---Background:
My name is Alex and I live in LA... and in August 08 I purchased a 08 Astro Black Mini Cooper S from the Universal City Mini Cooper Dealership.

---The Story:
Well its been a little over a year and its time for my Mini maintenance check... time to change the oil, fix the brakes, etc... I pick up my car... and I'm informed that my front 2 tires (run flats) are worn out, all 4 tire's alignments are off and my back right tire has a nail in it... and then I was told the following prices...
-Replace Front Two Tires: $735 (w/ tax and fees etc)
-Alignment of all 4 Tires: $235 (")
-Repair Back Right Tire: $60 (")
So I told the Service person to hold off on anything (besides the Back Right Tire Repair)

---OK NOW FOR THE HELP PART...
What do I do... I feel annoyed/confused
-When I first bought the car... and I found out that Minis came with run flats, I was told to eventually change them to normal tires because they are cheaper and they run smoother (Is this true? What are the Pros/Cons)
If that is true, how much would 4 regular tires run me and what are good brands, sizes and other info I'm clueless about...
-Also, Alignment isn't in the warranty?
-Also also, I'm very skeptical about changing oil for a car every 15,000 miles... it seems very strange to me... What would the ideal oil change be for a 08 Mini...

---The Off Topic Side/Interesting/Sad Story:
August 09 my car was parked across the street of my house and a rather large (15 foot) branch fell onto the hood of my car... broke the Right Side View Mirror, scratched the hood badly, dented the hood here and there, scratched the light trims, dented the right side door and other nasty things :( ... the tree was a city tree and the branch broke off not because of wind or animals but b/c of poor maintenance from the city (Burbank)... and thats why I'm going to file a claim. Anyways the Mini Dealership gave an estimate for those damages too, and its ended up being ~$3700

PS Sorry for the Wall of Text and all the "..."s

Here are a couple of pictures of the damages caused by the tree from the Off Topic/Interesting/Sad Story:

 

Sorry to hear about that branch. Seeing stuff like that makes my skin crawl. Good luck in your claim because you deserve the money!

Did you look at the tires yourself? Are they down to the wearbar? Do the treads show uneven wear? Don't trust everything they say. Always take a look for yourself.

Many here have changed to regular tires. I know for my 17" wheels runflat tires are usually around $180, whereas a regular tire is usually around $120-130. They definitely feel smoother, but you'll need to keep a fix-a-flat kit handy. Not a big deal for many considering the cost savings and ride comfort. If you have specific inquiries about what tire to buy I would ask someone in the Tires, Wheels, & Brakes forum. Heck, call Tirerack.com directly! You definitely want to buy from Tirerack. The prices and service are the best. The dealer will always screw you on tire prices, or any other part for that matter.

I'm not sure if alignment is covered under warranty. Maybe if it was grossly out of spec?! An alignment at any other place is around $100. The dealer is again ripping you off. Alignment can very very very slowly become out of spec over time but with how bad the dealer is claiming it to be after one year sounds suspicious.

The oil change interval argument has been debated countless times on NAM. Most people do a break-in oil change from 500-2000 miles. I know I did my first at 500 miles, then 3000, 7500, and now I do it every 7500 miles. I might have been a little too protective doing it so many times when my car was relatively young, but as an engineer I know you're not going to hurt your car using fresh synthetic oil. Some people do it every 8500, 10,000, yada yada yada... whatever way you look at it I think every 15,000-18,000 isn't the best idea if you have your car's best interests in mind.

Doing the oil change yourself is really not difficult. You just need to have the right tools. There are numerous DIY articles on NAM for how to do this on the R56.

 

That is extremely expensive for two tires. You should read up on here and elsewhere online regarding run flats and make a decision for yourself. From what I've read, there are significant ride (and maybe performance) improvements and big savings, but at the cost of having to worry about being stranded somewhere if you have a flat and can't fix it. I think it depends on who will be driving the car and where.

I would personally not get my car aligned at the dealer and I wouldn't get tires there, either. I think they will overcharge you. Look on tirerack.com and check with local tire shops.

I am personally not surprised that an alignment is not covered under warranty, although I think some manufacturers cover it for one year/12k miles, but maybe not MINI (you are past one year already anyway).

I would never go 15k or even 10k between oil changes, but you have to decide for yourself.

Good luck!

 

I'm old school when it comes to changing oil. 3000-7000 for me.

