[KAMAKAZI]

IF YOU CHANGE YOUR OIL EARLY, SHOULD YOU RESET YOUR SERVICE INDICATOR?


THIS IS NOT AS STRAIGHT FORWARD AS IT SEEMS.


IF YOU DO CHANGE THE SERVICE INDICATOR AT 7000 MILE CHANGE, WILL IT RESET FOR THE NEXT SERVICE IN 15000 MILES, MAKING COMPUTER INDICATE "INSPECTION 1 MINOR SERVICE" DUE EARLY. THAT IS AT (7000 + 15000) MILES OR 22,000 MILES. IF YOU KEEP DOING THIS FOR SEVERAL OIL CHANGES, WILL THIS MAKE THE "INSPECTION 2 MAJOR SERVICE" DUE AT ABOUT 45000 MILES, DUE MUCH EARLIER ( ABOUT 28000 MILES IN THIS SENERIO)?

if you change the oil early, is it best not to reset the oil service indicator? Should you arbitrarily reset it when it says an oil change is due, even if you dont really change it at that time?

[KAMAKAZI]

apparently you can reset the service indicator yourself this was posted on the minicooperonline.com site

"here is how to reset the service light:

1) Press and hold the trip button
2) Insert key and turn to position 1
3) Watch for "RESET" to appear
4) Release the button, then press & hold it again
5) Wait for the "RESET" to flash
6) Release the button, and then press & release (once only)
7) Service interval should then be reset to 10,000 miles"

also the warranty shouldn't be an issue if you chsnge the oil more frequenly than the mfg recomends

[minitech]

look ...here is the real thing.just like the post before this one,you can reset the service indicator before or around 10k but you will set the next service interval early also.your car takes in account your fuel consumption(how hard you drive)and the milage you have driven to determine how much more you have till the next service.i work on MINIs all day long and most customers ask me if changing the oil early will hurt???....no ...i recomend 5k oil change for the first service and then to the factory recomended sevice intervals(i dont reset the oil indicator at the 5k sevice)....motor on....

[friedduck]

I wouldn't reset it. As some have reported, you won't receive your free service until the car says it's ready (although I'm sure you could get a reasonable dealer to do it.)

I changed mine, noted the mileage, kept receipts, and reset nothing.

Jeff

[BruceK]

Exactly WHY would a MINI owner want to reset the service indicator after he does a off-maintenance cycle oil change based on personal wishes? Especially while the car is under 'free' service warranty in the US (or TLC package in the UK)!

Think about it for a minute. The owner doesn't want to wait until the car's service indicator says the oil change is due, so he ignores it completely and changes his own oil based upon the odometer reading or gut feeling about dirty oil in a new engine. (Personally, I've done two oil changes already before my first indicated 'free' oil change).

Then the owner messes with the service indicator setting which he's probably going to ignore anyway! Now when he wants his 10K mile 'free' oil change and service, the MINI service manager looks at the car and sees it's not due until another 10K miles.

Am I missing something here?


But later on when the car is well out of warranty (or TLC) and the owner wants to stick to the recommended 10K miles service interval, then it makes sense to reset the service indicator. But I can't see the sense of it until then.

[chiph]

Like BruceK said.

Chip H.

[KAMAKAZI]

The reason an owner would want to reset the indicator is as follow-

some of us who live 200+ miles from the dealer don't feel it is worthwile to drive that far for free oil change.

most of us are changing oil more frequently than the recommended 10-15 thousand miles.

i think it is probably best to reset the indicator at some time to make sure the time for major and minor service appears appropriately on the indicator (i do plan on getting the free major/minor service from the dealer)


if you decide to change oil at say 7000 mile intervals,
when should you reset the indicator? at 7000?, 14000?

based on all of the above and everyones comments i think the answer is

1 CHANGE THE OIL AS FREQUENTLY AS MAKES YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE>

2 ONLY RESET THE INDICATOR WHEN IT SAYS THE OIL CHANGE(ie 10000 miles) IS DUE EVEN IF YOU DONT REALLY CHANGE IT THEN.