Shows you how little confidence I have in them that I would bother checking when I got home .Almost a full inch above the top marker on the dipstick . Duh ?

 

Dude, you are lucky. I have had friends not have their drain plug installed. Start to drive away from the dealer, TRAILING oil. One dealer here in LA damaged my MINI and refused to fix it. Another dealer did such a terrible job with a repaiur, I had to have the regional service rep come out and look @ the shoddy work that was done..

In short, service from most MINI dealers suck. For maintenance items, I won't let MINI dealers touch my MCS anymore. They have shown all too often that they lack respect and quality...

 

Lucky for you that you caught it so soon, as it would have damaged your engine after a period of time.

 

suns ah b@#$$%^es

 

I feel your pain

1. Took my car to Crevier for crackling dash / took dash apart three times but and although they heard the problem they could not fix it so rather than pull it apart for a fourth time I accepted it.

2. Did I mention while in the dealer for service they put a dent the size of a baseball on my rear quarter panel. They did say sorry and fix it with paintless

3. My car Squeaks at idle periodically and I took it in. I recorded the sound and even though they admitted to it sounding strange they said they themselves could not reproduce it so once again they could not fix it. We agreed it sounded like the water pump but they said they could not replace it on a guess.

This all sounds minor but they have had my car a total of 4 weeks

Crevier is known for this kind of service but they do provide loaners and Long Beach who I hear is great is a long way away on a work day.

 

I was at an Acura Dealer once and they got a cutomer super pissed because her left front tire wasn't properly bolted on, So when she started driving it popped off the car almost resulting into a major accident.

 

yea after a not so great showing at the MINI service shops my mini has been to ive pretty much decided if i alone cant fix my car ill go to an independant mini mechanic...one would think that since its BMW they would atleast take care of your car...but i guess that type of service is reserved for bmw's....not the mini

 

I don't let the dealer touch anything related to the drivetrain on my car. My car has been to the dealer once since I bought it almost 2 years ago, and that was for windshield wipers under the maintainance plan. My second trip is in a few hours, I'm having them fix my window motor (Window won't go up ). No way I would trust those monkeys to touch my engine .

 

I guess Mini's are just the forgotten B@st@rd child of BMW !

 

I had brought it in 5 days earllier even though I told them it wasnt exactly 1 year they said bring it in anyway ,when I got there they refused to do it and set an appointment for 5 days latter .Arived on the day they set and they wernt expecting me . Did the whole screwed up oil change .Came back the next day to have the extra oil drained .I'm 45 minutes from the dealer so my free oil change cost me about 6 to 8 hour and over a half tank of gas .It would have been cheaper to pay someone local to do it .The survey they sent didnt work so I Emailed them to let them know I wouldnt be back . Like they care !

 

No, MINI's are no bastard child. Back in 2002, on my first oil change with my 325 wagon, the dealer never tightened the oil drain plug. Good thing I noticed the oil on the garage floor before the plug loosened completely on its own and my engine blew up at highway speed! I never really trusted the dealer service again after that episode.

 

korby - I would communicate that experience to the regional MINI contacts in the owner's manual. You were treated very poorly, and MINI USA should know about it.

 

Already done ! Oh thats Crevier Mini/BMW in Santa Ana California where there Motto is "THAT'S JUST NORMAL FOR THESE CARS !"

 

I said it earlier in this thread, most dealers suck. And from what I have heard from many other MINI owners, it is the weak link in the MINI chain...

Sorry Crevier boned ya. Looks like it's time for some Rhino ramps, and a few tools to do the oil changes on your own from here on out.

 

This is just the last straw . Started with no jack or wrench they refused to give me one , 3rd to 2nd Squeal they never heard of it and did nothing , flaming hot bonnet , they said thats just the way these cars are , bonnet scoop is warped , SA guy saw it from 20 feet away through a dirty window ,they didnt replace it ,I've got the cold start sounds like theres no oil issue one SA said they have a fix for it the other said Thats just the way they are ,they did nothing etc...

 

Oooooooo; free oil. How cool is that?


You really need to address it with MINI's brass and find a different dealer.
The dealer that I go to does't get it right most of the time but they have a pretty good attitude...

I like everything about these cars but the dealership experience.

 

So my "Service" I spoke of yesterday went great. I took it in at 8:45 right at my service appointment. The drivers side window wouldn't close, I suspected the motor since it didn't seem like it was the regulator or switch. I voiced my concerns and suspicions to the SA, who then told me that they'd need to keep the car for 3-4 days to diagnose the issues. I said absolutely not, i'm not leaving my car for close to a week to replace a window motor (15 minute job).

