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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Mechanical Maintenance: Break-in / Oil & Fluids / Servicing / Warranty > How often is the oil change recommended?



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      11-07-2011, 12:21 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itrocks4u View Post
Oh really? Damn BMW charges like $170 for oil change.
I do mine every 8,000km so basically two changes done by me, one by BMW. Once the "maintenance" coverage is over, I will continue the same interval.

I actually just got one done at BMW Toronto that I paid for and it was about $120 - $130 I believe... Have been too busy to do it myself.

Some say it is overkill, some say BMW knows what they are doing.... My opinion is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I plan to keep my car a while so I prefer peace of mind... Maybe it is a waste of money, but the extra few dollars to do it is not significant in the grand sceme of life. I sit in a lot of traffic, and when on the highway I like to push the car, so I am sure the wear that the oil goes through is average to above average.

If this were a lease where I would return teh car after 60,000 to 80,000km or 3 to 4 years, I would not care. Since I plan to keep the car for maybe 4 to 5 years, likely putting on 150,000km over that time, I figure if anything it may even help resale if I sell it privately to someone that cares.
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Last edited by VWtoBMW; 11-07-2011 at 12:27 PM..
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      11-07-2011, 08:05 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VWtoBMW View Post
Since I plan to keep the car for maybe 4 to 5 years, likely putting on 150,000km over that time, I figure if anything it may even help resale if I sell it privately to someone that cares.
Well said, same reasoning here, when I sell it I bet it will go to someone who knows BMW and will want to know the complete service history.
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      11-08-2011, 05:35 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by FCBuff View Post
^^Tone it down a little...wow ^^

Changing the oil at the approximate half way mark at about 7,500 miles, is the conventional wisdom followed by most that pay attention and educate themselves about such things. The additive package has been shown to get used up at around 10,000 miles or sooner. BMW 5w-30 is good oil, just change it mid cycle. Also, it is true that you should change it at a minimum of 1x per year (if this occurs before you hit the 15,000-20,000 mile mark) and this should be included in your BMW maintenance. If the dealer is denying this, I would find another dealer.

I would also suggest learning to DIY. It is really very easy. You will save money and you will know it was done correctly and not feel ripped off.
Interesting comment. If one really researches the topic and understands how oil is used to actually lubricate the engine and what the "additive packages" do and how synthetic oil is engineered at the molecular level for long oil change intervals (the API wensite used to have excellent consumer information on this topic) they'd actually understand that is perfectly safe to run BMW's oil 15,000 miles between oil changes.

I've owned three BMW's, all bought new, and all which I’ve followed the “extended” BMW OCI on; all have gone over 150,000 miles with no oil lubrication-related issues. Changing oil at 7,500 mile intervals is actually an industry-wide standard for passenger cars.

I agree with the DIY comment if one is taught, or learns how to properly and safely perform the procedure.

Last edited by ENINTY; 11-08-2011 at 05:45 AM..
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      11-09-2011, 10:21 PM   #26
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I do mine at 3000k
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      11-10-2011, 09:18 AM   #27
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just changed mine last night. the parts guy at the stealership said "make sure you get oil that breaks down like the bmw oil around 10,000 miles." Sure, he's no ABSOLUTE EXPERT, but i wouldn't go past 7,500miles between changes if you're a heavy footed driver or expect to keep your car for a long time.

Once oil has broken down, you're too late between changes. I think 3k miles is overkill unless you're tracking your car. 5K is comfortable...7.5k is the max.
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      11-10-2011, 01:09 PM   #28
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To be honest, this is really confusing. I'm already at about 7.5K mark and the car is 4 months old (Daily driving). The SA said first oil change has to be at least 12 months after. Can I still take it in?

And does it matter if it's a 328 or 335?
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      11-10-2011, 01:30 PM   #29
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Originally Posted by itrocks4u View Post
To be honest, this is really confusing. I'm already at about 7.5K mark and the car is 4 months old (Daily driving). The SA said first oil change has to be at least 12 months after. Can I still take it in?

And does it matter if it's a 328 or 335?
You can bring it in, the only thing is you will need to pay for the oil change. They will not reset your computer to it will continute to calculate the oil change based on the BMW condition based service requirement so when you with about 20,000 to 24,000 km, the computer will tell you to go for service and BMW will do it as part of the service/warranty plan.
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      11-10-2011, 03:02 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TotalPower View Post
just changed mine last night. the parts guy at the stealership said "make sure you get oil that breaks down like the bmw oil around 10,000 miles." Sure, he's no ABSOLUTE EXPERT, but i wouldn't go past 7,500miles between changes if you're a heavy footed driver or expect to keep your car for a long time.

