So this oil change business... Canadians only plz

[JC Jai]

So from what i understand the free oil change is at 24000 Km or 1 year, what if your car indicates an oil change now on the dash and the car is neither at 24000 or 1 yr, is the oil change covered or will it be at your expense?

[warmtoes]

The oil change is at whatever the cars diagnostics are telling you. That's what the BMW SA will look at to determine if they are going to charge you or not.

I paid for one at 2000kms on my own since I just couldn't leave the first one until 24,000kms.

[vanbmw]

I was told it is i year or whatever your dash tells you. If your car tells you at 16,000km "oil change" then it will be covered by BMW. I was told the only exception to the car actually telling you "oil change" is the 1 year date. Thanks for remiinding me...I need to call and make my 1 year appointment.

[EngPhys09]

Now with the 80,000 km warrenty they are suggesting every 24,000km at a maximum. If you drive harder the time until your oil change will decrease.

I agree that if you are owning your car, I do not think 1 oil change a year is good. At least before and after winter becuase of how the properties in the oil likely change. Also right after break in is a good idea to remove any metal pieces.

However since mine is a lease I don't plan to buy it out I wont do the oil change.

Do the change your self, there are some great DIYs on the forum and its dead easy to do. Only 30 mins of work!

[bimmerfile]

OP:
I called my dealership about their oil change policy on the anniversay of taking delivery of my 1er. At the time (early April 2009), I had approx 5K Kms on the clock.
They told me to get it in for service.
Everything, including the gourmet coffee and donuts, was free.
So the policy of my dealership is change the oil at least once a year at no cost to the owner for the 1st 4 years..
P.S. My dealership is Durham BMW.

[Ashtangi]

What is everyone's opinion on an oil change after the break-in period? How many have done it?

I'm just past 2200km, so I'm debating - it's a lease, and I doubt I'll keep it, but still..

[warmtoes]

I did it just because it seems so wrong not to. If you do a search you will find a lot of people discussing this and some of them sent out their oil for analysis. I can't remember what the consensus was but it didn't matter to me either way as I was always going to pay for it regardless. And, I'm leasing but still wanted to do it even though I probably won't have it past the 3 year term.

[1HungryMan]

[QUOTE=warmtoes;5364166]I did it just because it seems so wrong not to. /QUOTE]

Bingo. I did the same. The topic has been done to death.

[ronster]

I would do break-in oil change if I own the car... if it's a lease and not gonna keep it afterward, I wouldn't do it.... well that's what my SA suggested...

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by ronster

I would do break-in oil change if I own the car... if it's a lease and not gonna keep it afterward, I wouldn't do it.... well that's what my SA suggested...

I hope you don't believe in karma.

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by ronster

I would do break-in oil change if I own the car... if it's a lease and not gonna keep it afterward, I wouldn't do it.... well that's what my SA suggested...

I have to say I am very disappointed when I hear people who are leasing their car say they deliberately drive the car harder or skimp on the maintenance simply because it will become someone else's problem after you are done with the maintenance. This same attitude seems prevalent for everything from cars to houses, etc. If I don't own it then I shouldn't have to pay to maintain it while I am using it.

Well I have news for you guys: what you are doing is wrong.

1) Yes, you are paying for the use of the car during the period of the lease. But someone else owns it, and you shouldn't abuse it and cost them money. Maybe I'd feel worse about a gigantic automaker like GM or Ford, but BMW relies on its reputation to sell cars and in turn make even better cars for us to enjoy, like the 1er

which brings me to point 2:

2) Maybe some poor sap saved all the money he could and can only afford a pre-owned car (one that came off a lease for example). Now he's inherited a car that wasn't cared for. His experience with the brand will be lousy, his dream of owning a beautiful BMW is quashed, and BMW ultimately suffers in reputation and potentially loss of future sales. Now I'm not suggesting BMW is known for building reliable cars to to begin with but can you see how you can affect the next driver with this attitude?

and most importantly:

3) Things are good now, but maybe things will change. You might one day decide you want to purchase the car instead of leasing another for whatever reason. Maybe you will decide to purchase another pre-owned car, it doesn't matter. If that owner had the same attitude as you you will now be forced to drive someone else's mess. If you keep your own car then you will lie in the bed you've made.

People tell me every day to just "let my car go" instead of maintaining it. Well guess what? I don't know if my situation will change and I will need to keep it longer than I intended. What if I want to give it to a family member who's down on his luck or needs a help getting a start in life? I'd be a real jerk to give him a car that wasn't cared for it. That's not a gift or being generous. Case in point: when the lease on my father's car came up, my mother decided she wanted to buy the car for herself. If my father had put in the bare minimum (or less) amount of maintenance needed to keep the car going and beat on it for the duration of the lease he'd have passed all the problems over to my mother.

Do your part guys. Take care of the car and hopefully it will take care of you. If you think you would put x amount of maintenance in it if you owned the car you should at least consider doing it while on a lease. If you think you should change the oil after break-in then do it, lease or not. At the very least you won't have yourself to blame if it doesn't turn out to be reliable. Otherwise who knows.

[CurtisD]

I have have 10,000km on my car right now, with the 1 year anniversary date being in October. I was thinking I should pay for an oil change sometime soon. Should I just wait? If I paid for one now, when is the next time my dealer would do a no-charge one?

