My new cabrio has about 3K miles, so I was thinking about the service interval. Right now, upon startup, the CBM says I could drive 13,000 miles and wait 'til March 2011 for service! This can't be right, can it?

Part of the service manual says oil should be changed once a year at least, so is that not programmed into the CBM system?

So what is a pretty normal service interval for oil, etc., and why does the CBM system think I can go 'til 2011???? The manual is devoid on help, it basically says the CBM sensors do it all for me......

sunnygirl

 

The Mini will tell you when to bring it in for oil change, for brakes, for the other types of maintenance. Your date of March 2011 is accurate, as mine also said the same, however as the computer understands your driving habits, that date will change. I think mine now says January 2011 instead of March, and it now shows 11,000 instead of the 13,000.

Regardless, You can take in your Mini every 12 month from date of purchase and the dealership will change your oil for you. They won't reset your oil change date in the computer, so when the computer says to take it in, you'll also do that, and it will be covered by then.

Like others on NAM, I took my Mini in around 1500 miles after break-in to have the oil changed. Now this is NOT covered by Mini, so you'll end up paying for it out of pocket, but it will be around the $50 to $70 depending on the dealership you go to.

Update: I'm almost at 4600 miles I believe.

 

THese dates really do not mean anything, just the next scheduled maint per Mini scheduling. The first normal maint other than oil changes is normally scheduled for 24 months, depending on driving habits it may be sooner.

Many Mini Dealers will not change the oil for free even at the one year mark if you have not met the mileage requirement. I.E. if you only have 8000 miles and one year of ownership they will not change the oil as the mileage has not been met. This is something to take up with the service manager and if they still will not do it take it up with MINI USA.

This is a good idea but be ware there are many dealers that charge $125.00 or more in some cases. Yes this is an outrageous cost for an oil change, but htey are getting away with it. In all states it is leagal for you to do the oil change yourself or have another shop do it and still retain your warranty. My local shop does it for $35.00 if i bring the filter as they have had troubles getting the filters.

 

I have changed my own oil in everything I have ever owned, so the "free oil change" for the Mini is new to me. I was looking forward to it until I was told the first change was around 15,000 miles. I have used full synthetic, and I have gone as much as 15,000 miles, but only on a trip to Alaska. Normally on a new vehicle, I like to change oil after the first 1,000 miles but I have over 2,000 on my Mini now and am starting to get "nervous" about going another 13,000.

I have not checked the price of oil and filter, or labor for the change with Mini because I still would like to do it myself.

Other than the Mini dealer, where can I buy a filter or am I best off using a "genuine" Mini filter. I imagine the dealer would not object too strenuously to my doing it myself. Then again, at my age (65), maybe I should stop crawling around under my cars. It's not that I am cheap, I just like working on my own car.

 

and IMHO you should be nervous about letting it go more than aabout 2000-5000 miles on the new engine.

There are a number of vendors listed in the Vendor Directory that carry the OEM filters. https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/vendor.php

Also there is a good DIY for the R56, R55, R57 in the Alliance magazine, Issue 1 Page 19 (i think this is correct).

It can be downloaded here https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/alliance

 

So, I printed off the R56 Oil Service How-To. I bought a filter ($10.46) at my dealer, Cincinnati Mini, and 5 qts. of Castrol Edge ($6.49/qt.) at Autozone. The How-To pages said to "fill the engine with 5 quarts" which I did. After a drive and a check, the oil was a little high...but only a little.

I poured my old oil into the empty bottles and found I had drained a little less than 4 quarts. Since, on checking, the oil had always been between the high and low marks on the dipstick, I was surprised. Of course I cannot find anything in my Mini owners manual that tells me how much oil the engine should have.

I feel better now. Maybe I can make it to 15,000.

 

After checking my oil a dozen times...and not really being able to tell where it was on the dip stick...and reading every "oil" string I could (the best concensus I could determine was that 4.4 qts. was best), I decided to drain 1/2 qt.

I drove 200 miles yesterday, waited 5 minutes after getting back in the garage and then checked the oil using the clean paper towel method. I think the oil is at the top of the red(?) thing.

Is has become quite apparent to me that Mini does not want us to change our own oil and possibly not even check it. Whoever designed this dipstick must be one himself.