[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by Piano_Black

How often are the air filter & cabin air filter supposed to be replaced? Every 2nd or 3rd oil change?

Pretty easy to do both, and cheap in general. Especially if your go-to retailer has an awesome ship back old part, get refund policy. I do both at the same time about every 15-20 thousand miles, every four oil changes generally. I could go longer but net cost is very cheap for me and no reason not to, so might as well!

[POBEP]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Lol, I do.

Same here: I prefer to spend my (car) time behind the wheel instead of changing oil.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by Fritzer

Yes, not the Ceratec oil additive. The engine flush. You could use Ceratec, but I never do. Liqui Moly generally has really good additives already integrated into their oils, especially in their products like Molygen which is what I use. Most of the time, any additives are not needed when using a Liqui Moly oil, I would say.

Right before you service the oil, put 1-2 cans of the Proline engine flush (should be 1.5ish, but two doesn't hurt, i do two) into the oil fill on top of the engine. Then drive the car just lightly around the neighborhood for about 10-15 minutes or just let the engine idle.

Then after the 10-15 minutes, do the oil service right away and drain the old stuff. In your scenario I would do it for the next 4 oil services, then every 4th oil service for the rest of your ownership. Then stick to the same weight/viscosity(I would also say brand because I'm a stickler) of oil from there on out.

Generally the engine flush product for Liquid Moly is for buildup after getting a car that hasn't been maintained properly, or if you are changing the type or specs of oil in your car. Their recommended interval for using it under normal conditions is about every 4th oil service I believe.

I dont know how I feel about flushing the engine.

Some say it can mess with the gaskets and oil seals. Some say it does absolutely nothing.

I used Ceratech like 1 year ago. Haven't noticed a difference. But, I have gotten a UOA either. I use LM 5w-40 the purple bottle which from my knowledge doesn't have a lot of Ceratech or MO2 as the Molygen does.

[M40i4me]

I have follow the my cars CBS oil change intervals since brand new. Typically every 15,000 miles. That’s what BMW recommended so it was good enough for me! My car has well over 187,000 miles and still doesn’t use any oil between changes. Honestly I thought the car would blow up following this, but the engine valve train looks very clean. The dealer has done everyone of my oil changes as well. I can’t kill this thing!

[2one3E90]

Originally Posted by 3284me

I have follow the my cars CBS oil change intervals since brand new. Typically every 15,000 miles. That’s what BMW recommended so it was good enough for me! My car has well over 187,000 miles and still doesn’t use any oil between changes. Honestly I thought the car would blow up following this, but the engine valve train looks very clean. The dealer has done everyone of my oil changes as well. I can’t kill this thing!

When u check the Edipstick it stays full?

[M40i4me]

Originally Posted by 2one3E90

When u check the Edipstick it stays full?

Yes. The only time it didn’t was when I had the usual oil leaks, valve cover, oil filter housing, and oil pan gaskets. All were fixed during the last 10 years as they occurred. I got lucky when my Vanos went because the oil pan gasket was fixed for free under the 10 year Vanos warranty BMW put out. The bolts sheared off and part or the procedure is to check the oil pan to find them, meaning free gasket replacement!

I changed my plugs twice and changed all the coils once for preventative maintenance, no misfire, but figured they had to go sometime! The plugs were perfectly grey with no oil fouling each time. Engine still runs like new.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Fritzer

I guess it makes sense on your beater. I just mentioned it because I've never had a stock BMW engine burn more than maybe 500mL/~10,000 miles or lower interval. Anything from a N55 to a M50. But if it's your beater and not neccessarily needed, might as well let it sit like you have decided until it becomes an issue. Personally for me, even if it was on my beater I would try to fix whatever the cause is ASAP. But that's just me....

