Oil Change Intervals--Thoughts? (Be Calm)

[lainmike0710]

Alright, this is clearly one of the touchiest subjects on not only this forum but any forum regarding any car anywhere. Other threads have slowly changed into an argument about how often to do it but I'm just trying to take a poll:

How often do you change your oil in your 1er? I would like to see how many people actually wait for 15,000 miles solely because they don't want to pay for an oil change during free maint. periods. I've always changed the oil myself but during the winter, it is not always that easy for me to do it after 5,000, 7,500, 10,000 even due to lack of a controlled environment and both dealerships in my area charge $130 which is ridiculous and I'm looking for at least some peace of mind. I know it's not ideal but BMW would not allow it to happen if it were not going to be OK...it's clearly not just a conspiracy to wait 15,000 miles between oil changes so engines will blow and people will buy new cars.........or is it?

[Dackelone]

Every 5K kms for me.

[lainmike0710]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Every 5K kms for me.

I agree with that of course but I can't always get to it that quickly...I have put 39,000 miles on my car in 25 months so I drive a lot in a short amount of time...makes it tough. Certainly try though....unfortunately my car had 1 owner before me and Carfax shows oil changes every 15,000 unless he HOPEFULLY did them in between but I'll never know.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by lainmike0710

I agree with that of course but I can't always get to it that quickly...I have put 39,000 miles on my car in 25 months so I drive a lot in a short amount of time...makes it tough. Certainly try though....unfortunately my car had 1 owner before me and Carfax shows oil changes every 15,000 unless he HOPEFULLY did them in between but I'll never know.

When I bought my 135i. By the time I had gotten to 15K miles... I had changed the oil FIVE times. I would not wait for 15K mile OCI. Thats too long. IF you look at you oil when you change it... you will see how thin it is and how black it is. I know, I know... its bc of DI - but it still bothers me. Perhaps its why I have not had any issues with my 1er.

[lainmike0710]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

When I bought my 135i. By the time I had gotten to 15K miles... I had changed the oil FIVE times. I would not wait for 15K mile OCI. Thats too long. IF you look at you oil when you change it... you will see how thin it is and how black it is. I know, I know... its bc of DI - but it still bothers me. Perhaps its why I have not had any issues with my 1er.

I'm in definite agreement. The color doesnt worry me so much because it seems to be black after 100 miles let alone 3,000 or 5,000 but it feeling thin is certainly not a good thing. I have read in other posts, however, that others have actually gotten their oil tested and find it to have plenty of protective properties remaining even after 15,000 miles....kind of why I started this thread...just curious.

[Dackelone]

a 15K OCI is too long. BMW wants you to buy a new car every two years. IF your gonna keep your car... the best oil is fresh oil. period.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by lainmike0710

I agree with that of course but I can't always get to it that quickly...I have put 39,000 miles on my car in 25 months so I drive a lot in a short amount of time...makes it tough. Certainly try though....unfortunately my car had 1 owner before me and Carfax shows oil changes every 15,000 unless he HOPEFULLY did them in between but I'll never know.

You can take the oil fill cap off and shine a light down in your engine. If there is sludge and varnish, you should be able to see it without much problem.

[MightyMouseTech]

Every 6000 km.

My car calls for them every 18,000 km. I do it at 6000 and 12,000, dealer does the 18,000.

[02rsxpilot]

Like the onboard computer does, I think OCI should be determined by type of driving as much or more than by distance. After all, if you drive 15,000 miles freeway every year, your car is probably perfectly fine on modern synthetic oils for the full 15K (as you said folks have essentially proven with oil analysis after exactly this type of scenario). However, if you drove 15K track miles, I'd probably recommend a few extra changes thrown in there.

To answer your poll, I don't pay attention to miles much but because I do 4-5 track events per year, I typically make sure the oil in my car is never more than about 6 months old and doesn't have more than 2-3 events on it plus daily driving. This equates to doing about one oil change myself in between dealer changes. At about $65 and 30 minutes of my time, that's pretty cheap peace of mind but I won't pretend it's anything more than that. The car would probably be fine with just the dealer services.

[1mang]

Personally I change oil every 5,000 miles on all of my cars. It's just easier to remember and often enough to not always be wrenching on the car but enjoy it.

Sometimes I will consolidate car work into one weekend so oil change maybe +/- couple hundred.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by 02rsxpilot

Like the onboard computer does, I think OCI should be determined by type of driving as much or more than by distance.

The oil sensor in the N52 (probably the same in the N54/55 I imagine as well), is a smart sensor and actually measures the quality of the oil, so your driving style should be accounted for either way.

