[Efthreeoh]

Yes, you read that correctly. On the E90 (at least for my 2006 325i) the CBS oil service indicator (oil life monitor) is programmed to stop working after 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles). The system is programmed to stop processing the oil quality data provided by the oil quality/oil level sensor that is in the oil pan. If you are not familiar with the CBS oil life monitor system, the sensor that determines the level of the oil in the engine also measures the quality of the oil though a practice of measuring the dielectric of the oil. I’ve discussed this system several times on several different threads and it is one of the reasons long oil change intervals are achievable with BMWs. The oil quality sensor provides oil quality data to the CBS that is used as part of the data input to the BMW algorithm used to determine when the oil needs changing.

Attached is the service notification to the dealer that BMW publishes when a customer comes in with a complaint that the oil service indicator will not reset, or resets to a lower value than normal. In my case, according to BMW North America, I am the first owner to experience this issue. When I changed my oil at 212,000 miles, the CBS would not reset to the normal oil change interval (OCI) of about 18,000 and only reset to 9,700 miles. At 221,000 miles the CBS notified that an oil change was due (a 9,100 mile OCI vs. the usual 17,500 miles I normally have) and the CBS would only reset to 0 (zero) miles.

The problem is now every time I start the car it dings and indicates the oil service is past due. If you read the attached document, it explains the procedure for the dealer to follow to code out the oil service notification and instructs the dealer to tell the customer to change the oil on a predetermined interval of 7,500 miles. Based on my driving style and conditions, my OCI would average about 17,500 miles based on the CBS system.

Once I discovered that the CBS would not reset past 0 miles, I concluded the oil level sensor was bad. I thought that if the CBS wasn’t getting oil quality data from the sensor, it wouldn’t let the system reset. Also I had noticed the CBS oil monitor function had been behaving differently in the past year with not being able to reset using my BT scan tool (but it still would reset with the turn signal stalk). Additionally, after an oil change the system would immediately indicate, after proper engine warm up, a full 7 quarts of oil in the engine; with the 212K and 221K oil services, the system would not immediately recognize the full complement of oil until about double the time and drive cycle necessary to warm up the engine; it would only report the last oil level before the change; meaning if the engine was a ½ quart low before the change, it reported a ½ quart after the change, which I know was not correct because I always refill with 7 quarts. And further, the presumed oil consumption of my engine, based on the drop in oil level as measured by the e-dipstick, had drastically changed from around 13,000 miles per quart of oil, down to about 6,500 miles. My engine is still in great shape (the average MPG has dropped off only about 0.6 MPG since the car was new) and has a light-weeping oil pan gasket leak.

So I changed out the oil level sensor (as a DIY). The part is around $160. The new sensor did not change the behavior of the system and the CBS still would not reset. So, figuring it was a software issue, off to BMW of Sterling I went. BMW of Sterling, who was great in really trying to solve the issue BTW, had my car for 8 days. BMW of Sterling followed the procedure noted in the attached bulletin, and when that didn’t work, they hooked my car up to the BMW NA engineering network to let BMW’s NA engineering department have a crack at it. BMW NA couldn’t fix it either, and opened a PUMA case, sending the issue off to BMW AG.

And that’s the problem. It’s been four (4) months since all this took place, and BMW has not addressed the issue. I spoke with Sterling’s customer advisor today, and he said it is not a priority for BMW to solve the issue. So I suggested that when buying my next car (keep in mind my E90 has 236,000 miles on it) purchasing a BMW will not be my priority after 25 years and 650,000 combined miles of BMW ownership. I should add that BMW of Sterling initially agreed to charging me a $160 diagnosis fee to chase the issue down, but after it came apparent that the problem was a software issue purposely engineered by BMW AG, Sterling kindly did not charge me anything (I suggested that I shouldn't have to pay for it since the car actually didn't break - they agreed), and I had their loaner car for a week at no charge.

I’ve been quite patient with this waiting for BMW to address it. I tried to get to BMW NA directly to take the matter up with them by calling the BMW Customer Service hot line. That process was a complete joke. After 30 minutes of heated discussion (just asking for a point of contact at BMW NA), I was switched to a “Customer Resolution Specialist”, who when I asked for a BMW NA phone number said “Okay, 1-800-….” he started reading me the customer service number I was calling on! (Needless to say that really pissed me off). All the BMW Customer Service line is a call center in Columbus, Ohio; they will tell you that they are not affiliated with BMW NA (WTF?). They refused to give me a POC at BMW NA in New Jersey. All they can do for you is either call the dealer (my issue isn't with the dealer), or "register a complaint with no expectation of resolution", so my advice is don't bother calling the BMW Customer center because it is a complete waste of time. I’ve been clear with everyone at BMW of Sterling that this whole thing about the E90 software being pre-programmed to stop processing the oil life monitor data at 186,000 miles is totally stupid, and that I’m highly disappointed at the customer service I’ve received from BMW North America and BMW AG. I wasn’t discouraged from posting the issue to the BMW community…

So, it’s posted…

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