It’s time for my 45K oil change, and the BMW dealership wants to charge me $200. I understand that the oil change will cost more than on a typical car because you can go 10K miles between changings. I called a local mechanic who said he works on Mini’s all the time and is only going to charge me $30. I’m afraid of the difference in price - that maybe the local guy doesn’t know everything involved. Is there anything special about an oil change for Mini’s other than synthetic oil?
Your dealer is giving you something for free. BS
The typical cars today all have 10,000 mile oil changes. Take a look at your car’s Bible. You should find a copy in your glove box pretending it is an owner’s manual. It will tell you what is really needed. It will tell you the kind of oil required, likely the same that most all cars are using today. Make friends with your local independent (not a quick lube place) and keep going there for anything that is not paid for by BMW.
I’ll bet if you ask the dealership, the $200 is for a lot more than an oil change. But some of those extras may not be necessary. Compare the list with what the maintenance schedule requires. Then make your decision.
$200 is buying a lot more than the oil change. They’re likely lubing bushings, inspecting various things, etc. Your warranty may be dependent upon this service being done as well. If it were me, I’d probably bite the bullet and let them do it. It’s a fairly new car, why skimp on it? Perhaps ask the dealer exactly what they’re going to do for the $200 and have someone else do it if you don’t want to pay as much. If your car calls for synthetic oil or other lubes, I wouldn’t skimp on that though.
The dealer is likely ding an “Inspection” in addition to the oil change to justify the enormous cost.
Whatever they call it, it’s not worth it IMO.
Bottom line is that the local guy might do just as good as a job, however $30 sounds a little too cheap considering Minis require almost 5 qts of synthetic oil. Ask the mechanic what the real price will be.
I agree, $200 is a tad high for an oil change but $30 is much too low (just decent oil should cost more than that); I would expect to pay about $75-100. Find a good independent shop that specializes in BMW (not bubba’s garage) and have them do the change with a good quality synthetic that meets you cars specifications (not just viscosity, check the owner’s manual) and an OEM oil filter (not parts store junk).
I also have a Mini and my dealer charges $100.
The price for the oil that I have gotten both at the dealership and at Pepboys is $ 80.00 a quart for Mini’s oil (made by BMW) so after the $ 400 for oil I was quoted nearly $ 500 for the entire process. Needless to say I will be using another brand. Hasn’t anyone else had this problem. Also, the last time they did the oil change (on warranty) they put the oil pan on so tightly that my mechanic can’t get it to open to drain. So, I am calling them to get them to do something about it.