[Abrek]

So had my car (435d) from new for 5 months now and covered 6,000 miles. Checked my oil with dipstick and it was totally black. I'm not big fan of 2 years 19,000 miles services so went to local stealer to enquire about interim oil change, £235!!! - no thanks pal, went to parts dep, £23 for bmw oil filter and to ECP for oil - £70 for 8 liters of Castrol Edge. 20 minutes from start to finish and 6.5 liters of new golden yellow Castrol in I was done. Took the car for a spin around the block, checked oil level on idrive - all is good. Popped the bonnet open to check dipstick and the oil was just as black as it was before the change. Made me feel that it was a total waste of time and £90. I know its diesel and the oil will always be black but still.

So am I the only one who thinks regular oil changes are good idea or the time and technology moved on?

[admg]

I've got a 320i xdrive and have been thinking about getting an interim oil change at 12K miles. Family friend is a mechanic (who works on generally older cars), reckons its insane to wait till 18K.

I'm planning on keeping the car long term, maybe another 5/6 years so have got this front of my mind.

Would be good to hear others opinions!

[Tengocity]

I think that doing oil changes sooner than the typical 20k miles suggested is sensible and worthwhile to those thinking they might hold on to a car for a decent length of time, but doing it at 6k miles seems a little too soon.

I'm not sure Id make the judgement based on just looking at it in the filler cap either. There are places that you can send an oil sample to that will do an analysis for you. Might be worth trying if you're not just happy to do say an interim one between main services.

[xenon]

I suppose it depends if you own the car (or intend to) or are going to hand it back at the end of a PCP/PCH. I always hand mine back so would be a waste of money for me. Modern fully-synthetic oils can probably stand the pace anyway.

[OneExtra]

PCP = No way its going back

Own it/Going to own it = Do it every year if low mileage

[dopper99]

I personally wouldn't bother doing oil changes sooner - well not unless I was keeping the car for 100K+ miles - which I don't.

Whats the worse than car happen if you stick to the recommend manufacturers schedule? Premature engine wear?

i guess an engine that has had more regular oil changes could last to 200-300K miles without any issues, but who cares on a new car which you'll likely to swap well before then?

[soulboy]

diesel engines oil go black as soon as the oil is changed,

[Sasquartch]

Interim oil changes are a good idea especially if you can do yourself as it's unlikely to cost much more than £50 with an OEM filter and the correct oil from ECP (4 cylinder, 6-pots are obviously going to be a little more expensive)

It's believed by many that long service intervals that are the cause of things like timing chain problems that are so prevalent these days.

Cant do any harm to have clean fresh oil.

[Alice Coupe]

Waste of money.
I work in condition based monitoring and the R&D and testing in in CoMo techniques is cutting edge.
Modern engines and their reliability these days are well beyond what it once was.

Religion is based on beliefs, feelings and thoughts. Science is based on facts and figures. I know which camp I'm in.

[454697819]

Originally Posted by Alice Coupe

Waste of money.
I work in condition based monitoring and the R&D and testing in in CoMo techniques is cutting edge.
Modern engines and their reliability these days are well beyond what it once was.

Religion is based on beliefs, feelings and thoughts. Science is based on facts and figures. I know which camp I'm in.

The extension of service intervals is linked moreover to the manufactures matching the service requirements to how consumers now buy cars. Afterall, if your sending it back, in 3 years and 30k, who wouldn't want to only pay for one service.

Oil technology has moved, granted but not to the same extent that fuels have and the crap the oil takes out of the engine.

Through good friends who are highly experienced in the industry and have looked after cars for years is that they don't see major failures of turbo's and the like with cars that have their oil changed every 10k but they do in those which are left two years / 20k +.

When he changed the oil in my 335d at 10k his words were the oil would have lasted 20k but at 10k it was pretty well through its life. He wouldn't service my car if it didn't need too, he is too busy as it is.

You pay your money and take your choice, I know where I sit and as I will be keeping it 6 years plus (150k) , mine is being serviced every 10k.

but yes, oil in a diesel is black again the second you run the car again.

[Sasquartch]

Originally Posted by Alice Coupe

Waste of money.
Modern engines and their reliability these days are well beyond what it once was.

Modern engines are NOT in many cases more reliable than ever.

A few decades ago things like timing chains snapping or jumping were unheard of. The old M54 engine (and it's predecessors the M52 and M50) were genuinely bulletproof if serviced correctly. The N47 diesel had huge problems.

