I would stay far away from Jiffy Lube, and similar places. I had a horrible experience with them on a previous car, and others have reported problems as well.

If you can't do it yourself, and your dealer is far away or too expensive, look for an independent garage that has a good reputation for work on MINIs. Look in NAM's Club and Regional Forum for a club near you. If you can't find a discussion on local garages, you can ask.

 

Hi Guys, I started leasing a mini cooper S in July 2008, its been a few months and I am close to 3K miles on it. When do I need to take it in to the dealer for the first service/oil change? I called the dealer and they said to look at the countdown meter which says 14K miles on it...seems rather far out. So when did you take your mini in for the first service?

 

mines at 27,000 km.. about 16875 miles!
1 year and 2 weeks for first service.
but - i took it in for an oil change at 13,000 km.. on my own.

 

synthetic oil should be changed every 6K miles so I don't understand why the time between oil changes is on the order of 12K miles??

 

You can get an oil change at your 1-year anniversary if you haven't reached the mileage indicated by the on-board computer. This change will be free from your dealer. MINI recommends at least a yearly oil change for low-mileage vehicles. Some owners stick to the MINI oil service interval recommendations, some do oil changes on a more frequent basis. There's lots of posts on NAM about this topic, and lots of opinions on how often to change your oil, and what brand of oil to use.

 

It's more like 15k-20k miles, and based on the OBC.

 

Even though I had only <5k miles on mine I brought it in at 12months and they did an oil/filter change and replaced my wiper blades.

 

On my '08, the OBC is going to put me at my first service at just over 20k miles (about two months from now). As miniclubman notes, there are lots of opinions and posts about whether interim changes are needed, etc.

 

To get the free oil change that is included with your maintenance package then take it to the dear when one of the following occurs.:
1. The millage countdown, that comes up the first 7 seconds the car is on, is less than 1,000 miles
2. It has been 1 year since your last oil change
The millage countdown varies from driver to driver as it is calculated by how you drive the car. Basically the harder you drive it the faster it is going to count down.
If you don't like changing your oil ever 15-20K miles (think it should be done more often) then I would take it somewhere else to get the oil changed when you want it changed. Make sure that they use fully synthetic. And just don't tell your MINI dealer.

 

Why not?

I do oil changes between scheduled oil service. I take it to the dealer (have had several BMWs, same dealer, same thing with service). I just had them do my JCW after about 2000 break in miles. They did the oil change and gave me a discount on it.

 

According to my OBC, I have about 10k left until my first service appt needs to be made. I believe that I will hit the one year mark first. I have debated on having someone local do an oil change on my MINI before then, but I am concerned about it because mine is one of the few 2nd Gen MINIs in the area and the other 2nd Gen owners I have talked to do their own maintenance.

I've heard that doing the oil change on the MINI is different than other cars because the oil filter is in a weird spot.. I'm not entirely sure, but... I don't do my own oil changes. I'm a girl, and I have acrylic nails and that sorta... seems gross. I'll have to find someone else to do it. LOL!

 

If you take it to the dealer it is not a problem, you will have to pay for it, but they will still do it. I was suggesting taking the car to a third party shop for a cheaper oil change. But some of the MINI Service Advisors don't like the fact that people take their cars elsewhere. Most don't care; some will put a note in your file so if something is wrong they will not pay for it or cover it under warranty, since work was done at a non-certified shop.

i.e. A third party shop puts the wrong kind of oil or filter in your MINI or puts the plug back on wrong and creates an oil leak, and something breaks as a result of this, don't expect MINI to cover it.

 

Does the manual have a service schedule?

 

If you take your MINI to a dealer for an early oil change (at your expense), just tell them not to reset the computer. According to many other threads on this site, they won't reset it and you'll still get your normally scheduled free maintenance (which includes MORE than an oil change).

 

The OBC determines the service schedule. The manual has descriptions of each service to be performed, based upon the OBC.

 

Update: I brought my car into the dealer for my first oil change at at 6500 miles. My car is also just over 6 months old. I paid $79 and they said that when I come back in at the end of April (which is when my car will be a year old), that oil change will be free.

Not sure if it was my imagination or not (probably was!) but I swear it was purring a lot smoother afterwards! With the cold weather coming, I'm happy I decided to do it!

 

Your MINI does run smoother after an oil change. It also runs smoother whenever you wash it, wax it, or detail the interior. It's a MINI's way of saying "thanks". By the way, $79 is a very good price for a dealer oil change, some posts on NAM have mentioned costs over twice that!