Once oil has broken down, you're too late between changes. I think 3k miles is overkill unless you're tracking your car. 5K is comfortable...7.5k is the max.
I put 200 miles on my car a day. From home to work and then to home. 3k for me
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      11-13-2011, 07:42 AM   #31
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One year change IS INCLUDED in your 4yr/80k warranty. My car was one year old on may 21st and the dealer did the oil change free of charge. Funny thing is when I asked why the 2 year interval in the OBC, they essentially shrugged their shoulders and pointed to the fact that the vast majority of people forget about the 1 year interval in the manual and go by the OBC. This way 90% of people simply do 2 oil changes over the life of the 4 yr warranty and BMW laughs all the way to the bank.
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      11-13-2011, 12:04 PM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bimmer Al View Post
One year change IS INCLUDED in your 4yr/80k warranty. My car was one year old on may 21st and the dealer did the oil change free of charge. Funny thing is when I asked why the 2 year interval in the OBC, they essentially shrugged their shoulders and pointed to the fact that the vast majority of people forget about the 1 year interval in the manual and go by the OBC. This way 90% of people simply do 2 oil changes over the life of the 4 yr warranty and BMW laughs all the way to the bank.
You may have a good point, although my theory about the 2 year OBC setting is that no one bothered to reprogram it for North America. IIRC, the low mileage interval is 2 years in Europe because of their "better" gasoline.

It certainly has caused a great deal of confusion - especially when BMWNA decided last year to change it to 2 years and then quickly went back to one year after numerous complaints.

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      11-13-2011, 12:06 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saeng View Post
I put 200 miles on my car a day. From home to work and then to home. 3k for me
So you are following the Jiffy Lube schedule and changing the oil roughly every 15 days??? Must be nice to have money to burn!

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      11-13-2011, 08:35 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bimmer Al View Post
One year change IS INCLUDED in your 4yr/80k warranty. My car was one year old on may 21st and the dealer did the oil change free of charge. Funny thing is when I asked why the 2 year interval in the OBC, they essentially shrugged their shoulders and pointed to the fact that the vast majority of people forget about the 1 year interval in the manual and go by the OBC. This way 90% of people simply do 2 oil changes over the life of the 4 yr warranty and BMW laughs all the way to the bank.
That's interesting, I was reading the warranty book and it seemed like if it's not displaced through toe OBC, they do not cover it. To the point that the warranty booklet also included additional oil changes under the 'items not covered under maintenance'.

I hope i'm wrong, I was reading it late last night so will read it again to confirm.
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      11-13-2011, 08:56 PM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itrocks4u View Post
That's interesting, I was reading the warranty book and it seemed like if it's not displaced through toe OBC, they do not cover it. To the point that the warranty booklet also included additional oil changes under the 'items not covered under maintenance'.

I hope i'm wrong, I was reading it late last night so will read it again to confirm.
Budds BMW granted the yealy change under warranty. I simply called and set an appointment for my yearly oil change. No muss no fuss.
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      11-14-2011, 10:46 AM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itrocks4u View Post
That's interesting, I was reading the warranty book and it seemed like if it's not displaced through toe OBC, they do not cover it. To the point that the warranty booklet also included additional oil changes under the 'items not covered under maintenance'.

I hope i'm wrong, I was reading it late last night so will read it again to confirm.
Although I had to to search rather carefully to find it, my '07 328i service/warranty manual specifically states that the oil should be changed at least once per year. My (US) dealer has never made an issue of it.

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      11-14-2011, 10:51 AM   #37
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I do mine every 6k-7k at my local dealer. They charge $95, which is cheaper than the local indy BMW shop. Would love to do it myself, but don't have the tools.
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      11-15-2011, 03:49 PM   #38
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How you use the car makes a difference and oil change intervals should be adjusted accordingly. It is my belief that ~7.5K is the sweet spot and 15K is way too long for the filter and the oil.

In my humble opinion running oil to 15K is like running your tires to the cords - just because you can get away with it, doesn't mean you should do it.

Based on my usage (mix highway/city) and with the help of oil analysis, I've been able to determine that for my application I should to stick with 7.5-8K miles OCIs. For track usage OCIs are much more frequent, i.e., ~3K miles max.

A worth while read ---> Click Me, a real life Synthetic Oil Life Study where a group of guys took their own car and attempted to stretch the use of Mobil 1 oil to 18K miles. They used oil analysis at 1K mile intervals to evaluate oil's degradation with time and miles.

Their recommended limits: 8K mile (no make up oil added), 10K (oil topped off every ~1K) and 15K only if you are changing the filter every 5K miles. 10K+ miles without a filter change, wear goes up and the oil begs to be changed.
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