It's not just BMW, VAG had a lot of issues with their petrol engines and some like the 1.4 TwinCharger were a disaster

All at a time when PCP and fleet friendly variable servicing was the norm

I think in some markets BMW have abandoned variable servicing for these very reasons.

[TiredGeek]

I'm for changing at the first 6k to get the running in, metal filled oil out of there, and then an annual change regardless of miles.
I've just paid a lot of money for this thing, £150 a year on oil and filters is cheap insurance if I decide to keep it long term

My old Volvo did 125000 and never once needed oil topping up year to year, I reckon running in for 3000 miles and regular oil changes makes them last much longer and is less hassle in the long run.....

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by TiredGeek

I'm for changing at the first 6k to get the running in, metal filled oil out of there, and then an annual change regardless of miles.
I've just paid a lot of money for this thing, £150 a year on oil and filters is cheap insurance if I decide to keep it long term

My old Volvo did 125000 and never once needed oil topping up year to year, I reckon running in for 3000 miles and regular oil changes makes them last much longer and is less hassle in the long run.....

I agree. Performing the first oil and filter change a 5K Miles (or so) will get rid of all the metal shavings as the engine parts begin to work together.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by TiredGeek

I'm for changing at the first 6k to get the running in, metal filled oil out of there, and then an annual change regardless of miles.
I've just paid a lot of money for this thing, £150 a year on oil and filters is cheap insurance if I decide to keep it long term

My old Volvo did 125000 and never once needed oil topping up year to year, I reckon running in for 3000 miles and regular oil changes makes them last much longer and is less hassle in the long run.....

I agree. Performing the first oil and filter change a 5K Miles (or so) will get rid of all the metal shavings as the engine parts begin to work together.

[robbiep]

As others have said, it all relates to how long you're keeping the car for, and whether you actually 'own' it or not.

In my case, I own my car. I've had it now for the thick end of 5 years, have done 60k miles in it. I get an oil/filter change carried out every 9k miles. So in the time I've owned the car, I'e had intermediate services carried out at 9k, 27k, and 45k. with another one coming up at 63k (ish).
Those additional 3 services have probably cost me £600 or so.
Now add in the fact that I've suffered roughly £20k depreciation, £2-3k in tyres, fuel costs in the region of £7,000 ... so roughly £30k in total. I had the 5 yr service pack, so the 'normal' services were effectively free.
That £600 suddenly doesn't look so bad, does it ?


I'm also a scientist, and I used to work in oil development and testing. Oil that is 15k miles or more old is pretty well fucked.

The only reason BMW have the extended service intervals is to keep fleet costs down.

[lethbridge]

I'm in the waste of time/money camp but I buy new do 20k miles/annum keep for up to 4 years under warranty/extended warranty - so, if something breaks (hasn't to date) then it is BMW's problem not mine so why would I waste my time?

[Hooded]

On a brand new car you only intend to keep 3 or 4 years and do a lot less than 100k miles in I don't think I would bother, as the long service intervals will more likely be a future owners problem if there is one.

If you intend to keep the car until it's well past 5 years old though.. I would change the oil at least every 9k miles, doing this from new might reduce the chance of a major engine failure as the car ages.

[Manivxr]

Originally Posted by Alice Coupe

Waste of money.
I work in condition based monitoring and the R&D and testing in in CoMo techniques is cutting edge.
Modern engines and their reliability these days are well beyond what it once was.

Religion is based on beliefs, feelings and thoughts. Science is based on facts and figures. I know which camp I'm in.

This. Technology moves on.

[sensible]

These days the oil is so advanced that if it says 18k or 2 years then it's good for that. I think people are sceptical because they remember what it was like in the past. Also, with condition based sensors, the car monitors the condition of the oil and tells you if it needs changing. I use the recommended oil and change it at the recommended time...that has seen me right so far.

[Manivxr]

Originally Posted by Hooded

On a brand new car you only intend to keep 3 or 4 years and do a lot less than 100k miles in I don't think I would bother, as the long service intervals will more likely be a future owners problem if there is one.

If you intend to keep the car until it's well past 5 years old though.. I would change the oil at least every 9k miles, doing this from new might reduce the chance of a major engine failure as the car ages.

Just interested to see if 9k has some evidence behind it or just arbitrary.

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by Manivxr

Just interested to see if 9k has some evidence behind it or just arbitrary.

Haven't BMW reduced the oil service interval to 10k miles in the US? There must be a reason for this.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=868291

[Twenty2Three]

With the price BMW charges I am surprised they are not saying change every 6K!
Another waste of dosh is the £500 plus for autobox fluid change
What is all that about then?