It's not my 'beater' any more, I gave the car to my nephew. And it's quite nice for a beater car - the only faults now are the oil consumption and a big tear in the drivers side sensatec seat base, but otherwise it's a solid clean E90 and will likely go another 80K-100K miles before it needs any major work. I'm watching out for the fuel pump/regulator though. All the other common E90 failures have already been replaced/repaired recently. Oh, and it could use a new front bumper.

This oil consumption has been exactly the same as long as I've owned the car for the past 3 years, so it hasn't gotten worse. I did a few things to try and stop the consumption including a piston soak (possibly try to free a stuck oil control ring) and replaced the CCV system which included a new external oil separator, and the oil consumption was unchanged.

Oil consumption isn't as uncommon as you'd think. A friend had a brand new Q5 which burned a quart every 2000 miles. He later owned a new Q7 which also needed a quart added between oil changes.

lowryder seems pretty mechanically inclined from reading his posts for the last couple of days. I would be confident in his own assessment of it burning 1000-1500mL instead of leaking it. I'm sure he would notice if more than a liter was leaking from the engine in such a short time frame, especially if he does his own servicing etc.

Yeah, it's definitely not leaking 1 quart of oil over 1000 miles. I do need to replace the oil pan gasket eventually as it's weeping, but there are only a few tiny drips on the undertray and nothing to worry about yet.

The oil is being burned. But as I said, there's ZERO smoke. There's a bit of excess black soot on the inside of the exhaust pipes and the spark plugs have deposits indicative of oil burning, but again no smoke and no SES light so I'll just keep topping off with oil as needed and not stress over it.

Besides, the 325 isn't really special. If something did happen, it could easily be replaced. My 330i on the other hand... with 6MT sport package, that definitely gets more attention and care.

[Hoody007]

I have an N54, so every 7500 miles / 1 year. Oil changes are cheaper than new turbos!

I went with the CBS for my previous E46 (so around 15K miles) and it never used a drop of oil until it was totaled @ 225K. I’d do the same if I had an N52/N51.

[oVeRdOsE.]

Depends of the engine and reliability of the car.

- Changing oil on a hyundai accent every 3000 miles is fcking waste. First the engine will last longer than the car even with poor maintenance since its not a desirable car, and when too much stuff to do on it, people will scrap it. (go see scrap yards....)

- Having a 'rare' car, that keeps value, with a over-engineering engine, yeah, could be a nice idea to keep oil change interval as per specs.

My manual Audi Avant with the infamous 2.0t, call every 15k km interval. I do 8000km

My E91, 10k km.


Both car are on 1+ year oil (covid). But as per test, its not 1950 anymore, syn oil are lasting way longer on the shelve

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I dont know how I feel about flushing the engine.

Some say it can mess with the gaskets and oil seals. Some say it does absolutely nothing.

Yeah but you hear that from dummies who buy the really crappy stuff from retail auto stores. Liqui Moly engineers their products extremely well, as do some of the other high-end oil manufacturers. I used it on a 250,xxx mile 525i that had been sitting for five years with zero maintenance or running. Car is running silky smooth and has zero "new" leaks since after using the ProLine engine flush multiple times and getting good oil in the engine. Haven't touched any gaskets yet on that car too, and they are all AT LEAST 5 years old, likely longer because before it sat some kid drove it and never maintained it. The maintenance records stopped in like 2008.

It won't hurt your engine, seals, or your gaskets. That's like an urban myth more than anything. Even if it did slightly, it does FAR more good than anything bad it could do.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by Fritzer

Yeah but you hear that from dummies who buy the really crappy stuff from retail auto stores. Liqui Moly engineers their products extremely well, as do some of the other high-end oil manufacturers. I used it on a 250,xxx mile 525i that had been sitting for five years with zero maintenance or running. Car is running silky smooth and has zero "new" leaks since after using the ProLine engine flush multiple times and getting good oil in the engine. Haven't touched any gaskets yet on that car too.

It won't hurt your engine, seals, or your gaskets. That's like an urban myth more than anything. Even if it did slightly, it does FAR more good than anything bad it could do.

