[Rupes]

Hi everyone,

I'm the proud new owner of a used e92 328i. Car is great but I have some concerns. The records show the first oil change was not performed until 19k miles, a whopping 1 year and 4 months after the vehicle was first sold. Now, 10k miles later (car has 30k miles) its showing the oil should have been changed 800 miles ago.

Obviously, I will be taking it in right away. In the future I plan to do 7.5k oil changes myself in between the BMW changes, but in your opinion could this oversight cause longevity issues down the road? I want to keep this car for a very long time, and my main concern is with sludge. Could my 30k mile car already be permanently damaged from the previous owners infrequent maintenance?

Thanks for the feedback. Look forward to being a part of these forums.

[bender rodriguez]

Doubt it hurt it that early on in its life. I know they did some studies where they never changed the oil in a Honda and it kept running

[Dylanize]

Yeah, I honestly think the car is fine. Synthetic oil lasts a longgg time.

Oh! AND WELCOME! Pictures? I see you got a LCI, jealous.

[Lucky13]

The 1 year and 4 months is no big deal because they really say every two years. Most of the last few BMW's I've owned didn't even call for an oil change (computer) until around 16-17,000 miles. My X1 says I'll need one around 12,000 miles (at 6,000 it says 6,000 to go). Even the Mini Clubman S we traded didn't call for an oil change until almost 17,000 miles. The net is it all depends on how it was driven which you'll probably never know. If you had a 335 I'd worry but with 328 (no turbo) you are probably ok.

[Rupes]

Thanks for the replys everyone, puts me at ease a bit. I've just always been over the top about maintenance having come from an E46 M3. It seems hard to imagine oils have improved to the point where they can go that long between changes, but I'm no expert.

I'll post some pics soon. That always seems to help garner some additional feedback, haha!

[Surly73]

"Permanent damage" - probably not. Some sludge - possibly. Especially if they were a short tripper as opposed to an infrequent driver who gets out on the highway and is otherwise parked at home.

Get on your new routine, maybe even go shorter than your routine for a while, use good oil (use something that says LL-01 while in warranty, you have more options once warranty is up) and get it out to run loose now and then.

[Rupes]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, as promised here's a few pictures. It's stock so nothing too special about it...yet.