They said there was nothing they could do, and wouldn't loan me a car because I didn't buy the car from them (They charge 3-5k dollars on top of the price of the car as "Markup", so you're effectively prepaying for the loaner car, and then some .)

I laughed, grabbed my keys from off her desk (Hillary, at Bob Smith MINI), and walked out. I then drove 20 minutes to MINICorsa. We confirmed in 5 minutes that the issue was indeed the window motor, I purchased a new one (from Century BMW 15 minutes away, Danny loaned me his car to go pick it up), and it was installed in less than 30 minutes (For free).

Anyone wish to compare the levels of service between a car dealer with 80 million dollars a year in sales (And who the hell knows how much in service) and a small, privately owned shop?

I'm done with the dealer. I'll pay out of pocket from now on and worry about it later. I'm calling MINI USA on Monday of next week to submit an invoice for $170 parts because of Bob Smith's unwillingness to cover them in a timely fashion.

This is the same dealer that wanted me to wait a week for a service appointment during a 3 day long rain storm (One of the worst in a LONG time here) to replace my windshield wipers. I even told them, just give me the parts and i'll do it myself.

When they finally did decide to take my car in, it took almost 2 hours to put new windshield wipers on. At that point I asked what on earth was taking so long, and the SA went to check, and came back telling me that they were washing my car, and it would be done shortly. It was POURING outside! I almost lost it... close to 3 hours for new wiper blades (I was late for a meeting because I waited so long). When I got the car back the wipers worked for about 5 minutes before streaking worse than before I took it in. I decided to just screw it and went to Pep Boys and bought new wiper blades myself for $30.

Bob Smith regularly quotes customers $3,500+ for a clutch (20 hour job at $150 an hour?!?)

This stuff drives me nuts!

 

Danny at MINI CORSA Saves the day. Maybe BMW should pay him to consult with them to provide good service.

On another note: When I was deciding to either buy the 6 Speed Auto or 6 speed manual one of my great concerns was that I wanted the tuning kit. I wanted an auto but would have went for the manual trans if Crevier did not show me a BMW press release stating the kit would be out for the Auto by end of 2007. I ordered my Auto R56S along with the JCW Suspension and tuning kit. When the car came in the dealer informed me that they were installing the suspension but the tuning kit had been delayed. At the time I was not that upset but 4 months later and my car still does not have the tuning kit. When I tell them I asked you ahead of time when I was making my decision on transmissions they only reply sorry for the delay. I regret not ordering the manual because I would have had the tuning kit on. How was I to know they would take my order and then say well things happen we are sorry you don't have the car you really wanted.

I guess this is really BMW/Mini North America's fault but Crevier should not take orders and commit to items that can't be delivered. Maybe if they can't deliver on something that was in writing they should offer an alternative or maybe a discount on the car. When you spend 30K + on a car and it is not exactly the way you wanted it a simple sorry does not cut it.

 

korby, I know it's been said before but if it makes you feel better the dealers often dish out the same (lack of) service on the BMW side as well.

Best of luck

 

It makes me feel good that I didnt pay $50,000 for a BMW and knowing this I never will !

 

same thing happened to me, only it was more than an inch over. i noticed it after 2,000 miles and a 800 mile road trip. when i asked them to drain it they told me the first opening was in 2 weeks. i called MINI USA and they got me in that day. 5000 miles and another oil change later im noticing oil on the garage floor. not sure why.

 

Over filling oil causes Main bearing seal rupture !

 

oil level is fine. engine power is great. MPG is also good at 29 spirited city driving. these engines can take much more than an overfill to damage them. it is well documented with MINI USA and the dealer. plus i am under warranty till 100,000 (geico). made an appointment this morning and going in next week. my guess is that it has something to do with the oil drain plug leaking, stripped of not on tight. if not and its related to the oil fill, i get a new engine

 

For general reference, if you are reading over, you may want to check and make sure they changed the filter.

 

how would i know? a friend of mine said the same thing. oil gets left over in the oil filter and can throw off the oil level. what bothers me about that is that i pay $80 for an oil change and expect my filter to be changed too. in fact i would rather have the filter changed than the oil. one thing i notice is that after an oil change the oil seems to get dark very quickly, after 1000-1500 miles. is that from left over oil trapped in the filter? how can i bring this up to my dealer?