The basic service intervals are 30,000 km or 18,000 miles. This is the recommended schedule for European cars, US cars will most likely be different.

The 1.4L 16V gas engine oil change interval is 30,000km or 18,000 miles. The oil filter is also recommended to be changed at that time. If the car is used less than 10,000km a year or used primarily in cities, the recommended interval is every 12 months.

The 1.3L MultiJet diesel engine has an oil quality monitor that automatically calculates when to change the oil and filter. Owners report that is usually sooner than the 30,000km (18,000 miles) of the gas engine. The oil should be changed at least every 2 years regardless of what the oil monitor says.

The 1.4L 16V Turbo engine oil change interval is 30,000km(18,000 miles) or every 24 months, whichever comes sooner. However, if the car is used less than 10,000km (6200 miles) or primarily in the city, the recommended interval is every 12 months.

In order to safeguard the engine and its long drain intervals, synthetic oil with a grade of SAE 5W-40 ACEA C3 is recommended.

Of course this may change once the car is sold in the US.

For the 1.3L MultiJet diesel engine Fiat recommends a synthetic oil with a weight of SAE 5W- 30 having the ACEA C3 standard. In an emergency, oil with the ACEA C2 standard is allowed.

The high performance 1.4L 16V Turbo engine in the Fiat 500 Abarth calls for a synthetic grade oil with a weight of 10W50 and the ACEA C3 standard.

The timing belt in the Fiat 500 is recommended to be inspected every 60,000km (37,000 moles) and needs to be changed every 5 years or 120,000km (74,500 miles) intervals, whichever comes first.

If the car is used under severe conditions (cold climates, city usage with prolonged running at idle speed), the recommended interval is every 4 years regardless of mileage.

By the way, there is no belt on the 1.3L MultiJet diesel engine, it has an internal timing chain that doesn't need a replacement interval.

No, the 1.3L MultiJet diesel has an internal timing chain and not an external timing belt. The internal chain is lubricated and does not need to be replaced during maintenance.

The only engine in the Fiat 500 lineup that needs to have the valves adjusted is the 1.2L 8V gas engine. These should be checked at 60,000km (37,000 miles).

All the other engines have hydraulic cam followers and do not need to be adjusted.

The spark plug used in Europe for the 1.4 liter 16V version of the Fiat 500, NGK’s DCPR7E-N-10 are fitted as Original Equipment. This 12mm spark plug has been developed specifically for the Fiat FIRE MPI engine family. It is a nickel alloy plug.

This small diameter spark plug lends itself well to the compact combustion chamber of the multi-valve 1.4 liter engine.

When the Fiat 500 comes here to America in late 2010, the plug specified might change. The NGK DCPR7E-N-10 might be exchanged for a long life iridium/platinum plug due to US EPA regulations requiring cars to maintain a certain level of tune over the course of many tens of thousands of miles.

You can read more about Fiat 500 spark plugs here.

The nickel alloy NGK DCPR7E-N-10 spark plug specified for the 1.4 liter 16V engine has a 1mm gap setting.

The standard NGK DCPR7E-N-10 spark plug has a change interval of 30,000km (18,641 miles) in Europe. However, when the Fiat 500 comes to the US in late 2010, it is likely to have long life plugs installed.

Upstream of the converter, the NGK/NTK’s wide range oxygen sensor - ZFAS-U2 - will be used to provide the high accuracy A/F control necessary for the Fiat 500 equipped with the 1.4 liter 16V MultiAir engine.

Downstream, NGK/NTK’s OZAS-S2 binary Lambda sensor will be used for monitoring catalyst function.

You can read more about the Fiat 500 oxygen sensors here.

Fiat recommends changing the air filter element every 60,000km (37,282 miles) for gas engines.

For a Fiat 500 equipped with the 1.3 liter MultiJet diesel engine, Fiat recommends 30,000km (18,641 miles).

Fiat specifies the maximum engine oil consumption at usually 400 grams every 1000 km.

When the car is new, the engine needs to run in, therefore the engine oil consumption can only be considered stabilized after the first 5,000 ÷ 6,000 km.

Remember, the oil consumption depends on driving style and the conditions under which the car is used.

Fiat requires DOT 4 brake fluid be used in the Fiat 500.

These are the specifications: fluid FMVSS n° 116 DOT 4, ISO 4925, SAE J1704, CUNA NC 956-01.

The headlights featured in the Fiat 500 are of the H7 type. The headlight also contains the turn signal bulb. The high beam is the lamp below the headlight, just above the bumper.

The high beam bulb is an H1 style bulb. This lamp also contains the daytime running light/parking light.