided to leave it on since they could do it. It was an old minivan so it might've been hard to take the filter off. But there definitely was a fine crack that was leaking drops of oil and it was still the old filter cause it had a deep layer of grime and dirt on its surface. You can bet she was ticked off. Me, I made a habit out of checking over that kinda work before I left the lot if I had to use these places sometimes.

 

I do my own oil changes, but if I could not, then I would go to the Dealer (unless they were to far away to make that practical).

You might also check with a MINI Club in the area to see if they can recommend a good garage or mechanic.

 

Id rather take my car to the dealer (only $59 out the door, and they comp free oil/fil change once a year) than chance it with the minimum wage goobers at JL.

 

If we had dealers in CA who charged $59 then that would be the best.. Some dealers here charge over $200. The nerve.

 

Seems like a good motivation to do it yourself.

 

Whoa man. My local Ferrari/Lambo/A-M dealer charges about that for an oil change...

 

Yeah - it's pretty criminal. Some dealers attempt to justify the price by also topping off the rest of your fluids and doing a "9,000-point safety inspection" along with the oil change. It doesn't change the fact that the technician's done in 20 minutes and you've just paid about $500/hour in labor.

 

The dealer changes mine. I'm mechanically challenged and I want someone working on my MINI that knows about MINIs.

 

Just a thought, if you don't already know, for those who don't relish crawling under the car to change the oil...you don't have to. I've used an oil extractor for years on several cars. With an extractor and the Cooper's top-side filter location, you can change the oil standing up, in your Sunday best.

And yes, the extractor does remove all the oil. I just did the first change on the Cooper. Out came over 4.5 qts., in went over 4.5 qts. I checked the dipstick and, voila, it showed full. That dipsitck is really irritating though; it's almost impossible to see the clean oil on it. Whose idea was that design?

 

Where do I get my oil changed? In my garage... it's really easy and have the whole process down to about 20 minutes or so start to finish. If I didn't, we live in a big enough metropolitan area that there are a variety of Euro specialty repair shops, but I save at least $50 a change by doing it myself. Cheapest quote I could find before attempting on my own was $85.

 

i get my oil change from my local garage... which happen to be attached to my house.

it only takes me about 20-25mins from start to finish, including driving around for 10mins to warm up the engine.