 

I would say that $79 is a deal. Parts alone for the oil change that I just did today were $43. I didn't ask my MINI dealer what they would charge as they are 70mi away but my local BMW dealership wanted $160.

 

As a point of information...the Mini/BMW branded synthetic 5w30 oil is now $7.99/qt at the dealership...at least at my dealership in Baton Rouge. So $79 for an oil change with oil filter and labor is, IMO, a reasonable charge...but when compared to most other MINI dealerships it's also very, very good deal.

 

Not addressed in this discussion is the fact that the OP's car apparently is still running on break-in oil, having not been changed since the car was new. This is a special case, related to, but separate from, the question of subsequent oil change intervals. As is well known and discussed ad nauseam, the break-in process produces a quantity of micro/nano sized metallic particles as moving parts rub against one another and hone off the asperities left from manufacturing. This metallic grit, much of which is too fine to be removed by the oil filter, then circulates in the oil. Many owners, myself included, do not believe it is conducive to long engine life to allow this break-in debris to circulate within the engine's moving parts for an extended period. Logic would suggest that acclerated wear on moving parts could easily result (although I have never seen a credible controlled study of this phenomenon). Whether or not break-in debris cirulating in engine oil is harmful may be a matter of debate, but many owners, myself included, are uncomfortable at the thought. Those who belong to this school of thought generally do early oil changes specifically to flush out the break-in debris: some at 1200 miles, immediately after break-in; some at somewhat higher mileage (I did my first oil/filter change at 2K miles). But certainly no one who is concerned about break-in debris would wait until BMW's recommended oil change interval at 15K miles. IMHO, the OP should change oil and filter without delay, regardless of MINI's recommendations.

The second question involves subsequent oil change intervals, and has been the subject of endless threads on NAM. There is a broad spectrum of viewpoints on this issue. Some owners follow MINI's recommended change interval of 15K, or the equally extended readout of their car's OBC. Others, expecially those with some technical expertise/knowledge in lubrication-related matters, generally believe that more frequent changes are needed. R56 S oil analyses done to date suggest that the turbo's high heat is quite hard on engine oil, and causes significant oil deterioration well before 15K miles. These techically-involved owners generally do oil/filter changes at intervals between 5-10K miles, mostly DIY.

 

Crown MINI hosted a new-owners information session for two hours yesterday at the dealership. We toured the maintenance bays, met the service manager and two of the mechanics. They had open hoods on the hardtop, Clubman, and cabrio to show where stuff is located under the hood and answered questions for as long as we wanted to ask them. It was very informative and they had free food (yay!) afterward.

I asked about an owner-paid oil and filter change: $93. That sounded pretty good compared to some prices quoted on here. Not the best, but okay.

 

Sounds like a top notch dealership. At $93 it's hard to justify doing the job yourself (especially if you have to buy the necessary tools...sockets, torque wrench etc.). $130+ at my dealership. That makes it a little harder choice.

 

I was happy about the cost too! Before I bought my Mini, I heard labor was expensive so I had called the dealer and talked to service and asked what the average cost of oil changes and basic maintenance repairs were and he had told me that the oil change was close to $200! Needless to say, I was thrilled when I got the $79 bill!

 

I just got my first oil change at a little before 3k. Did I wait too long? I hope not.

Of course, when the service tech ran my key fob, he was like "Was this the key fob you drove in with?" I said, yes, I knew it was too early, and I was willing to pay for the oil change.

Fortunantely, at Mini of the Main Line outside Philly, it only cost be $65. A little over $70 after tax. Plus, I made an appointment at 3:30 p.m. and I was out before 4:30.

I did ask them if they thought I need to rotate my tires, and the SA told me the tech said I didn't. I think maybe I should have had my tires rotated, but it's easier to replace 4 tires then a MCS!

 

Oboy! It's about time for an oil change thread. I actually like these. From what I've learned let me say this:
1. There's no breakin oil in the Mini. People who have had their oil analyzed at about 8k miles after delivery don't report harmful metals in there. There is some expected stuff from a new engine but not harmful stuff.
2. Persons who've done oil analyses suggest about 8k miles between oil changes is often enough based on the loss of lubricating properties. I don't think I've seen anyone send in 15k oil to compare it with though (ie send it in at 8k, don't change it, send it in at 15k). That might be interesting.
3. The longest service indicator change will be your first. It be at over 20k miles. You'll usually get a free yearly oil/filter change before that. After they reset the service indicator following that service visit the next one will be about 8k miles later. I don't know why the first one takes so long. A pal got a BMW 330i when I got my Mini and his service indicator went off at about 8k. Go figure.