[aohus]

So I just recently purchased a brand new '10 e92 back in february. I now have 6k miles on it, and decided I'd take advantage of BMW's complimentary oil change that comes with the warranty.

service dealer said i could not get free oil change because i'd have to wait a year to get it done?! or have 14k miles on it total before end of october 2011. This doesn't make sense to me. Was dealer deflecting? I'm not a pro car aficionado so I'm just thinking he's taking advantage of that.. Thoughts? Is he right?

Whats the best way to handle service dealers?

Thanks.

[smallseafishie]

Dealership is right. You get a free one every 15k miles or 1yr.

[matrix76]

Your oil changes are done once a years, not 6 month or 6k, synthetic oil you know, , , ,

[BALLAJL15]

Yes, the dealer is correct. BMW will only refund the dealer on an oil change once every 15k miles or once a year, which ever comes first. Its complete bullshit in my eyes and you should not wait 15k to change your oil. I change my oil every 5k miles and on the 3rd oil change I have the dealer do it for free.

Stick to the every 3 oil change for free interval and you will be fine.

[Seminole]

It's true. As has been said, they'll only cover it once every year or 15,000 miles, whichever comes first. I get mine done every 7,500. So I pay for the ones between each 15,000 myself.

[Thunder Dump]

And now they've even changed that policy on that, wherein starting September 1st you can only get the free annual "low mileage oil change" if you drive less than 6000 miles a year. Anything over that and you have to wait until the car says it needs it.

[ANTE92]

Yes the dealer is correct...

[vytama]

I was denied too. We recently purchased a used 328 and records showed that oil was changed like 11k miles ago. Dealer would not do it. So I went to my mechanic and changed it. The sad thing is that the oil after 11k miles was scary black. I think if you own a car - it is necessary to change oil more often than 15k, but if you lease...

[aohus]

Originally Posted by smallseafishie

Dealership is right. You get a free one every 15k miles or 1yr.

thanks. btw service rep was extremely courteous. Never had problem with BMW dealership thus far.

[cb1111]

Actually, most of these answers are partially correct.

All modern BMW's have condition based services where the car's computer calculates when to do services such as oil changes. Depending on your driving style, your car will tell you to get an oil change somewhere betwen 14k and 18k miles (mine was at about 17k miles.)

If you drive far fewer miles, then you'll be authorized an oil change every year.

So - it is once a year or whenever the car tells you - whichever comes first.

Some services such as brake fluid flush are time based.

Unless they've removed it, it should all be outlined in your owner's manual

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by vytama

I was denied too. We recently purchased a used 328 and records showed that oil was changed like 11k miles ago. Dealer would not do it. So I went to my mechanic and changed it. The sad thing is that the oil after 11k miles was scary black. I think if you own a car - it is necessary to change oil more often than 15k, but if you lease...

Oil is usually "scary black" after about 500 miles. You can't make many conclusions based on that.

[Thunder Dump]

Originally Posted by cb1111

Actually, most of these answers are partially correct.

All modern BMW's have condition based services where the car's computer calculates when to do services such as oil changes. Depending on your driving style, your car will tell you to get an oil change somewhere betwen 14k and 18k miles (mine was at about 17k miles.)

If you drive far fewer miles, then you'll be authorized an oil change every year.

So - it is once a year or whenever the car tells you - whichever comes first.

Some services such as brake fluid flush are time based.

Unless they've removed it, it should all be outlined in your owner's manual

As I posted above, after September 1, 2010, the bolded part is only true if you drive less than 6K miles per year.

[Thunder Dump]

Posted over on Bimmerfest:

[Mike D.]

It's funny how the service interval tripled at more or less the same time as BMW started offering free maintenance.

[bimmertt]

How can they change the maintenance policy like this for existing owners? When we purchased the car, we also purchased the free maintenance as is.

[jeremicium]

What CB111 posted is my understanding of the oil change policy. As one member stated above, I do mine every 7,500 miles. So, once a year I have to pay for an oil change ($70-100 depending on if service has any discounts/specials running) My only concern is the oil filter needing changed and catching any particulate matter, I know our oil still has adequate lube capacity well beyond 7,500 miles.

Originally Posted by cb1111

Actually, most of these answers are partially correct.

All modern BMW's have condition based services where the car's computer calculates when to do services such as oil changes. Depending on your driving style, your car will tell you to get an oil change somewhere betwen 14k and 18k miles (mine was at about 17k miles.)

If you drive far fewer miles, then you'll be authorized an oil change every year.

So - it is once a year or whenever the car tells you - whichever comes first.

Some services such as brake fluid flush are time based.

Unless they've removed it, it should all be outlined in your owner's manual

[cb1111]

Originally Posted by Thunder Dump

As I posted above, after September 1, 2010, the bolded part is only true if you drive less than 6K miles per year.

Correct. Thanks for posting the actual document as well.

[gdwenger]

recently had the low milage oil change performed(low milage cpo), I noted it didn't include the filter just oil. I doubt if low milage will occur again for me, but even at free doing half the job is just not worth it. I would have felt better had they giving me $40 and said diy

[ShastaMan]

[accel]

Originally Posted by Thunder Dump

And now they've even changed that policy on that, wherein starting September 1st you can only get the free annual "low mileage oil change" if you drive less than 6000 miles a year. Anything over that and you have to wait until the car says it needs it.

Brochure you get with your BMW says once yr or mileage - whichever comes first. So I'd not trust "policies". Anyway I change it one more time between 15K change.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Thunder Dump

And now they've even changed that policy on that, wherein starting September 1st you can only get the free annual "low mileage oil change" if you drive less than 6000 miles a year. Anything over that and you have to wait until the car says it needs it.

Seriously? BMW would do that to save themselves about $20 in parts and labor? When the flip side is repairing motors under warranty that they must cover since the owners followed their recommendation? What's the avg. IQ in Munich?

[John 070]

Originally Posted by 328gary

recently had the low milage oil change performed(low milage cpo), I noted it didn't include the filter just oil. I doubt if low milage will occur again for me, but even at free doing half the job is just not worth it. I would have felt better had they giving me $40 and said diy

My understanding, is it's no "microfilter," not no oil filter. What kind of idiots would do an oil change without an oil filter? Not even BMW techs are that stupid.