Oil change needed before 1200 mi trip? At 6000 mi / 6 months

[the1andonly]

Going on a 1200 mile round trip w 128 and no time to fit in oil change.

My last oil change was 6 months / 6000 miles ago. The car either does short 2 mile trips with occasional longer (50+ miles) freeway trips on weekends, or sits for 3-6 days at a time.

It is well within the BMW tolerances for an oil change. In fact its just within aggressive oil change intervals of 7500/6 months. But the car see a lot of short trips, which is my only concern.

Oil change needed before trip? Thoughts?

[Dackelone]

The BEST oil is FRESH oil. I would change it.


Those short trips take a toll on diluting your engine oil with gasoline. Only on long trips will you burn off all that water condensation and fuel mixed in with your engine oil.

[csh1er]

If it were me I'd change the oil before the trip. You'll be fine if you don't, but my suggestion would be to change it before you leave, or change it when you catch some free time in your road trip.

[bmw1racer]

Change it.

[gregthegr8]

As others have said, your best bet is to do it beforehand if you're worried. Granted, you'd probably be fine either way, but if you're concerned, there's no real downside to doing it earlier rather than later. Most experts I've seen recommend changing the oil between 5,000 to 7,500 anyways, so it's not extremely early to do now. Then you can enjoy your trip without worrying about it.

[the1andonly]

Called dealer, last change was 5000 miles ago and 6 months. Ill change it at 7500...should be good till after trip!

[m981addicts]

Originally Posted by the1andonly

Called dealer, last change was 5000 miles ago and 6 months. Ill change it at 7500...should be good till after trip!

My last oil change was ~4k miles before my free annual change was due. I knew that I had a 1k mile trip coming up real soon, so I had it done before my trip since I did a lot of short 5 mile stop and go daily drives to and from work. Plus I get another free change in about 2.5k miles.

[Silenus]

Complete waste of money.

[Murph]

My car is currently at the dealer getting the Oil and Transmission fluid changed. I bought the car used and it's got about 6K miles on it. It's a CPO but I could not find any evidence that they changed the fluids. It's worth it to me to waste a little bit of money to make sure I've got clean oil etc...

[the1andonly]

I just called my independent BMW guy back in Ohio. He is nothing short of phenomenal when it comes to BMWs. He said 5000 miles is completely fine on synthetic. Anything that settled in the oil from sitting (gas, condensation etc) is completely cleaned out when driving hour or two on freeway. He said enjoy trip and I'll see you at 7500 miles for next change.

[darkrom]

Originally Posted by Murph

My car is currently at the dealer getting the Oil and Transmission fluid changed. I bought the car used and it's got about 6K miles on it. It's a CPO but I could not find any evidence that they changed the fluids. It's worth it to me to waste a little bit of money to make sure I've got clean oil etc...

You are changing the tranny fluid with just 6k on the car? Why?

[Murph]

Originally Posted by darkrom

You are changing the tranny fluid with just 6k on the car? Why?

This car was a dealer loaner and I'm thinking that it did not get the break in that someone who was going to own the car long-term would possibly have given it. My assumption is that it was driven hard from day one. I don't know enough (noob) about the transmission assembly to know how low the possibility of shavings or residue of some sort could be lurking around So, a couple hundred bucks to clean the fluids (even if it's just a placebo) was deemed acceptable to me.

[chris82]

Your going 1200 miles in one long stretch, not a bunch of short trips; assuming the majority of the trip is highway then you will be perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about here