I got my 2010 MC (not S) in July, and have 11700 miles on it as of today, the computer says 6000 miles to go for service. I haven't done anything in terms of maintenance yet. I've been looking around the forums here about the service, and it seems everyone says to do something at least every 6 months and way before 10000 miles. Call me a horrible driver, but I was told when I bought it to follow what the tach said when I start it up. I came from a Pontiac G5 and the regular few thousand mile intervals for the oil change, so I'm still even hesitant that at 11000 i still have 6000 miles to go.

Also, the 'free maintenance' is just an oil change/filter change right? In the mod forums, I saw a couple notes of removing certain mods before going to the dealer (i remember the autosport module being one of them) I have the autosport, auto sun roof, and exterior/interior leds.. none of this should cause an issue right?

Edit: one thing I forgot to add and is one of my biggest concerns: when I installed my amp wiring, when I tried to put back the big panel that comes off for the battery, while trying to wedge it under the wiper blade and under the lip of the windshield, something got bent, because there's a slight gap towards the middle, and wear on the panel from the wiperblade scraping as it goes down (ive been messing with it a few times and it seems ive got the gap down to a minimum so there is no contact with the blade)

anyways, my worry is that water runs down right in that gap, and ive checked with the hood up and ran water down the windshield, it seems to all go straight down, but since it was something I did, will they repair it for me? or at least is there a cost estimate for it?
I can post pictures tomorrow if someone wants to know what the heck im talking about..

 

the mini comp thinks that an oil change isnt nessesary until 16k miles. Which of course is crazy. I'd say pay the 40$ and get it changed somewhere else. And the maintenance covers brakes and most anything other thing thats not physical damage so you should be good.

 

Check the oil to make sure you aren't low. With normal driving, you should be ok to wait for the OBC mileage.

fwiw, I've been to the dealer a few times with my always on sport button mod and never had anything said to me.

 

1.) You will get an oil change every year, no matter what the mileage is. Just go in and ask for it. I just dropped in one day, just after 1 year of ownership, 10.200 miles and asked. Mini of Baltimore took it right in, inspected, and changed oil and filter. No appointment, no hassle. Came back washed too...

2.) I didn't remove any mods. (autosport, intercooler...) no issues.

3.) According to Blackstone labs. I feel very comfortable with a 7500 mile change interval. I performed a oil and filter change at 1500 miles, and another at 7000. Both samples came back saying 7500 is fine. I'm sure it could go longer, but with the mileage I put on the car (10K a year) I can afford the $50 for 1 extra oil change per year.

Don't get fooled into thinking that BMW/MINI is giving you anything. You paid for the service, it's built into the price of the car. In other countries, the price is lower, and they don't have included service. In the USA, we're special, and we get to pay for it...

 

Mine is up a little to after a gauge install. Ive seen many like it... Not sure if its a clip issue or what but it never pops back down

Oil every 5-7.5 will keep it happy.

 

Change the oil/filter NOW on your dime. 6 months or 5,000 miles is what I did (5K came in 5 months). With 11.7K on the clock at 6 months I would most def change the oil.

Have you added a qrt or so due to consumption? That helps replenish the additive package. Mine was 1/2 qrt low at 5,000 miles I know.

 

I know it may seem unreasonable to you and others, but the engineers that designed the engine know more about it than you, me or anyone else does. Besides, do you honestly think BMW would be in business if it was arbitrarily pushing out service intervals beyond reasonable limits?

Like the others have said, check your oil regularly. It's amazing that some people don't even do this and just assume that all the oil that was put in the car when it was new will still be there 15,000 miles later. Add some if needed. All engines burn oil in some degree. If you think yours is burning more than anyone else, have the dealer check it out. Otherwise, there's no reason to change your oil early unless you want to spend the money.

 

Thanks for all the answers/advice.. I wasn't necessarily doubting MINI/BMW on it, just wondering if it was based on a little self-maintenance along the way..

and iwashmycar- im posting a pic in a bit of what my issue is, and it shows a little bit of the problem why it wont go down, maybe you got an idea on the fix

 

Cool. Mine has not gotten in the way of the wipers, but I havent attempted to take it back off since nearly 2 years ago lol

 

I circled the area thats causing the problem, if you can make it out, theres a rubber seal that runs along the bottom of the windshield glass, and when it was putting the piece back on, you can see the lip on the far left of the circle, is supposed to go under the rubber seal. you can see how part of the seal is pinched as it goes towards the bottom of the circle. its that seal that im talking about

and up/left from the circle, that white is scraping from the wiper blade.. it seems to be out of the way now, but when it first happened, it was a bigger gap..

iwashmycar- is that the same place your gap is? its only a couple inches then the rubber lies flat against the windshield again as you can see towards the top of the photo thats where it ends.

 

I tend to think this way too. Real automotive engineers design and manufacture cars. We should go by their advice for maintenance intervals however BMW/MINI is in the business of selling new cars.

On another note many people lease cars and do not do a damn thing to them. I have a leased 2008 Toyota Highlander with 32,000 miles that I will be turning in shortly. The only things that I have done is changed the oil at 5,000 miles and replaced the front tires. Oh and I go through a car wash maybe once a month.

