O/T Mini JCW & 24 months servicing

[Nick Bassett]

Hi all,

Think I already know the answer to this question, but would welcome your thoughts...

Background

Just picked up a lovely low mileage 2008 Mini JCW from a Mini dealer - goes like a stabbed rat!

Anyway, dealer promise the car would be serviced and conducted other work on the car including he said replacing the timing chain. Great. Picked up said car last Saturday, drove home and all was well. Car still going great - love it in fact.

Checked the service book and last service stamp was Dec 2015...checked the oil and while it looks OK, it is definitely not fresh as in new oil.

Sent a polite email back to dealership asking for clarification on 'service conducted' plus proof of work carried out for when I want to sell the car on - the reply received back was:

"The car had a AUC carried out (Approved Used Check) which is very in depth as you can probably appreciate, which is like a service as they check 136 points on the vehicle, oil, brakes, coolant, spark plugs etc.

The Servicing is every 2 years with MINI so the next service should be due in Dec 2017.

I have sent in the post to you our AUC report/ internal invoice which confirms the works that we carried out replacing the timing chain and the money that we have spent on the car."

So... they didn't actually service the car as in change the oil etc, but basically gave it a check over and topped up where necessary. That wasn't made crystal clear, but there you go - I do have a 12 month dealer warranty as peace of mind I guess.

Questions

1. Am I worrying about nothing and should just drive the car, booking it in for a service in Dec 2017? The car has done only about 2000 miles since the last service in Dec 2015 and is very unlikely to do high mileage between now and Dec 17.

2. Should I conduct an oil change myself using BMW approved parts - basically oil & filter - to run for the next 8 months, then book the car in for a service with Mini to ensure the balance of warranty remains intact?

I'm not a big fan of long life oils, preferring to change annually, especially in cars that have expensive, high performance engines.

Thanks

Nick

[Wrightpayne]

Your last paragraph is what I do. Our Skodas are on fixed interval servicing 10k/12months and I change the oil inbetween so typically every 6 months it gets changed. Always use genuine filters and recommended spec Quantam brand oil from Trade Parts Supplies (vw/audi parts division). Sure you'll find similar for BMW spec oil.

Ian

[Geoff Brown]

I have owned three Mini Cooper S. The latest is a Mk3 Cooper S with 210 upgrade purchased 12 months old.

The service system has not changed across all three cars.

The 'service' is just a visual health check unless something is flagged up by the onboard service programme. Two years/12000 miles is the max between oil & filter change.

Changing the oil & filter early is your choice it will not do any harm unless like me you have a free 5 Year TLC thrown in.

By the way with only 19bhp less than the current Mk 3 JCW the car indeed goes quicker than a stabbed rat!!

[Gnockoff]

We have had two Mini Cooper S, the latest we bought new in 2007. Because I get the use of a firm's car every other week, the Mini does very little mileage, even now it has only done 54k miles.  

We had the 5 year TLC package, but because the service interval is calculated by the car we were in the position of only having one service over the five years.  As result, after the warranty period expired, we have had it serviced annually by an independent with full oil/filter change and checks of brakes, etc.

I personally don't think it's a good idea to have such long time intervals between services.

Mine is a cooking version and it still goes like a rocket.