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If you have a car from say before 2000, you probably do want to change your oil fairly frequently...the state of the art in machine tools, computer controls, alloys and the actual oil itself available and used in today's vehicles means that those old 3K intervals for oil changes are a major waste of time and money on a new car unless it sits at idle all the time or maybe used on the track. Even in Germany, where you can, on occasion reach the rev limiter on the Autobahn, the longer timeframes work and the engines last. What your father had to do and his father before him had none of these advances in technology. Today's oil is so much better than even stuff from 5-years ago. On my last car, I regularly had the oil analyzed, and it easily lasted over 10K and that engine ran probably twice the average revs of the new one and had 30% less oil in the sump to work with.
The only way to know for sure is to have the oil tested, but it is DESIGNED to help keep the insides clean and hold the stuff in suspension. It's only when the stabilizers get used up and it cannot keep the pH in check, and the detergents can no longer hold any more crud in suspension that things start to get bad. The oil itself doesn't wear out...it's the additives. That's one reason why they can recycle the oil...super filter it to take out the crud, light refining to get rid of the metals and other contaminants, then put in a new dose of additives, and it's ready to go around again.
BMWs specify a very good oil, and have a decent filter, and a larger sump than most. SPend the money if you want, but unless a test comes back saying the oil is shot, using the factory recommended intervals for most people is not going to harm your engine or its performance.
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