So I noticed something about the R56 I've had since Feb 22nd..

Whenever the car starts up it displays a date and a number (in the 20,000's right now). This is supposedly the next time you need service according to my MA, but he thinks its really quirky how some of the 07's he has seen are showing such a high number for the next oil change.

Frankly I think its a bit absurd how my car says my next oil change is in 20,000+ miles and I already have 5,000 on my car. Is this correct?

My MA contacted MINIUSA and they are giving him conflicting answers.. His regional says that there is a software update, but he only sees one for the regular Cooper since the CEL issues, and when he contacted corporate directly they said the number displayed on the tach at startup is correct.

So what is correct? 25,000+ miles on my MINI before a service is absurd, and he has had to reject customers because they are coming in at 12,000 miles with 10,000+ still showing on the tach before next service. The oil can't last this long.. it will be sludge or completely gone by the time the car hits that mileage I bet and cause some serious damage..


Any idea on what the issue is.. I don't want to be rejected for service at 12-13k for no reason..


Thanks

 

mine is reading 18K til oil service, and it's only got 450miles on the clock! i thought it was odd. i'd recommend getting the oil changed at 12k or so then having the proper oil service in line with the cars onboard computer schedule, unless your dealer strongly advises you against it.

 

Sensors measure the quality of your oil (apparently they are now very good at doing that). My readout said 21,000 when the car was new and now reads 20,000 (I'm approaching 5,000 miles). I expect that number to continue to decrease with time and miles (probably exponentially). Presumably, the harder you drive your car the quicker that number will reach the oil change point.

 

Still seems ridiculous that this is now how they determine services at dealerships. Before it was just a set mileage wasn't it? Blargh : (

 

You can pay out of pocket and get your oil changed or change it yourself whenever you want. It's best to get your first oil change at 500 miles or so to get the metal shavings from engine break in out, despite what the computer says.

 

The 2002-2006 reads at 10,000 miles which and I thought it's too long.
I guess the R56 oil is a lot better???

One thing I wonder if the R56 Maintenance Schedule includes to-up of liquids like brake,coolant etc.?

 

For my BMW X5, the first oil change is at between 15000 to 18000 depending on it was driven. For us, it was 1.5 year after we bought it and at over 16000 miles. 10k miles is not so bad! Heh.

The X5 is a lease, we will just follow the scheduled oil change. I just ordered a Mini, and there is no way it will wait until 10k. I will probably switch it out at 5K or sooner.

 

Service intervals have indeed changed. Check your manual. It's all there.

 

I know on the 05's that the countdown indicator goes down based on how the car is driven. If you do a lot of highway driving, and don't "drive it like you stole it", then the countdown will go much slower.

It was close to 13,000 miles before mine had counted down to the point of the 1st service, however I am not sitting at 40,000 and have since had 3 more services performed. When I took mine in back in early March for the last one, the indicator was reset to 15,000 miles, which was right around 37,000 miles. I'm now down to less than 8000 miles on the indicator for the next service, so I will make it under the wire before my warranty runs out at 50,000.

Just start driving the car a little harder, put a little lead in the bottom of your shoe and those miles will click down quicker than you realize.

 

I will ignore the service indicator. I changed the oil at break in 1250, and will every 5000 miles or so thereafter. I don't have the service counter reset so it will keep tracking to the scheduled point.

Also the recommended is mileage or 1 year, which ever comes first.

 

There's no sensor measuring the quality of the oil. It's basing it's calculation off of BMW's LongLife oil spec, and your driving habits.

 

Unless they have changed their policy you can have your oil changed if it’s been over a year regardless of how miles are left until service.

 

That's what I was told when I took delivery. My counter has now gone up to 18000 miles, and the date to 2009 (cannot be right). Anyhow, if the mileage still reads crazy at the one year mark, they will change the oil under the maintenance program. If not, it's time to get a new car... definitely not going to be putting up with service like that.

 

Where are you getting this info? It contradicts what my dealer told me.

 

Synthetic oil can last that long. It will depend on the driving conditions. Start driving it a lot harder and you will find that interval come down faster than the miles you put on the car.

