so question I'm at 4,000 glorious miles and I'm getting close in changing the oil. My question is with the waranty that I have, i believe the basic 4 years one, is the oil change included? If not how much are oil change?
Also where did u guys go to change your oil and how much it cost you guys?
plus I'll probably kill 2 birds with one stone and get my stripes for the beast!
I'm thinking viper stripes...I think that's a good choice.
oh well.

 

Oil changes are included in your service contract ..... however if you want an earlier "break-in-done" flush you will have to pay for it out of pocket. MINIs require full synthetic (european spec). Do not use partial synthetic!!

 

... and read the maintenance section of your manual - it tells you about recommended service intervals, etc. While there is an endless debate about whether this is a good or bad thing, the first recommended oil change for your car is around 10,000-11,000 miles. You odometer tells you how many miles to the next service when you start the car. Some of us change the oil and filter more frequently than the "recommended" interval - though scientific oil analysis tells me that I don't really need to...

 

Also, the *warranty* is 4 years/50k miles, but the *free maintenance period* (which is what gives you the free oil changes) is only 3 years/36k miles, unless you pay to have it extended.

 

What I don't understand, is if MINI is responsible for the car for the first 4 years under warranty, why would they skimp on the first oil change? If MINI thinks 10,000 is soon enough, then that's good enough for me.

 

Heh, heh. This has been debated TO DEATH...

But, short version:
1) No one believes changing the oil every 10-15K miles with high quality synthetic will make your car die in less than 50,000 miles. But some of us want our MINIs to last hundreds of thousands of miles - and BMW/MINI really has no vested interest to care how long it lasts once the warranty is over...
2) Auto industry regs are driving manufacturers to reduce the "lifetime waste" produced by a car - including all fluids drained over the expected life of the car. So they're using "longer life" oil, coolant, brake fluid, etc. to comply with these standards. Again, as long as they comply and the car lasts through the warranty, they should be happy.
3) Do auto manufacturers REALLY have an interest in building and maintaining cars to last "forever"? Or just long enough to make you happy enough to buy that brand again?

Now, whether more frequent oil changes are "necessary" is subject to debate. And there's some good evidence that, with modern synthetics, the recommended intervals are "good enough" for "average" driving habits and conditions. But some of us drive way, way harder than average... and, for me and some other "old school" types, about $30 to change my own oil every 5-7K miles is cheap peace of mind... others invest in periodic oil analysis to see whether they really need it given THEIR driving habits, conditions and car wear characteristics... and often the analysis suggests that the factory recommended intervals are "good enough"...

So there, clear as mud.

 

Nice! perfect. Now i have a clear understanding...
eeek by the way the title should say change...not chant...oops...was typing this thread on my phone before...bleh. Oh well.
Thanks for the reply guys!