My MCS will have about 72,000 miles on it when it turns 4 years old in June, so my manual says I have lots of service to look forward to this year.

I called Brecht Mini to get a rundown on their costs. Inspection II (new belts, plus inspect everything to find other things to charge me for) is $710.

Brake fluid, coolant and power steering fluid are $199 - each! Needless to say, I'll go elsewhere for that stuff. Midas will do coolant and steering flushes for $69 each, for instance.

The one mystery item the SA mentioned was a fuel system cleaning (or something like that). This is not in the manual, and was never mentioned on any prior visit to Brecht, even though this guy said they recommend it every 30,000 miles. To quote Car Talk, is this bo-o-o-o-gus?

 

was he talking about a fuel filter change? i know that should be done in the inspection 1 and would imagine the inspection 2. i would look for a good MINI mechanic who will probably do it all for 50% less than the dealer and use real MINI parts and fluids.

not sure about san diego and what mechanics are down there but, there are a couple here in the L.A. if you want to take the trip and save a bunch of $$. i go to minicorsa so i can speak for him and recommend highly. if you have any questions about the shop you can PM me and i can give you a number to get some prices. i'm not affiliated but, i recommend the shop highly. there are a couple others around here that have a good track record too that i do not have personal experience with.

 

The Mini fuel filters are “lifetime”. No one who has thought about it actually believes that but it is not included in Mini service inspections.

That said I think that a fuel system flush is bogus on a well running car. That said I put 20 ounces of Techron in the tank at every oil change (5000 miles) and only use Top Tier fuel (Shell or Chevron). If you use cheap fuel the injector flush might not be a bad idea.

Rich

 

My car gets almost nothing but Chevron, so it should be clean as a whistle if their advertising is to be believed.

I was just looking at my expenses from 2007, and I spent $1,733 at my usual Chevron station. All told I spent $1,920 on gasoline last year.

 

When going to Midas, make sure the proper coolant & PS fluid are used. The wrong stuff will end up costing you a bundle.

As for the fuel system cleaning. IMO it's a big cash cow for your dealer. I use a bottle of Techron every 5,000 miles.

 

I agree, I do the same thing to my MINI, with 94k miles on it.

Mark

 

interesting. lifetime filter huh? that's a new one. i never knew that as i bought my MINI second hand and the warranty had just expired and i choose not to deal with the dealership. all the more reason to go to a good independent MINI specialist i guess. my guy did the entire inpection one with all the fluids, etc. including the cvt fluid and replaced the fuel filter to boot. the fuel filter is included in his inspection 1 service so i just assumed it was that way at the dealer too.

i did the inspection 1 service just to be safe right after i bought the car and had no idea if the previous owners did it and didn't want to take the chance. when he was removing my back seat i asked him what he was doing and then he showed me the new fuel filter he was about to install.

i also use chevron premium and i think i'm going to drop a bottle of techron in there this weekend!

 

All of my cars only use Chevron with Techron. Same as above after each oil change at 5000 miles a 20oz bottle of techron in the tank. I had a head change to a high performance head on a Probe GT with 70,000 miles and the old head was like brand new as were the valves, the mechanic couldn't believe it. that's my 02 cents. Plus as previously mentioned, Chevron and Shell are first tier gasolines with very special specifications. There are very few first tier gasolines.

 

I work at jiffy lube and we offer a fuel system cleaning too. If theirs is like ours, then it is a 3 part system, with an additive for the oil, an additive for the gas, and an additive that is run through a direct vacuum line to the intake. The one in the oil conditions the seals, bearings, and it's supposed to deposit some kind of protective finish on everything. The one that goes in the gas removes water from the lines, and it softens up varnish and gum in the injectors and deposits in the lines so that they can be blown out or worn away. The additive for the intake runs through a setup that looks like an IV, but it atomizes the additive which runs through the most direct vacuum line we can find (brake booster line, usually), and the additive loosens and removes contaminants from the intake tract, and softens and eventually leads to the removal of varnish or build-up on the valves.
That's what I remember of the explanation that was given (to the employees of the Jiffy Lube I work at) by a representative from Full Throttle, the company that produces the additives.

Here's some more info:
https://installeredge.com/cgi-bin/cu...mNumber=FTPK10

I personally think it works. I mean, if you put an additive into your gas and/or oil fairly frequently (which I think is more effective), I doubt you'll see much improvement. But if you don't use additives like seafoam or techron, or that kind of thing, or if you use citgo or some other crappy gas (translation: anything that isn't Shell V-Power), it is a pretty good deal. It definitely works, and for the sixty bucks we charge for it, it's about equal to what you would spend using other additives at every oil change. Don't fool yourself into thinking it will cure all of your ails though.

