Abarth 595 Servicing Tips

[BMWBen]

The time has come for my Competizione to have its first service in my ownership. It's already been serviced outside of the Fiat network by the previous owner so I'm not going to be taking it to a main dealer.

Normally I'd do this without hesitation or question (I've got a local garage I trust), but with the Abarth I'm a little worried that there might be some gotchas that mean it would be beneficial for a specialist to do the job.

Is there anything that I should tip my local garage off about before booking it in? Any little extras that they should take a look at? I'm already aware of the sticking exhaust valve, so would ask them to check and re-grease that.

...Or should I find a specialist and travel a bit further?

[Gmlgml]

I use a Fiat independent for mine and he strongly advocates using the correct Selena abarth specific oil. It’s not readily available from motor factors and is quite expensive (but not that much dearer than an other good quality fully synthetic.)

When I asked why he said the majority of serious engine issues they’ve seen happen to be on cars that haven’t used the oil. Whether this is just a coincidence I wouldn’t know but he feels strongly enough to state it.

I would add he’s quite happy to suggest other non OEM parts if they are better quality than the originals, so it’s not as if he’s slavishly sticking to the service spec.

[ecsrobin]

If you have the LSD make sure that got an oil change at 6,000miles and then I think it’s every other service.