I bought my MINI and plan to keep it for a long time. I take very good care of it.

Its your car. You decide if you want to increase the service intervals. Common sense should prevail.

 

Yeah same spot, though mine is only a little gap. Not that bad. Mine almost looks as if I need to push both cowl covers towards the center as well, but they fit just fine at the sides...I just keep pressing it down, then it just pops back up lol

 

As an engineer myself, I have mixed feelings about this. Undoubtedly the designers know what they are doing, but their input in the service recommendations is only one of several in a typical corporate scenario.

That said, there is a reason to follow the service indicator that most people never mention. Some very knowledgeable folks these days are suggesting that frequent oil changes may increase the intake valve deposits that some folks experience with the MCS and other direct injection motors. The idea is that new oil has more volatile components that are pushed out of the crankcase and into the PCV system early in the oil change interval, eventually making their way to your valves. Don't know if this is a real problem or just one of those internet "truths". Yours to decide.

 

search the web and find the quote from the Prez of Jiffy Lube

'the extended interval oil change is the greatest threat our industry has ever faced'

I had the 02 for just shy of 100,000 miles and changed the oil at the computer interval or 12 months what ever came first. It didn'y use oil when new, or the day it was sold. I can't remember needing to add a drop 'tween intervals.

My 07 is under the same program....or has been 'til this fall were we've come out of pre-pay maintenance. I haven't decided if I'm gonna change sooner or not. Oil has been changed 3 times so far; bought new off the lot in Oct 07

This new input about too freq changes is interesting as up to now I've felt the only damage done was to the environment via excess consumption of oil needlessly.

 

Sorry, but that almost sounds like the argument that washing it will make it rust.
If any are really interested, send a sample to Blackstone or some other oil lab and get it checked. At 11K, mine was using more than I thought it should and the filter was clogged. The TBN was at 2.1 and the narrative confirmed my thought that the filter was in bypass. Good oil will go a long way and take abuse, filter will only last for so long, and the better the filter the sooner it is likely to clog.
I settled on 10K, a little less if it begins to use oil. I found that to be a good indicator, for mine at least, of when it is time to change out.
Remember that the engeneers design the things, others make it, test it, sell it, and regulate it. They all have a finger in the pie, so to speak.
Don'cha love oil threads.
Happy New Year.

 

During the late ‘80’s, used Mobil1.
Oil change interval in the manual was 7500 miles.
This was long before I knew of Blackstone.
I split the difference and changed the filter at 3750, topped up the oil, and went for another 3750 and then changed oil and filter.
Most recent car was a VR6 VW.
OEM recommended interval to change the oil was 10K miles.
I never went that far and changed it at 7500.
Blackstone analysis indicated I could have gone the full 10K.
Analysis alerted me to an impending problem with my Jeep so I am a firm believer.

 

A couple of notes:
1. "You will get an oil change every year, no matter what the mileage is. Just go in and ask for it. I just dropped in one day, just after 1 year of ownership, 10.200 miles and asked. Mini of Baltimore took it right in, inspected, and changed oil and filter. No appointment, no hassle. Came back washed too..." This is not the case in Nashville as I believe this policy has changed and they will not give a free oil change at one year unless the milage is very low e.g. less than 4,000 miles. My MC has 9,000 and is showing 9,000 more before the first service and my salesman says "of course you will have to pay for it".

2. "I know it may seem unreasonable to you and others, but the engineers that designed the engine know more about it than you, me or anyone else does" My manual says oil should be changed annually which, in my case, would be well before the 18,000 mile service interval being indicated.

 

Mine says 15,000. Meh.

 

I'd be curious to know when you were at the dealership trying to get the free one-year oil change. There was a period of time back around August-September when MINI USA tried to change their policy and not provide the free oil changes at one year unless the mileage was low (less than 6k was the figure I kept seeing). My understanding is that they changed back to the original policy sometime around early October.

 

My Service and Warranty information says on page 5 in bold; Note: Change oil at least once a year

As to the free oil change, I did not know they had "re"reversed the policy but, since I have only had the car 9 mos, I don't really want to go much further for a free oil change. I am going to do it myself for about $40 and then will get the maintaince at the end of 2011.

 

I was referring to what my car tells me when I start it up. The interval is set at 15,000 miles.

 

Mine says 18,000 and I don't want to go that long for a change as it would be approaching two years. The manual says no more than 12 months and most people think 5k to 7k is right from what I read. I have two Acuras that have oil change intervals of 7,500 and the dealer tries to get me to change at 3,500. I don't know what is correct but there seems to be a lot of opinons and confusion. I am chosing to change mine at 9,000 and 9 months to split the difference with the on-board computer. If the dealers are again giving a change at one year then I am going to miss that opportuinty for peace of mind.

 

I'm just curious why, with us having the same engine from the same model year, the interval would be different. Weird.

 

I follow the computer intervals...I do check my oil and add occasionally. Since I'm out of warranty I don't go to the dealer for much anymore I buy my own oil and take it to the shop when it needs a change. 104k and counting....

 

Doesn't the computer account driving style...that could explain the difference