Wow! Who knew??? We are the proud brand new handlers of a 2003 Mini Cooper S. What a car .....more than either one of us is used to. Which is why I need I'm going to risk sounding like an idiot with some basic questions. 6th gear...my experience only goes up to fifth. What is the proper speed to change into 6th??? I've tried working out these ratios for RPMs and speed and get a headache. I know with my other car without looking at the speedometer and going suddenly deaf when I need to change. The Mini being a whole new experience..well it's a whole new experience. Do any of you change your own oil or have other than a Mini dealership do it? The closest dealership is not close at all and I imagine quite costly for the simplest of tasks. Using synthetic oil changes the time between oil changes by how much? Our Mini has only had one previous owner according to the CarFax report. Should we check to see that it has been running on synthetic oil or would we know by now that it hasn't? And speaking of synthetic oil..why synthetic?? If it's that much better should I start my Honda on it?? Lastly, we didn't get an owner's manual unfortunately and it's a must as far as I'm concerned. After two days of scouring the internet, I was able to download a bulky 148 page copy of the original, which is better than nothing as there's so much in that small bundle of energy that one needs to be educated about. Has anyone had any luck getting one from a Mini dealer or know of a good resource for the original that comes with the car? There is also a service manual that sells for around $60 on Amazon that sounds like a good investment. Any suggestions for reading ? We want our Mini to live a long and happy life,so the more we know the better.
Thanks, everyone... Happy Motoring!

 

I don't have answers for any of your questions, but... Hi! Welcome to NAM!

 

In the MINI, you'll know aurally when to change to sixth , that is, if you really have to.

I recently did my oil change and it's not as bad as I had originally thought. For the first oil change, I took it to wal-mart and they had a difficult time, but with the help of the forum, it's a cinch. I think MINI would say 10k miles for an oil change. This being an enthusiast forum, many, including me, change every 3k or so.

I always just thought synthetic was better. Plus, my Acura/Honda ran on it so I guess they do.


I don't know. I never read my manual. I figured it would be a journey into the unknown and I was having too much fun with just driving the car. I still can't figure out how to make the windows go up and down with the key.