Quote:
Originally Posted by MatchesMalone
Does everyone really already realize that? Whenever there is a thread about oil change intervals, you almost always see people claiming that the 15,000 mile BMW interval was developed by a bunch of greedy corporate accountants, rather than engineers. These same people usually point out the unlikely coincidence of BMW recommending longer intervals for maintenance items at the same time that they start paying offering "free" maintenance. It's probably one of the most hotly debated topics on here. So, when somebody offers actual, objective data I think that's a good thing. Too many people post anecdotal evidence of how they've been doing such and such practice for such and such number of miles and haven't had any issues, therefore they are correct. As an engineer, I prefer hard numbers.
It's true that BMW and the oil companies have recommended intervals, but it's not always clear where those intervals come from. What are their test conditions and assumptions? Are they based on a casual Camry driver, or a lead footed enthusiast with a high performance engine? Somewhere in the middle I assume, but we don't know exactly where the line is. In the OP's case, he "beats on" his car more than most everyday drivers, and he chose to spend a minimal fee to get a rough look at how his oil was holding up. Nothing wrong with that, and I'd say it's a better strategy than pulling a random interval out of thin air, simply because it's a round number. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not hear to judge your maintenance practices. On the contrary, my point is that I disagree with everyone who's judging the OP's decision to "waste" a lousy 35 bucks to get some real data and be better informed.
Obviously the analysis here has limitations, but some data is better than none in my mind.
In any case, you made some good points, thanks for that.
Ok, we get it. You don't see the value in a UOA. FYI, you don't have to keep posting here. Just ignore it and let those of us who found the results useful to ourselves. Otherwise you're not contributing anything useful to the thread.
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And what do the hard numbers tell the OP? That his engine will last 10,000, 20,000 miles longer than if he followed a 15,000 mile OCI? The OP beats on his car because he tracks it 2 days a month? How many miles is that? It is really all that hard on the engine? So he's decided to change the oil every 10,000 miles instead of 7,500 and how long will the OP keep his car anyway? If the engine fails at 220,000 miles instead of 260,000 miles is he going to have the car that long? I doubt it based on they way he treats his car now. The car is a toy to him, which he hopes will put up with the abuse so it can double as a daily driver. All the while the suspension, cooling system, transmission, differential, wheel bearings, and chassis will have shortened lives as well. But he's trying to save money on maintenance costs by extending the OCI by 2,500 miles; sorry it just doesn't make sense to me.
One of the purposes of this forum is to debate issues, I'm debating. You just don't like my argument because it is a good one, so your answer is "just shut up."