 

so i guess we're still semi-on topic but, it seems that techron is mentioned most for an additive. i also hear about seafoam in the MINI but, i read another MINI forum and apparantly BG 44k was supposed to be really good too.

any thoughts. or other additives?

 

Seafoam is great. I use it in my oil,fuel, and intake system. Works great and gets lots of dirt out. The fuel fitler is replaceable. The dealer sells fitlers for 25bux. I bought one and tryed changing it once but could not open the canister where the filter is located. Its on the passanger side under the rear seat. There is a thread on that subject but so far no one has replyed. I do know there are people on nam that have replaced it.

 

did you check the bentley manual for advice? I don't have one, but you should be able to find somebody that has one

 

I dont have one either but I heard from someone that there is a bit of info on the fuel fitler in there.

 

since you are in socal give danny over at minicorsa a ring. like i said he changed my filter when he did the inspection 1 service. i'm sure he would tell you how to open it. took him all of like 10 minutes to do it- 5 minutes of that was removing and replacing the seat. his number is in the vendor directory. i remember he used a long screwdriver i think to pop open the little hatch that conceals the filter.

 

well, i dropped a bottle of techron in last nigth and all i can say is "wow" it made a huge difference. my car idles like new.

 

+1 on BG44K. I do it every 7500 miles. Pricey, but worth every penny

 

You probably know this but a lot of this you can have done at a good German car mechanic and save yourself a ton of loot.

I can understand flushing and bleeding the Brake Fluid. I like to do that every 2-3 years but power steering fluid flush? That sounds like some made up service they offer to flush money out of your pockets. Of all the fluids in the motor, that will be the longest lasting.

I've heard of the fuel system cleaning. From what I understand from other cars, they disconnect the fuel lines and run some injector cleaner through the system. IF they actually perform the work they say they do, I could see some benefit in the sense of preventative maintenance. I capitalized the IF for a reason

I'd consider it more important to change the fuel filter at this point than run the injector cleaner.

 

Yeah it's called the "BG44K" F/I flush and clean, my Toyota mechanic does this with his "tune-ups". that's why if one uses that or Techron every 7500-10K and runs top-tier gas the dealer's fuel system cleaning is redundant and unneccessary.

 

for the power steering fluid, Pentosin CHF 11S, I have found it at Baxter Auto Parts if you have one in your area. It was much less than than the dealer if I remember correctly.

 

+1 for Seafoam.

I haven't bothered to use it in the engine yet, since I do a oil change every 5K with Redline, but probably will when I hit 30-40K, and I do a decarbonization through the exit IC boot and add it to the gas tank whenever I feel like it. I like Seafoam better than the off-the-shelf fuel/injector cleaners, since I feel that most of those formulations are just concentrated detergents, which is already in most gasolines. BTW, if Seafoam is added to the oil, the instructions on the bottle do advise changing the oil within one gas tank's worth of driving.

This thread has more information about how to use Seafoam, though it doesn't quite mention fuel system cleaning:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=74535

 

so do you use this before say an oil change? i thought i had read somewhere to run a bottle of it through the fuel lines right before you change the oil? also if you don't mind- at $20 per bottle fot BG44k vs. $8 per bottle for techron which do you feel is better?

I run chevron premium in my 2003 but, i bought it second hand so i do not have any idea what the previous owners did. i have had all fluids (cvt included) changed for my need to make sure all was good. but at 37k miles i do know that one bottle of techron made a significant difference in idling and it isn't my imagination. i'm still running that tank of gas still, do you think it would hurt to drop a bottle of BG44K in there soon after? there's a shop right around the corner from me that carries it.

 

Here is, perhaps, a newbie question. In reading this thread, I see top tier gasolines mentioned.. Shell and Chevron. Is Mobil considered a top tier gasoline? And, if not, why?
Thank you for your input.

 

Here's a link to the info you seek.......

http://www.toptiergas.com/index.html

 

No, like Techron BG44K is a fuel additive, and I think it's better (it better be at 2.5 times the cost) but dont put it in right now. Wait a few thousand miles (at 40K), buy a can, pour it in, fill yr tank, and off ye motor. takes about a full tank cycle before y'll notice the diff. My Toy mechanic uses it all the time, "best stuff ever," but also says that anything less than every 7500 miles or so is a waste, for it's pretty powerful stuff.

I also told my MINI SA I was using it, and he gave two thumbs up that it's great for keeping the tank's gas level sensor working properly.

 

Sea Foam the tank before every few oil changes for me (3/4 bottle in the
tank, 1/4 in the crankcase).

Looked for BG44K, and my local place said "we're out of it temporarily, but I like Sea Foam better, and it's quite a bit less expensive."