[mmm def]

So I call for my 15k service (car has 14,800 miles on it) and the SA asks what my countdown is, um...1200 miles. "Sorry we can't take the car in until it has much lower, BMW won't pay for it, we have people coming in at 20k for their first oil change and service"

Yeah sorry I do my oil changes at 5k and bring it in every 15k. What am I missing?

Suure when BMW foots the bill the intervals are huge now.

Also..I changed my oil at 5k intervals and I don't believe the mileage countdown ever increased because of the fresh oil.

[mds82]

why have you changed your oil every 5k miles? if you want to dealership to do the maintence on your car you have to wait "till the car is ready" otherwise there is nothing they can do about it for you.

when the oil says its ready to be changed that is when BMW will change it for you. they cant change it before then because its not part of their service agreement

[dreamk]

at my rate the car tells me it needs oil change in 3/09 i had it for a lil while now

[Fraggy]

When its time for the oil to be changed, the car will tell you. Ive never changed the oil any more frequently than BMW suggests, and Ive never had any engine problems, even up to 90000 miles.

[mmm def]

Originally Posted by mds82

why have you changed your oil every 5k miles? if you want to dealership to do the maintence on your car you have to wait "till the car is ready" otherwise there is nothing they can do about it for you.

when the oil says its ready to be changed that is when BMW will change it for you. they cant change it before then because its not part of their service agreement

i change my oil every 5k, my rant was i thought the service intervals were at 15k..because they do other things than just an oil change.

Are you going 20k between oil changes?

[mack82097]

Originally Posted by mmm def

So I call for my 15k service (car has 14,800 miles on it) and the SA asks what my countdown is, um...1200 miles. "Sorry we can't take the car in until it has much lower, BMW won't pay for it, we have people coming in at 20k for their first oil change and service"

Yeah sorry I do my oil changes at 5k and bring it in every 15k. What am I missing?

Suure when BMW foots the bill the intervals are huge now.

Also..I changed my oil at 5k intervals and I don't believe the mileage countdown ever increased because of the fresh oil.

I'm also planning on changing my oil before the car tells me to. In reading a bunch of oil changing threads, I believe that the car can analyze the oil quality, but I'm also confused.

If you change the oil yourself every 7.5K, is it possible that the oil change maintenance indicator will never light up because there will be fresh oil in the engine? Also, aren't there two maintenance counters, one for service and one specifcally for oil?

Thanks!

[The Cleaner]

Originally Posted by Fraggy

When its time for the oil to be changed, the car will tell you. Ive never changed the oil any more frequently than BMW suggests, and Ive never had any engine problems, even up to 90000 miles.

I have a 325i at 155k without any extra oil changes. The auto trans went to 149k before it failed and it was never even topped off.

[Bimmer335i07]

I had 13,800 miles on my car when it told me that maintenance (oil change) was due. I just took it to the dealer, dropped it off and they changed the oil for me.

[RIP-A4]

my car is at 12540 miles I just found out this morning on my way to work, that my car is bone dry of oil. So I went to go buy 3 qts of syn oil. and the service engine soon light came on as well as the car not letting the engine rev above 3k. Good thing I made an appoiontment for sat and they better pay for what ever occurs since I was just following their recommendations on the 15k service intervals

[simpleE92]

if ur oil is low take it to ur dealer they will top off free of charge and the rev above 3k sounds weird dont drive it just call them and have ur car towed in . thats what i would do

[mmm def]

Originally Posted by Bimmer335i07

I had 13,800 miles on my car when it told me that maintenance (oil change) was due. I just took it to the dealer, dropped it off and they changed the oil for me.

What did your maintenance indicator say? SA told me some people's cars will go to 20k before requiring a maintenance. That's just too long for my piece of mind.

[halfpast3]

i change my oil every 5k, my rant was i thought the service intervals were at 15k..because they do other things than just an oil change.

New generation BMW's require an oil service every 15,000 miles but the car does adjust that number according to some variables...i just don't know what they are. I've been in after 13,000 on one car and after 15,600 on another. Actual Service Inspections don't happen but every 30,000 miles.

[jooology]

Stop treating your BMW like a Honda. The car is smart enough to tell you when it needs maintenance.

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by jooology

Stop treating your BMW like a Honda. The car is smart enough to tell you when it needs maintenance.

thank you.

How many people changing their oil every 3000, 5000 or so think they really know more than the engineers that DESIGN THE DAMN CAR????

Why the hell is anyone using maint intervals that were being used in 19fucking70 for a BMW made in 2007 or 2008???? It makes no sense. I can only say you must be ignorant if you think manufacturing techniques, oil, metalurgy, ...i can go on and on..... haven't improved in 35+ years.

Synthetic oil will NEVER break down in our type of driving. You're only changing it because it gets dirty. Want to change something every 5000 miles? Change the oil filter. It's a genius deisgn. Add about 1/4 quart for what you lose in the filter, and you're off again. Changing the filter is not doing anything to help, just easing you mind.

Tell you what - all you people that change the oil every 3000 or 5000 miles, why don't you just send me $100 every time, and I'll gurantee your engine has no oil related issues for 200,000 miles, as long as you take it in for the scheduled changes as required by the car.

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by mack82097

I'm also planning on changing my oil before the car tells me to. In reading a bunch of oil changing threads, I believe that the car can analyze the oil quality, but I'm also confused.