Buy tires elseware. I think I saw RF on TireRack for 140.00

A gas station only charges 20.00 for a tire repair.

Vince

 

I would look in Craigslist or ebay for take off wheel/tires with very low miles.
If the tirewear is normal and if there is no vibration why bother with alignment? I would skip the alignment.
orange county

 

Keep in mind my recommendation for oil change intervals was for synthetic ONLY Lex!

 

So was I. That's all I ever use on my BMWs. M3 and Mini. Ever since I blew my mom's VW bug's engine for not checking and changing oil on a regular basis, I've been a stickler on changing it at consistant intervals.

Vince

 

Everything you are looking for advice on here has already been asked, and asked, and asked, and asked to death!
Try the "search function"!
LOL

 

 

Alex, you should be very skeptical...so you're common sense is working for you. BTW, you didn't say how many miles are on your Mini for this first service. However, in general... DO NOT buy tires at the dealer. Same for the alignment. Those are HIGH PRICES which is what you should expect at the dealer. Put some non rf's on that mini and give them a try. IF two tires are shot, the others are probably not far behind. However, you also don't mention if you had ROTATED the tires front to rear, rear to front at 5k mile intervals. If you did not, and you have 15k miles (my figure...like I said, you didn't say what the mileage is on your mini) on the tires, well, yeah, the front ones probably are shot. Look around this forum and find some tire talk. Use the search line and some key words. It's all been covered. I'd suggest going with some medium grade (in terms of PRICE) non rf's and seeing how that works for you. Get a little plug in tire pump/compressor and some tire goo and carry that in lieu of a spare. I should say that I have NOT ditched my runflats yet, but I sure am going to when they wear a little more.
By going outside the dealer on this NON WARRANTY work, you will save a ton of money and I'm betting your non RF experience will be good to excellent. Let us know how that works out. And btw, that tree damage looks like hell. I feel your pain.
And YES, 15k is far too long for an oil change, special synthetic or not. This subject has been covered to death on this forum. The conclusion seems to be that you risk running out of a lot of special additives and stuff that's in the oil by pushing it out that far. I wouldn't go more than TEN even if it was all open road driving, and I'd bet your driving is NOT that, being in southern california. Change it every seven thousand, and have some peace of mind. It ain't that much extra money. But look around the forum and dig in, you'll find huge long strings about the oil change "controversy". I'm changing mine every five, because I do a lot of shorter hops. The experts can tell me I'm crazy, it's my money and I DIY the job and recycle the oil properly. I got one free oil change at the dealer, second coming up at 20k, but I'm not waiting for the computer to tell me what to do.
Now, go get some decent non rf's that suit your needs. Good luck and happy motoring!

 

Dealers often send cars to a tire shop for tires and alignment, then charge you extra. There is a Discount Tire in Santa Monica that did a balance and alignment check for me when I was there. Check with them on prices for alignment, and the tires you want.

I run non-runflat tires on my 2007 MCS. There are some threads with arguments for and against. Some are in this area of the forum, some in the Wheels, Tires, and Brakes section.

Don't use Fix-a-flat if you go for non-runflats. Check out Slime, or similar latex-based sealants that can be cleaned out with water.

 

Holy CRAP are dealers really that bad with this stuff??!?

Those numbers are absolutely absurd! Granted everyone is entitled to making money, but those numbers are like a 200% markup of profit, that's crazy!

Tires? Even replacing with OEM, maybe $200-$250 MAX (and that's with a profit markup)
Alignment? Should be covered under warranty, but even if not, shouldn't cost more than $60-$80
Repair a tire? $15-$20 MAX - BUT, run-flat tires should not be repaired once the structure is compromised, it usually needs to be replaced.

 

Alex, greetings. What can I say but sorry about the branch...

Stay away from Universal when possible. Those are the idjuts that wanted something like $275 for filling the tires with nitrogen. Puhleeease.

Post warranty, consider Mini Corsa in North Hollywood or The M Shop in Eagle Rock. Though I've met both proprietors, I've not had occasion personally to use them, but I have friends who have. Both great guys, great shops, great reputations.

As for the tires - consider: There is a guy on Craigslist L.A. who always advertises brand new (dealer) take-offs -- 4 brand new tires on 4 brand new rims for $399. How can you beat it-?

Enjoy your ride, and cheers from another Angelean!

Kdub