[M3Newbie88]

I kinda break it down to doing 1 every 12000km so 1 free and 1 on my own..

[EngPhys09]

Originally Posted by 1LazyBmw

I kinda break it down to doing 1 every 12000km so 1 free and 1 on my own..

I think this is still the best idea.

The earlier rant was funny if BMW wanted the oil changed every 5k then they would make it required then. Its their choice to have it at 20,000km

[Ashtangi]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

I have to say I am very disappointed when I hear people who are leasing their car say they deliberately drive the car harder or skimp on the maintenance simply because it will become someone else's problem after you are done with the maintenance. This same attitude seems prevalent for everything from cars to houses, etc. If I don't own it then I shouldn't have to pay to maintain it while I am using it.

Well I have news for you guys: what you are doing is wrong.

1) Yes, you are paying for the use of the car during the period of the lease. But someone else owns it, and you shouldn't abuse it and cost them money. Maybe I'd feel worse about a gigantic automaker like GM or Ford, but BMW relies on its reputation to sell cars and in turn make even better cars for us to enjoy, like the 1er

I'm likely going to do it myself, but I disagree with your argument - BMW owns the leased vehicles. If they wanted it done earlier, they would have required it. You certainly can't fault someone for following the manufacturer's recommendation. It isn't "wrong".

[warmtoes]

Hey, I'm leasing and I treat it as if I own it. I'm not doing anything different. Who knows, I might buy it out at the end of the lease and I do believe in karma.

[ronster]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

I hope you don't believe in karma.

Well... I just said what my SA suggested (maybe my SA & I are both old school and don't believe long oil change interval) since I asked him if oil changes were needed in between what the computer indicated... I never leased a car before... and the upcoming 1er is not a lease neither... anyway... I never abused any car I drove.. even rentals or courtesy cars...

And I agree with what Ashtangi said... I don't think BMW would have suggested something (the recommended service interval) to ruin its reputation... and I believe most ppl (and all ppl I know) would have just followed the service interval as the computer indicated... only car enthusiasts like us would care to do extra oil changes in between...

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by ronster

Well... I just said what my SA suggested (maybe my SA & I are both old school and don't believe long oil change interval) since I asked him if oil changes were needed in between what the computer indicated... I never leased a car before... and the upcoming 1er is not a lease neither... anyway... I never abused any car I drove.. even rentals or courtesy cars...

And I agree with what Ashtangi said... I don't think BMW would have suggested something (the recommended service interval) to ruin its reputation... and I believe most ppl (and all ppl I know) would have just followed the service interval as the computer indicated... only car enthusiasts like us would care to do extra oil changes in between...

Sorry, perhaps I meandered in my original post a bit. And I don't believe my rant was funny in any way. I was not trying to persuade anyone that BMW's maintenance schedule is inadequate. I was trying to point out that treating the car differently because you don't own it is a morally bankrupt position to take. I am not trying to pick on any individuals in particular and I am sure you have always treated your cars well. Rather in general on this forum I see a disturbing trend of "it's a lease, I'm not going to treat it as well as my own". What about people who might own it in the future? Not your problem?

Originally Posted by ronster

I would do break-in oil change if I own the car... if it's a lease and not gonna keep it afterward, I wouldn't do it.... well that's what my SA suggested...

You said you WOULD do the oil change if you owned the car. But you don't so you won't. That's what I'm getting at.

Originally Posted by EngPhys09

I agree that if you are owning your car, I do not think 1 oil change a year is good...

...However since mine is a lease I don't plan to buy it out I wont do the oil change...

So you DO feel that one oil change a year is good and would do it sooner if you didn't own the car, but you don't so you won't.

It's about attitude, not maintenance. You can't say that you would do an oil change sooner than what BMW recommends if it were your own car and in the same breath say that you can't be faulted for sticking to what is recommended on a lease. You've invalidated your own argument on the second point before you even made it. You CAN be faulted for feeling it should be done but not doing it. But in the end they are just cars, so I suppose it isn't like you are a doctor withholding valuable treatment. But the next owner would sure appreciate it.

[ZIPNBYE]

Prior to BMW's free scheduled maintenance, the oil change interval was 12,000km, now that it's on their dime, it's 24,000km.

I changed mine at 1,600km (break-in) and will again be changing it at 12,000km. Like another poster above, one free, one by me, one free, one by me.

[ndlesswaltz]

ZIPNBYE,

Did you do the oil change by yourself or went to the dealer?
I am thinking after 2000km (Break-in) do the oil change, but I wonder if dealer would offer me the less expensive oil change as it benefits them as well.

Please let me know.

and if you have any tips on break-in, please also mention them as well.

Thank you,

[PC Valkyrie]

I just have a simple question. Is everybody sure that BMW will change your oil free of charge if you reach one year (even though the odometer may be well under 24000km??, and the computer does not say it is time to service the car)??

[warmtoes]

Originally Posted by PC Valkyrie

I just have a simple question. Is everybody sure that BMW will change your oil free of charge if you reach one year (even though the odometer may be well under 24000km??, and the computer does not say it is time to service the car)??

I wondered the same thing and asked my dealership today and they said one year or 24,000 kms. So basically time or mileage. I have it booked for two weeks from now as today is my one year anniversary.