I had a 74 Mustang (not known for its reliability) that I left the same Mobil 1 in for about 80,000 miles. Car rusted out from around the engine. If the floorboards hadn't vaporized, I might still be using the same oil.

 

+1

 

When the oil is new, the display shows an extended service interval. The 09 year is, I believe, the max. As the time approaches to replace the oil, the display will get more accurate. When it's reading 20k/2009, it's essentailly saying, "Don't worry about it for a while."

 

The need to replace engine oil shortly after break-in is an artifact of poor manufacturing practices during earlier times. Now the engine manufacturing process ensures that residual dust and shavings from the machining process are no longer present in new engines. Removing that residue was the primary need for early oil changes as it actually served the purpose of cleaning a freshly machined engine. No longer needed for engines built in 6 sigma facilities.

 

I've never seen a sensor, haven't had anyone be able to point to one. I have read about calculations based on mileage, ambients, run times, heat cycles, etc.

When people change their oil, if there really was a sensor, it would know it and reset the countdown counter automagically. Since you have to tell it that the oil is fresh, it can't really be sensing the condition.

 

You need to get a new dealer. There are devices that measure oil quality, (gas spectrophotometers, and gas chromatographs), but unless you paid $100k and have a sizeable closet strapped to the bottom of your car , your MINI is computing driving conditions to determine service intervals.

 

I heare what you are saying and your assumptions make sense. However, 100k sensors would not necessarily be required.

 

Surfblue says:
I'm with ya, glangford. I just changed the oil/filter on my 07 MCS last evening at approx 1800 (eighteen hundred) miles. I will change it again at seven thousand (or sooner, depending on how I end up driving during that mileage cycle), then 5k after that, etc.
Face it: BMW is NOT going to love/maintain your Mini with the same fervor as you. Oil changes on this car are SIMPLE. I am not bragging when I say I did the job without a spill. I DID have to wait nearly two hours for the engine compartment area to COOL enough that I was comfortable getting at the filter. (no burnt fingers for me) This allowed plenty of time for oil to fully drain. Now, I gotta go find that thread on the reset for the computer after the oil change.

 

I’ve only had my oil change twice at a dealer. Both times it had been over one year since the oil had been changed by a dealer and both times my service indicator read 6000 plus miles to go before service. There was no fight, no hassle and no charge.

Not everyone drives their cars 15/20K miles a year, but I will have my oil changed once a year regardless of the miles driven.

 

Call me old fashioned, but I do an initial service at 1500 miles regardless of what the manufacturer says. The cost of doing so gives me more ROI than any other sub-$100.00 investment I could make in the car.

It's true that engine manufacturing tolerances are far better now than anytime in history (Six-Sigma an ISO processes have greatly impacted this), but metal parts are still metal parts and they need to seat; regardless of initial tolerances. Otherwise, the factory wouldn't include a break-in process in the manual. The fact that the engine ships with Synth instead of dinosaur oil is a testament to the close tolerances produced at manufacture, but you still have more gasious contamination from combustion when an engine is new.

Not saying you can't go 12-15K before an oil service; I just choose not to.

 

Well I'm from Missouri, so someone would have to "Show Me" in the wiring diagram where that sensor is (and I've poured through the diagram(s); or provide some other proof of that claim (that there is one).

I have a basic understanding of what it takes to do oil analysis (20 years of Army maintenance and the Army Oil Analysis Program), and it would be practically impossible to put any kind of meaningful "sensor" in an engine to measure oil quality.

BMW publishes certain standards for recommended oil (BMW Long Life 98, 01, etc...). Numerous brands of oil will state that they meet BMW's spec (and which one). That spec says how long an (LL certified) oil should last in a BMW engine. It's simple calculations of historical averages and driving habits for the computer to estimate when your service is due (and BMW has been including this "feature" for at least the last decade or so).

Finally, the mileage/date to my next oil change didn't change when I changed my oil. Why not? Either the "sensor" doesn't realize that there's fresh Mobil 1 (BMW LL 01) in there, or it doesn't exist. I'll bet on the latter.

--edit--

Just saw the other posts saying the same thing. I wish I'd have read the whole thread before typing all that!