If you change the oil yourself every 7.5K, is it possible that the oil change maintenance indicator will never light up because there will be fresh oil in the engine? Also, aren't there two maintenance counters, one for service and one specifcally for oil?

Thanks!

It will eventually trip the internal oil change indicator, because the car won't let it go forever. It'll eventually require you to go in, just to see why oil wasn't showing the expected wear pattern / dirt content.

[BMXtreme]

My car had an oil change last April 2007, and now its 5k miles more and my service indicator says 12/2009 for next oil change...why is that? Can it last for that long??....

[wj4]

Originally Posted by mmm def

So I call for my 15k service (car has 14,800 miles on it) and the SA asks what my countdown is, um...1200 miles. "Sorry we can't take the car in until it has much lower, BMW won't pay for it, we have people coming in at 20k for their first oil change and service"

Yeah sorry I do my oil changes at 5k and bring it in every 15k. What am I missing?

Suure when BMW foots the bill the intervals are huge now.

Also..I changed my oil at 5k intervals and I don't believe the mileage countdown ever increased because of the fresh oil.

That's how a lot of BMW dealerships operate. The one I go to doesn't warrant the freebie oil change until you're at 500 miles or less on the indicator. I went in at almost 16,000 miles for the freebie.

You have nothing to be sorry about doing oil changes every 5k. A lot of members do the same, well the ones that don't lease. A lot of other non E9x BMW owners do the routine as well.

I changed my oil after break in at 1200 miles, it was beyond filthy due to the metal shavings.

PS just because you do an oil change, the countdown won't reset. You have to do it manually. There's a process to it, it's on the board but I have no idea where it is. Searching would be the best bet.

[2007_E93]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

thank you.

How many people changing their oil every 3000, 5000 or so think they really know more than the engineers that DESIGN THE DAMN CAR????

Why the hell is anyone using maint intervals that were being used in 19fucking70 for a BMW made in 2007 or 2008???? It makes no sense. I can only say you must be ignorant if you think manufacturing techniques, oil, metalurgy, ...i can go on and on..... haven't improved in 35+ years.

Synthetic oil will NEVER break down in our type of driving. You're only changing it because it gets dirty. Want to change something every 5000 miles? Change the oil filter. It's a genius deisgn. Add about 1/4 quart for what you lose in the filter, and you're off again. Changing the filter is not doing anything to help, just easing you mind.

Tell you what - all you people that change the oil every 3000 or 5000 miles, why don't you just send me $100 every time, and I'll gurantee your engine has no oil related issues for 200,000 miles, as long as you take it in for the scheduled changes as required by the car.

A bit angry are we?...

I don't think anyone knows for sure what the "harm" is in leaving the oil in for 15k miles. NUMEROUS threads have been started with an OIL analysis showing much higher levels of metal in the car's oil than there should be especially in the first 5000 miles or so. Everyone is entitled to their opinion as to oil change intervals. I like many think its a well made machine but also a bit more expensive then most autos. So why not change the oil at say 5000-7500 miles with full synthetic? Which is more likely to harm the engine? Changing too frequently or not frequently enough. Many people think BMW has calculated that most people dont own their cars past the warranty and so they really dont care about a car past warranty. So BMW and others have longer oil change intervals.

I decided to change my oil right after breakin period at 1200 miles and again at 7500 and plan to every 7500 miles. Everyone is entitled to baby their car as much as they want.

To the OP,...the manual says 15000 miles or 1 year. If you have had the car 1 year the service guys should honor you oil change, even if the car says otherwise on the dash. Also, your counter will go down and "tell you" it needs an oil change the more you run your car hard. I take care of it but also drive it quite hard at times. Right now it says I need an oil change at 13000 miles. After a good hard run it gets shorter and shorter. The oil change indicator does not change the count down if you simply replace the oil....the indicator has to be reset in the on board computer. So change the oil as you see fit and adjust the indicator according to the BMW specs to get your free ones.

[bimdaddy]

After 12 months of ownership and 8000 miles, dealer performed the 1yr service/oil change under warranty, eventhough my countdown still says 13,000 miles to go. If you've reached the one year mark, call the dealer and ask them for the freebie.

[GMWNashville]

yea you get one free OC a year..regardless of miles..however the free oil change doesnt get your CBS reset so your countdown still continues...

[wj4]

Originally Posted by volkswackin

yea you get one free OC a year..regardless of miles..however the free oil change doesnt get your CBS reset so your countdown still continues...

So he gets another one sooner than later? If he has 8,000 miles say (just for this example) and it's been a year..he gets a free change WITHOUT resetting the countdown number...so in another 7,000 miles or so he will get another free one?

When I got mine, they reset it back to 15,000. But it wasn't because the car was a year old, it was because it was time.

[Ascension]

Originally Posted by mmm def

i change my oil every 5k, my rant was i thought the service intervals were at 15k..because they do other things than just an oil change.

Are you going 20k between oil changes?

BMW will perform an ANNUAL minor service (basically an oil change) if you request one. They don't advertise this, but a service adv. told me this when I brought my wifes 325i in for the Inspection 1 service last year. I just had the Inspection 1 service on my '06 330i in addition to the annual minor service performed in '07. It had 18k miles on it. Here's a pic of my loaner car