snapfisher

I have an '05 with ~3700 miles on it. Oil life is @ 40%. Question: will the MID for the A1 service go on when the oil life gets low enough or is changing the oil computed separately from the service warnings, i.e. could I approach 0% oil life, but still not get the service notice since I have less than 7500 miles on the car?

Thanks.

Hawhyen51

Snapfisher, to answer your question, yes, it's all computed on the MID, @ 15% oil life, MID will indicate "Service Due Soon" and @ 5%, "Service Due Now". It will also show a Maintenance Main Item ( A or B) and Maintenance Sub Items (1 - 5). This thread, When To Change Oil should be of interest to you. The question was basically the same as yours.

Ron A

See page 64 (or close to it for the 05 models) for how the MID works with the oil changes.

You will get a service due soon notice when 15% remains, you will get a service due now when 5% remains, and a service past due when it gets to 0%.

The service warnings are connected to the MID notices. The remaining oil life in the odometer section is for your information, and the maintenance messages in the MID are to remind you when you get close to the end.

snapfisher

thanks

crxb

say I change my oil at 40% as I have the for 2 oil changes now ---

Does the MID calculate services separate from just oil changes?

Or is it just kind of a fancy "trip meter" - change the oil and when the oil life is reset to 100% - any upcoming service indicators are reset too?

Ron A

The service indicators are not reset unless they pop up because they arre also due.

If you change your own oil and manually reset, if there are any service reminders when you hit the reset button, they will pop up and tell you, and then they will all reset.

Here’s the full procedure to reset the MID display, and also info at the bottom about other service reminders when you manually reset the MID yourself.

(The procedure on page 196 (of the 2004 owner's manual) of the manual is incorrect. In paragraph 3a of the manual, the requirement to hold the button for 10 seconds the second time it is pressed is omitted. If this is not done, the display will not reset.)

1. Turn the ignition switch to ON

2. Select Trip A or Trip B (You can use either one, so if you are using one to record data for something, use the other one to reset the Oil Life Indicator).

3. Press the < or > button repeatedly until the oil life is displayed.

4. Press and hold the Select/Reset button for 10 seconds. The Multi-Information Display will ask for a confirmation.

This will explain what happens to the other services items when you reset the MID before the service due message appears.

From the service manual, page 3-6:
So this means if you change your oil before the 15% Service Due Soon is displayed, and you go to reset the display, if there are other items to be serviced, they will show up on the display, and if you clear the display the MID will take this to mean that you performed the required service.

The statement from the service manual is a little vague, and I think they meant to say that if other items require service, the message "Service Due Soon" will be displayed, since if there is nothing else requiring service there would be no need for the message.

This information is NOT in the owners manual.

richrath

The documented (in the manual) procedure for resetting the MID, as stated above, does not work on my car. It took me a couple weeks of frustration the first time to discover this. On my '04 5AT, S/N 61xxx, the way to clear service msgs and the MID is this:

1. Turn key to "on" -- service message appears immediately in the MID. No need to select anything.
2. Press and hold the Select/Reset button for about 10 seconds -- the MID then sends a confirmation message "Are you sure you want to....?"
3. Same as #4 above.

I have no idea if this is a quirk on my own car, or something "wrong" that really doesn't affect anything, or what. But the manual's procedure does not describe the behavior of my MID. Does anyone know anything about that or heard similar stories?

Just my 2 cents in case anyone else has any trouble with the official procedure.