Oil change?

[kirkemon]

Does changing your own oil void the warranty?

I bought a 2008 535i for my wife some months ago. BWM won't change the oil until 15k miles! I would think it should be sooner on a new engine. Also, I'd like to be running Mobil1 in it.
Any thoughts?

[larryn]

Feel free to change your own oil. I will be doing that too. :smile:

[rajuncajun]

I was told today that BMW's new oil system will determine the oil change based upon several variables - miles, rpms, throttle input etc. So, if you drive hard, the engine could alert an oil change at 12,000 miles. If you drive on the highway mostly, it may be 15,000 miles. I'll most likely continue to change the oil myself though at more regular intervals.

[Sherifftruman]

THeir system uses total fuel consumed from what they have told MINI people and only the most brutal of drivers gets the change before the normal distance. In fact, for most people, it is more likely that you will get a 15k change at 17,500.

I just always go in and when the guage says 7500 to go, I do my own change.

[MZWIE]

Originally Posted by rajuncajun

I was told today that BMW's new oil system will determine the oil change based upon several variables - miles, rpms, throttle input etc. So, if you drive hard, the engine could alert an oil change at 12,000 miles. If you drive on the highway mostly, it may be 15,000 miles. I'll most likely continue to change the oil myself though at more regular intervals.

How would the dealer know this?

Yeah. Old story that started way back with the E46's which supposedly said you could go 15k mi between oil changes.
I always changed the oil every 5000 mi. In the E46's there is a way to reset the oil counter w/o having a special tool.

I suspect the same will be true of the E82.

[bimmertech]

Originally Posted by e34m5

How would the dealer know this?

Yeah. Old story that started way back with the E46's which supposedly said you could go 15k mi between oil changes.
I always changed the oil every 5000 mi. In the E46's there is a way to reset the oil counter w/o having a special tool.

I suspect the same will be true of the E82.

no special tools needed to reset service info. all your service needs are now called conditioned based service or CBS. this includes your oil service, brakes, brake flush, and vehicle check. from e70 on, certain items such as microfilters, spark plugs, trans fluid, and engine air filters are paired with certain oil services. our e82's and e88's will follow this type of service schedule.

resetting the cbs data is difference for different cars. for e9x you bring up the service info by pressing the left cluster button for 10 seconds and then use the knurled wheel on the turn signal stalk and bring up the desired service info you want to reset (shown in the little display between your tach and speedo), when you get the desired service you hit the button on the end of the same stalk and then 'reset' will come up in the instrument cluster and then you hit the button again to perform the reset. on e6x and e70, everything is done though the left cluster button. hold for 10, hit it repeatedly to bring up the desired service, and then hold to reset.

if your car is still under the maintenance warranty don't reset any of the lights or it'll appear to the dealer that your car is not due for service. this is determined via a key reader that pulls info out of your key which contains the schedule for all cbs maintenance.

so if you want to do an oil service at 5000, just do it and leave the cbs data alone. the resetting procedure is good to know after your maintenance warranty runs out so you don't constantly get the 'service due' warning every time you turn your car on.

[Oregon]

My service guy will change the oil as often as you wish. I'll be changing oil after the initial 1,500 then every 3K.

[Sherifftruman]

Originally Posted by Surname

My service guy will change the oil as often as you wish. I'll be changing oil after the initial 1,500 then every 3K.

Most dealerships will change it anytime you want them to, but they will only do it free if it is close to the milage on the display.

[andree8]

Why would you change the oil earlier? I saw a documentary that
modern oils could last up to 60,000 miles.

[mateo]

I drive my X3 hard and was brought in @ 11500.

[WhiteOne]

15,000 miles a year? 1 oil change? 3? 5? How many quarts does it take? How much does a quart cost? How much are filters? This could get expensive couldn't it?

[Stew]

I asked a sales person at my local BMW dealership how much would an oil chance cost after the warrenty period, and he said $150-200...I don't how useful or accurate that number is, or if you can infer material/labor costs from it...I am planing on changing my oil myself between scheduled changes...what would be a good regular interval to change your oil on a turbo? I have read from 3000 to 7500. The convention I always used was 3000/3mo.

[Robert]

I will do my own oil change, thank you very much.

Possibly my own brake jobs when the warranty is out. It's those inspection 1 & 2 that worries me. It's nice to have someone look at it comprehensively and I wonder if its worth it to buy the maintenance service plan.

