BMW oil change intervals

[Deutsch]

There has been a lot of discussion on the subject on BMW forums all over, the concern is that the oil change intervals are too long, 10 to 15 thousand miles recommended( on the 3er, I'm assuming this is other BMW engines too). Traditionally oil changes have been around 5 to 7500 miles on most other cars. The concern is the engines having shorter overall life spans due to the more infrequent recommended oil changes with increased metallic content in the oil as a result. I'm on the fence on this issue; some have said this is an elaborate scheme on BMW of NA's part to save money (free maintenance program), others have said it's just a sign of the times in that BMW are making engines that utilize oil more efficiently than in the past. From research that I've done, BMW isn't the only car make out there w/ increased oil change intervals, I've spoken w/ two different people one of which owns an '04 C230 Kompressor, the other an '04 Boxster, and both say the recommended oil changes on their cars are between 15 and 10 thousand miles. I'm clueless...

 

[bmwrules]

I wonder if it has something to due with the synthetic motor oil BMW, Mercedes and other high-end cars use versus the cheaper non-synthetic motor oil lesser cars like Ford and Chevy use.

 

[vabboud]

it does have a huge deal to do with the quality of modern synthetic oils

 

[tobajara]

My bmw dealer(i own a 518 e34) tells me to change oils every 5000 kilometres.But still changing oils every 2 or 3000 kilometres does good to the engine.I also think it depends on the driving style of the driver and the weather conditions.They use castrol.This time i changed oil at a gas refuel station and i used the BP visco 3000 15W 50

 

[warot]

I recommend changing the oil frequently in the beginning because there will be metal residue from the engine (being broken in). After that, the car should do ok with long oil changes. However, I've heard from some members on E90post that their cars felt like it was brand new when they changed the oil. It could be all in their head, who knows.

 

[Yperion]

Changing oil in less time than the manufacturer advises can be bad for the engine since the oil needs around 500 km run in period. Changing the oil all the time means many periods where the oil is not working properly therefore it's not advised.

It's better to use Modern HIGH QUALITY oil and change it every 15k km than use cheaper low quality one and change it every 7.5k km.

 

[Gullwing]

50 years ago manufactures recomended changing oil every 3,000miles.
A lot has changed in 50 years, engines are much better and oils are much better.
Most performance car now use only fully synthetic oils which is much better then regular oil. Mercedes 98-04 oil change veried by how the car was driven, could be 8,000 or it could be 15,000miles. 05 on it is every 13,000 and AMG and V12s are every 10,000.
I think 13,000-15,000 is pushing it, but 5,000 is to soon. I think 10K is about right for then new engines and is how often I change the oil in my moms ML320, but what do I know.

 

[MikeJ]

I'm quite interested how engines with VW/Audi Longlife system will fare as far as engine longevity is concerned... apparently it is possible that the system will only request service after 30,000 km (gas) or 50,000 km (diesel), and looking at the comments at a few forums it seems these figures are not at all unrealistic.

 

[Yperion]

I'm quite interested how engines with VW/Audi Longlife system will fare as far as engine longevity is concerned... apparently it is possible that the system will only request service after 30,000 km (gas) or 50,000 km (diesel), and looking at the comments at a few forums it seems these figures are not at all unrealistic.

Yes the service is at 30,000 km (or two years whatever comes first) but you have to change oil (and oil filter) every 15,000 km (or one year).

 

[MikeJ]

Yes the service is at 30,000 km (or two years whatever comes first) but you have to change oil (and oil filter) every 15,000 km (or one year).

Nope. VW says that for cars using Longlife oil there's no need for oil change between services, and I know many people have driven close to 50,000 km (diesel) without changing the oil. For cars without the Longlife system, it's 15,000 km/1 year.

 

[Deutsch]

I've heard from some members on E90post that their cars felt like it was brand new when they changed the oil. It could be all in their head, who knows.

Reading that forum I think most of those guys dont' have a clue.

 

[tennmb]

Even our techs shrug their shoulders when it comes to changing the oil every 13k in a MB. If you recall MB was sued over oil consumption issues in the 98-00 models. These models did not come from the factory with synth oil. Now all models do. I havent run into consumption problems since.

I can tesitfy that my E320 was had a consumption issue. All I did was start changing the oil every 5k and the problem went away. That was nearly 40k miles ago. Before I got the car the previous owner went by MBs recommendations, which at the time was a flexible service schedule that resulted in changes about every 12k-15k. This thing was needing oil added all the time. Since changing it every 5k the problem has apparently fixed itself.

What do they do with the used oil they take out of your car? They recylce it. The problem isn't with the oil persay. It is with the filtering system. Many of the commercial trucks on the road do not change oil. they have superior filter systems. Oil life is usually limited to contamination. Metal fragments, and such, dirty up the oil beyond the filters capabilities to cleanse the oil properly. And thus and oil and filter change. Off your used oil goes to be cleaned up and reused in other applications.

 

[450SEL6.9]

I have an issue with the long oil change intervals as well. It's 20,000 km for my 3-Series. Lexus is a similar quality car and their oil change interval, at least in my country, is much shorter. If I replace my BMW, the oil service will be a reason. Almost everyone I've spoken to says 20,000 is too long.

 

[NarutoRamen]

Honestly, it's not just oils. It also has to do with your driving habits and the terrain you're driving on. If you are "step on it" all the time and drive on terrains that require your engine to work extra hard (mountains) and even if you drive in lots of traffic (traffic jams, Los angeles..LOL) then don't follow manufacturers guidelines. They are suggested guidelines, and they don't in account the rest of the stuff I mentioned.

When I had my M3, it was my daily driver. I was stuck traffic everyday and all that stuff and I knew all that stop-and-go traffic was really bad for the engine. The place where I used to get my oilchange said it was fine for 7000-10000miles but I used to change the oil every 4500 miles. And beleive me, if you're in-tune with your car, you will definitely feel the difference between running on old or new oil. Those E90 guys aren't crazy, they can just feel their cars

anyways, for my Acura TSX, it says that I should change oil after every 10k miles, I do it every 6-7k because of traffic jams. I'm stuck in traffic jams for about 40 minutes of my 47 minute drive to work.

 

[Deutsch]

I think the best thing to do if you're on an extended oil change interval plan is to check the mileage periodically to check the condition of the oil and see if it needs replacing. Bad news is that this could mean a lot of bad second hand, late model BMW's. Or maybe I'm just being cynical???

 

[warot]

Reading that forum I think most of those guys dont' have a clue.

Depends where you are reading. Some of the members there are extremely knowledgeable. Some in DIY, some with cars in general, others with new technology (thinking turbo tuning)

 

[Deutsch]

Depends where you are reading. Some of the members there are extremely knowledgeable. Some in DIY, some with cars in general, others with new technology (thinking turbo tuning)

Yeh, but there's a lot of politics in there. I'd trust what the members of GCF say before those guys.

 

[NarutoRamen]

I'd trust what the members of GCF say before those guys.

Well, have you read what I wrote above?

 

[Deutsch]

Well, have you read what I wrote above?

I did.

 

[NarutoRamen]

I did.

Do you trust what I said...

Anyways, you should always be checking your oil and levels everytime you fill up at the gas station (supposedly). I do it every 1000miles or so...because I'm at the gas station every 5 days, so it gets tedious.