[silverado]

I posted this in the DIY forum but I thought this opinion may deserve a wider audience (sorry for the repost).

I contacted a reputable local shop that does A LOT of work on BMWs (http://www.landsharkautomotive.com/) to do my mid-period oil change at 7,500 miles because they would do it for less than the dealer. I was told by the owner that I should stick with changing the oil at dealers. He said these are new engines and I don't want to risk being excluded from some potential recall/repair on these engines because I wanted to do my oil changes on the cheap. He basically turned away my business for that reason and I respected them for it.

Take this for what it is: one BMW mechanic's opinion. Of course we could disagree on whether this would or not be a problem, but the way I see it, the MOST anyone could save on the additional oil changes by doing them him/herself with BMW parts is about $40 every 15,000 miles (assuming you're doing them midway between factory-recommended changes). This seems HARDLY worth it even if the risk is quite small.

YMMV.

[afocoryw20]

Thanks for the info.

[Yaajer]

Originally Posted by silverado

I posted this in the DIY forum but I thought this opinion may deserve a wider audience (sorry for the repost).

I contacted a reputable local shop that does A LOT of work on BMWs (http://www.landsharkautomotive.com/) to do my mid-period oil change at 7,500 miles because they would do it for less than the dealer. I was told by the owner that I should stick with changing the oil at dealers. He said these are new engines and I don't want to risk being excluded from some potential recall/repair on these engines because I wanted to do my oil changes on the cheap. He basically turned away my business for that reason and I respected them for it.

Take this for what it is: one BMW mechanic's opinion. Of course we could disagree on whether this would or not be a problem, but the way I see it, the MOST anyone could save on oil changes while doing saving doing additional oil changes him/herself with BMW parts is about $40 every 15,000 miles (assuming you're doing them midway between factory-recommended changes). This seems HARDLY worth it even if the risk is quite small.

YMMV.

I agree. I would save maybe $20 doing an unscheduled oil change taking it into a Inde shop vs the dealer. I'm about to make an appointment for my 2000miles post break in oil change and for the dealer to swap out my RF's for winters.

[underDAWG]

silverado,

Well..... I don't really understand how much one can screw up the oil change unless you work in Jiffy lube. For your reputable local shop, he is most likely not interested in oil change business. It is not worth his time and bay space to do the oil change. He would rather do brake; drive train, HVAC or suspension work.

As for warranty work in the States, it is hard for manufacture to deny warranty because the burden of proof of is always on the dealer/manufacture, not the customer. My 2 cents.

[underDAWG]

Originally Posted by Yaajer

I agree. I would save maybe $20 doing an unscheduled oil change taking it into a Inde shop vs the dealer. I'm about to make an appointment for my 2000miles post break in oil change and for the dealer to swap out my RF's for winters.

I would rather do the oil and filter change myself. In this case, you know that you do it right – drain the old oil out more thoroughly, clean the surrounding area, and etc. More importantly, it gives you a chance to get to know your engine and other components. After all, we are BMW enthusiasms, it is hard to expect others to take care of your car the way you want, and I don’t care how good the dealer is. Taking extra effort takes time, time is money and dealer needs to make money to survive.