[bimmertech]

no more inspection 1's and 2's any more on bmw's. instead the service is called 'vehicle check' about every other oil service. if you get an 'oil service' after warranty it's about 1 hour labor plus 7 qts of oil at 5 bucks a quart and a filter. in most areas that would be at least $150. a pretty comprehensive inspection should take place if you pay for this service. however you should be able to get a quick oil and filter for .3 hours and 7 qts of oil and filter which should be less than 100.

[NoProblem]

Oil changes are more critical in turbo'ed engines. You can also get an oil analysis done which will tell you approximately how much longer you have until your next change. I think those are usually done after a couple of years to see the engine wear.

My Audi A6 came with oil changes every 10k, but I had them done at my indy at 5k intervals when not covered (so 5k, 15k, etc.)

Haven't gotten my 135i yet, but you can bet I'll be babying those turbos, and probably change the oil around 5k - 7k. I will also ask the dealership what kind of oil they are using so that I can use the same.
Sometimes, they say they are using synthetic, but they are really using a semi-synthetic.

Hope the link works out: This is my 1st post!
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/what_..._analysis.html

[Stew]

Originally Posted by bimmertech

no more inspection 1's and 2's any more on bmw's. instead the service is called 'vehicle check' about every other oil service. if you get an 'oil service' after warranty it's about 1 hour labor plus 7 qts of oil at 5 bucks a quart and a filter. in most areas that would be at least $150. a pretty comprehensive inspection should take place if you pay for this service. however you should be able to get a quick oil and filter for .3 hours and 7 qts of oil and filter which should be less than 100.

Good info to know! Someone should post a DIY on how to change your own oil and filter on the 135 for us super noobs lol video would be even better

[gargoyal]

Originally Posted by kirkemon

Does changing your own oil void the warranty?

I bought a 2008 535i for my wife some months ago. BWM won't change the oil until 15k miles! I would think it should be sooner on a new engine. Also, I'd like to be running Mobil1 in it.
Any thoughts?

In general, the answer is no. It will not void you warranty according to the Magnusson Moss Warranty act and the case law around it.

But that are some specific exception that I don’t know all of the details about, if the warrantor pays for routine maintenance (BMW covers the cost of an oil change). My guess is you still have to take it to the dealer for the schedule maintenance but it is ok for you do more oil changes. This is just a guess so you should do research.

In general a dealer can not void your warranty because you modify or do maintenance to your car. They can deny your warranty claim for a specific issue , if your modification or maintenance caused the problem in question.

Attach is the SEMA page on handle warranty issues.

http://www.semasan.com/main/main.aspx?id=60128

Most of the time you just have to say I know my rights under the Magnusson Moss Warranty act and the case law and the dealer will back off and do what is right

[gargoyal]

Did a little reading because I plan on going synthetic after the 1st oil change. I found this or a similar statement on a bunch of oil companies & quick lube web sites.

"The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and general principles of the Federal Trade Commission stipulate that an automaker may not require a motorist to use a particular brand of motor oil and filters unless the automaker provides those oils and filters free of charge to the people whose cars are under warranty to the automaker.

Automakers may require use of products meeting certain performance criteria. For example, North America automakers now require use of motor oils that provide American Petroleum Institute SH Performance. However, any oil providing SH performance may be used."

Unless BMW has a program to give us fee oil and filters we can uses what we want and as often as we want

[atr_hugo]

Ah but they do - free maintenance for four years. They determine when it needs to be changed and they change it for free. Hmmmm . . . (and or uh oh ; -)

[gargoyal]

It is my under standing that we can still do the work, and more often. We just need to get our free oil and filter from BMW. If they don't have a program for giving us free oil and filters outside of the labor we are good to do what ever we want. I belive this is the case

Also the warranty must explicitly state we can not do any maintenance outside of BMW and can not use non BMW parts. one of the cool things about The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is any ambiguity (or even to much legal speak) is found in our favor. I scanned through the warranty when I was at the dealer and don’t remember any special or strong language, but I‘m not a lawyer.

It would be cool if someone took a look at their Service and Warranty Information Booklet to see if anything clearly states we must have BMW do the maintenance and/or we must use BMW parts.

There needs to be explicit language within the warranty along with a free program to put limits on the warranty coverage.

We need to kill all lawyers. All this to change your own oil and use a synthetic

[BMW Dreamer]

I thought they used full synthetic oil?

[Lester]

Originally Posted by kirkemon

Does changing your own oil void the warranty?

I bought a 2008 535i for my wife some months ago. BWM won't change the oil until 15k miles! I would think it should be sooner on a new engine. Also, I'd like to be running Mobil1 in it.
Any thoughts?

Is anyone thinking of Lucas or STP?