I could see this when I did an oil change on my car without re-setting any of the service lights, the "life" on the oil by the computer went up in miles, so the sensor would have to have determined that fresh oil was put in the engine.

As for when to change oil, I still don't trust the sensor, so I perform UOAs on all of my changes so far (1500 mile break-in, 3700 miles after that and then at 5500 miles). After trending my oil quality based on my driving habits and the UOAs, right now I would feel comfortable going around 7-7,500 miles between changes.

If someone drove 90%+ highway miles and performed UOAs, I would think 15,000 between changes would be feasible on the N52. As for the N54/N55, I would think 8-10,000 miles would be max even with mostly highway driving.

[lainmike0710]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

The oil sensor in the N52 (probably the same in the N54/55 I imagine as well), is a smart sensor and actually measures the quality of the oil, so your driving style should be accounted for either way.

I could see this when I did an oil change on my car without re-setting any of the service lights, the "life" on the oil by the computer went up in miles, so the sensor would have to have determined that fresh oil was put in the engine.

As for when to change oil, I still don't trust the sensor, so I perform UOAs on all of my changes so far (1500 mile break-in, 3700 miles after that and then at 5500 miles). After trending my oil quality based on my driving habits and the UOAs, right now I would feel comfortable going around 7-7,500 miles between changes.

If someone drove 90%+ highway miles and performed UOAs, I would think 15,000 between changes would be feasible on the N52. As for the N54/N55, I would think 8-10,000 miles would be max even with mostly highway driving.

I would say 10,000 miles out of my last 15,000 have been freeway/highway miles BUT it has also been Winter. I haven't had the means to actually do it myself and getting to the dealership as well as paying the $130 they charge is tough so this change is coming tomorrow after almost exactly 15,000. Before this, it was every 5,000 miles.

[NorthernDancer]

1st April and 1st October-weather is good and you do it yourself.
otherwise
1st Feb, 1st June and 1st October and have a garage do the 1st Feb change.

Unless you're doing a lot of short trips, I think our cars with the proper synthetic oil can easily do 8000 - 10,000 miles between oil changes. There are literally thousands of BMWs out there that are only getting 1 oil change per year.

[Lmw160]

Every 5-6,000 kms. In the long run its cheap insurance!

[JimD]

I also do every 5,000 miles in part because it's easy to remember. I drive my e88 about 7,500 miles per year and got free annual oil changes while under warranty so I went a little longer then. I did one extra at about 2,000 miles.

[Pyrat 2]

After every 2 to 4 days at the track. Overkill? Probably. Peace of mind for less than $35? Absolutely.

[PA135i]

Indy shop told me every 5,000 miles. Especially if you car is up in age / mileage.

[lainmike0710]

Originally Posted by PA135i

Indy shop told me every 5,000 miles. Especially if you car is up in age / mileage.

What mileage you lookin at currently? Just curious for comparison.

[PA135i]

I am almost at 90,000 miles now on my '08. But, the Indy shop told me that when my car had 60,000 miles. The big reason is because of the turbos.

[lainmike0710]

Originally Posted by PA135i

I am almost at 90,000 miles now on my '08. But, the Indy shop told me that when my car had 60,000 miles. The big reason is because of the turbos.

Ya the turbos are a definite reason for that and if I had a 135 I would agree though I still agree with my 128.

[lainmike0710]

Probably a topic for some other thread out there but I have always used the Mobil1 0 40 but suddenly, and I swear the last time I checked this was not the case, but the Castrol 0w40 at Walmart is now made in Germany and ll01 certified. I'm wondering if all of us Mobil 1ers should switch over since we apparently are now looking at GC or German Castrol which is so highly regarded by many, including Dackel. Anyone agree to trying out this change or stick with Mobil??

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by lainmike0710

Probably a topic for some other thread out there but I have always used the Mobil1 0 40 but suddenly, and I swear the last time I checked this was not the case, but the Castrol 0w40 at Walmart is now made in Germany and ll01 certified. I'm wondering if all of us Mobil 1ers should switch over since we apparently are now looking at GC or German Castrol which is so highly regarded by many, including Dackel. Anyone agree to trying out this change or stick with Mobil??

I would say for you to "try" the GC. When I tried it, I noticed right away(on the first startup) how quieter the engine sounded. Much less metallic noises at idle. Also... my cruising oil temp when down almost TWO needle widths. I was sold in GC ever since.

Another thing no one has mentioned... and its another reason why I change my oil often... is when the oil is in the engine for a long OCI... its got to get diluted by fuel. A thinner oil will make more crankcase vapors - and in turn more carbon buildup on the intake valves. Just a thought.