[lux.sh]

Someone help me out here.

Most oil change places give you a little note saying,
"oil change @ 56000 miles or xx/xx/2011".

Usually date range is in 3 months and mileage in 3000 miles.
Of course, they probably calculated 1000 miles per month, so after 3000 miles.
My personal limit on engine oil is 6000 miles.

My question is, does "time frame" matter?
Recently, I got an oil change and went out of country for couple months. I accumulated no miles on new engine oil, so I'm just driving it after I came back.

I'm assuming as long as oil doesn't "degrade" or anything, its probably okay and mileage is what really matters.

[F32Fleet]

Due to the use of synthetic oil some german OEM's suggest 1yr interval if sufficient miles are not reached.

[TotalPower]

oil does degrade...it takes a long time though

[Tom K.]

BMW recommends that the oil be changed at least once a year in the US.

Tom

[lux.sh]

I'm fully aware of the 1yr thing, but I'm sure if you guys were in E90post long enough, you guys would've seen the oil testing results. While it still is "relatively safe" to drive, such oil change within every 6k~8k miles is preferred for maximum protection and oil condition stability.

All in all, for me, the 6000 mile interval is just for peace of mind. I'm just wondering whether 6000 miles is more important or the time frame. So I take it as that time frame really doesn't matter with engine oil? Just mileage.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

I'm fully aware of the 1yr thing, but I'm sure if you guys were in E90post long enough, you guys would've seen the oil testing results. While it still is "relatively safe" to drive, such oil change within every 6k~8k miles is preferred for maximum protection and oil condition stability.

All in all, for me, the 6000 mile interval is just for peace of mind. I'm just wondering whether 6000 miles is more important or the time frame. So I take it as that time frame really doesn't matter with engine oil? Just mileage.

Aside from TBN,insolubles,flashpoint,coolant a UOA is worthless in this forum. Why? Well these cars are all driven differently with various modifications; the cars have low miles to begin with (< 50k miles); there's no trending because people who do the UOA change oil brands all the time so the results are not representative of the current fill; people are generally unaware of the limitations of a UOA with respect to the equipment and methods used to generate the findings in addition to the different testing methods used by various companies who perform the analysis.

Now as for your time vs mileage (6k). Your miles are not relevant because it's time vs the miles etermined by the OLM and that is well over your 6k miles.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by Socom

Aside from TBN,insolubles,flashpoint,coolant a UOA is worthless in this forum. Why? Well these cars are all driven differently with various modifications; the cars have low miles to begin with (< 50k miles); there's no trending because people who do the UOA change oil brands all the time so the results are not representative of the current fill; people are generally unaware of the limitations of a UOA with respect to the equipment and methods used to generate the findings in addition to the different testing methods used by various companies who perform the analysis.

Now as for your time vs mileage (6k). Your miles are not relevant because it's time vs the miles etermined by the OLM and that is well over your 6k miles.

Socom, I appreciate your share of knowledge. Now, for the last paragraph, what do you mean by OLM?

[TotalPower]

oil life monitor