hey guys and gals...
i'm about 300 miles from my nearest mini dealer and won't be able to get to one until the beginning of june. thing is, i'm about 125 miles away from my first service. so here's the question. what's best to do? should i just get an oil change up here at a local garage and not tell mini about it (i'm sure they won't be able to reset the service light anyway). should i go up here and tell mini about it next time i'm down there (risking the warranty)?
or should i wait and do nothing till june (14,000 miles or so until the first oil change sounds a bit dangerous / ridiculous).
advice would be greatly appreciated.
hm well another thing, i'm sure there's a bmw dealer closer... does anyone know if i can get it serviced at a non mini bmw dealer? probably not, but worth a shot.

thanks a bunch people
christina.

 

I would just order a filter and have it changed yourself. Keep documentation of it and you should be fine. Certainly a LOT cheaper than gas money for a 600 mile round trip drive.

 

sounds good... any suggestions on the best place to buy a filter?
thanks yucca

 

sounds good... any suggestions on the best place to buy a filter?
hm does this mean the service engine light's going to be on until i get to a dealer? oh well. it'll go nice with the open boot light

thanks yucca

 

I order all of my OEM parts from Classic MINI, one of our vendor sponsors here. They give a 20% discount to NAM members. They are about $8 each.

I have similar problems since my closest dealers are 150 miles away.

In my town, I have a great independent BMW mechanic who owns a MINI and does all of my non-warranty service. Hopefully you can find someone like that where you live.

 

Buy some redline or some Mobile 1 synthetic and change it your self. Easy as pie. Cost you filter, oil, and time.

Sean

 

Most MINI owners do there first oil change between 1500 and 3000 miles to remove any metal shaving or filings from the system. I changed my own oil/filter at 3000 miles and there were indeed matal filings caught in my oil filter. It is important to get that original filter and oil out of there at least by the first 10,000 mile service interval. Changing the oil/filter is the #1 way to prevent premature engine wear. NO WAY would I exceed 10,000 miles.

Having your oil changed by someone else will not void your warranty. Changing the oil beyond 10,000 miles might. If you have it done lacally you will probably have to find a filter as they probably don't have one for a MINI. Try to get a MINI filter, but WIX filters are high quality as well. For now, I would stay away from Puralator filters. They have had some issues with collapsing that I don't think have been resolved. They might be fine, but why risk it.

Oil/filter changes should be a religious!



BTW-BMW won't touch your MINI.

 

I would change it when the car says it is time to. No need to do anything else. 300 miles is a good reason to take a drive. My car usually goes between 12,000 to 15,000 between oil changes which is within the recommended limits.