Welp, PO had the oil changed every 5-7k miles or 6-7 months at BMW and I've been changing it every 6 months or 5k miles.

The engine flush could be a waste of money in my case

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Welp, PO had the oil changed every 5-7k miles or 6-7 months at BMW and I've been changing it every 6 months or 5k miles.

The engine flush could be a waste of money in my case

Eh, I would highly recommend yout to do it a least few times, irregardless. It's very cheap.

[blissfol]

I tend to change mine after about 5-7k , I'm running castrol 0w40 on my n54 and have had zero issues, but it honestly depends on your driving habits and what you use the car for.

[Jesda]

10k but after opening up the valve cover it's slightly dirtier than I'd like. I'm dropping to 7500 miles. Also, the filter looks horrendous and collapsed by 10k.

[dephrank]

Every 10K miles.

6K if the car sounds like it's got a flu or after doing some rather long journeys @ motorway speeds.

Last change was @ 7K miles.

[E92inNC]

Ordered oil change kit, cabin and air filter from fcp. Coming up on 5k for oil and 15k for the filters.

[mittu]

I'm new to the n54 scene. Tryna figure out which oil is best to use, Castrol gtx or liqui moly molygen?
Here in the UK both are about the same price.
5L is around £40-42.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by mittu

I'm new to the n54 scene. Tryna figure out which oil is best to use, Castrol gtx or liqui moly molygen?
Here in the UK both are about the same price.
5L is around £40-42.

If the same price, LM is a go-to item for these cars. But I think with the turbo engines, don't obsess on the brand, but focus on doing the changes more often. As long as the oil is LL-01, you're good.

[Bims328i]

BMW says their transmission fluid is lifetime. LIFETIME.

BMW says you don't need to change your oil but every 10k miles.

Most don't trust the lifetime transmission fluid recommendation claim.

But will run their car on a 10k mile oil change and trust that recommendation.

When it costs less to just change your oil to keep your engine running new.

Oil in a combustion engine is crucial. Clean oil is critical to preserving the engine as a whole.

With costly and complex engine like in these BMW, just change your oil frequently. It is the cheaper alternative.

[mittu]

Originally Posted by Bims328i

BMW says their transmission fluid is lifetime. LIFETIME.
BMW says you don't need to change your oil but every 10k miles.
Most don't trust the lifetime transmission fluid recommendation claim.

LOL "lifetime" depends on how long the car lasts. Could only be 10 yrs.
Its unusual for a German company to give such a vague measurement.
Same nonsense for the ZF box, but the ZF site says to service before 70k miles.
I think when BMW say lifetime*, they mean *lifetime under warranty period.

Word on the street is the DCT oil service should be done between 80-100k miles.
The oil spec is given, so its tempting to use off the shelf brands to save money,
but turns out this Getrag DCT can be very picky, so its best to use bmw oil or the oe brand oil.

oem - BMW DTF 1+ (£25/L)
oe - Fuchs (formally Pentosin) titan FFL-4 (£15-18/L)

Both oils are made by the same company and specifically developed for this DCT box.
Different packaging, identical oil.
Link below to for more info
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-87386-f...ion-fluid.aspx

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Bims328i

BMW says their transmission fluid is lifetime. LIFETIME.

BMW says you don't need to change your oil but every 10k miles.

Most don't trust the lifetime transmission fluid recommendation claim.

But will run their car on a 10k mile oil change and trust that recommendation.

When it costs less to just change your oil to keep your engine running new.

Oil in a combustion engine is crucial. Clean oil is critical to preserving the engine as a whole.

With costly and complex engine like in these BMW, just change your oil frequently. It is the cheaper alternative.

Nah.

[tcphoto]

As a freelancer, I don't drive a lot of miles so I change the oil once a year. I drive mainly city miles and it's been about 3500 miles this past year. I just ordered a kit from FCPEuro.