"Just wait another 900 miles or so."

[jeremydgreat]

So, my 09 135i is a year old now, with 15,460 miles on it. My car is telling me I'm 200 miles past.

I was at the dealership last week for something and asked about getting an oil change. The service advisor told me that BMW is "really strict" about this now and won't change the oil till it's within a certain number of miles. I started to argue and he sent me to another service advisor, who looked at my mileage and said "Just wait another 900 miles or so."

I thought the car supposedly "adapts to my driving habits" and formulates a recommendation. No?

Thoughts?

(Brecht BMW in North County San Diego)

[Itanius]

My dealership changed my oil with 1900 miles left on the counter, and I didn't even ask. This was two weeks ago. It may just be your dealership's policy to do it as closely to the counter as possible.

[jeremydgreat]

What exactly is the counter? It's certainly not what the car's computer is advising.

[timhatimay]

According to the manual, the car uses condition based maintenance. Meaning it takes different factors into consideration when making recommendations for service. I've know it does change based on driving, because different BMWs I know had different times when the change was needed. Also, BMW will change your oil after one calender year if the mileage isn't 0 yet. I did this with still about 4000 miles left. From what I understand this is part of the covered maintenance, and they should honor this.

Tim

[EINSER]

Just had my first service last week at one year and one month old with approx. 18,500 miles. I still had about 1,000 miles on the countdown but the screen above started showing "SERVICE" when I started the engine. Plus the incessant warning that my wiper fluid was low! And of course the third brake light decided it was a good time to crack!

[Evice]

You need to have 2000miles or less in your *service indicator* for any type of BMW Maintenance, and if your car is saying you are 200 miles past (which I have never seen) then they are really bullshitting you. And this is valid, if your time based maintenance is not first yet. Meaning hitting yearly oil change before you drop below 2k miles.

Yes your car adapts the changes however, it doesn't do it drastically. for ex: I went to a track weekend, my brake service indicator dropped from 11k to 3.5k in 2 days, then after it adjusted back a little and now I am at 4k to front brake service, and I've driven my car about 1k miles after the track.. This was an extreme example yet it adjusted back 500 miles.

If you are 101% sure that your indicator shows a number less than 2000, tell them that you are going to write a letter to BMWNA as complaint, if they do not resolve this.

[scott135i]

My dealer has changed my oil within 4000 miles of the 'computer recommended' mileage. It is all up to their discretion. Additionally, I had an oil change at just 3700 miles on one of my cars because the mileage was so low after 15 months of driving that they decided it would be best to change it. No questions asked.

[Novator]

I changed my oil right after break-in, then had it changed by the dealership upon return from deployment around 14,000 miles when I had my Performance Power Kit installed. I just had the oil changed again around 20,000 miles by my own choice. It is called getting a low annual, or so I have heard from my service advisor. So pretty much you can changed the oil halfway between BMWs 12-15k interval and then BMW will pay to change the oil 6-7.5k later. I now have another 6000 miles before BMW foots the bill. Low annual you don't have the oil change interval messed with, so while the gauge will read you are not at max, the computer is still counting down until scheduled change.

[Simon_135i]

goto BMW of San Diego or BMW Encinitas...

[rsjean]

If your indicator is telling you that it is time for an oil change and your dealership is telling you to wait 900 miles or so, have them issue you a document stating that the dealership recommends not paying attention to the scheduled service indicator in your BMW.

I think they will be changing your oil later that day....

[escobar929]

lol what BS, the counter is saying 200 past and they tell you to come back after another 900? so you can be 1100 past? WTF?

[Tom K.]

Something doesn't scan here. The OP has said:

1. "My car is telling me I'm 200 miles past."
2. "What exactly is the counter?"

???

[jeremydgreat]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

Something doesn't scan here. The OP has said:

1. "My car is telling me I'm 200 miles past."
2. "What exactly is the counter?"

???

When I start my car, for about 3 seconds, there appears a little red silhouette of a car. Underneath the icon, it says "Service". When I cycle through the menu options and land on "service", it shows the oil icon in red. Underneath the icon it says "-200".

[jeremydgreat]

Hey Steve,

This is Jeremy, I'm the guy that had some warranty repair work done lost week on my tail light (2009 white 135i). The car is now telling me I'm low on oil (I need to add a quart- it's showing the level is down to the "min" level and displays a red oil can icon). On a separate but related note, the car is also telling me I'm 470mi overdue for my first scheduled oil change. I'm at 15720+ miles on the odometer.

Can I schedule an appointment to come in and get my oil changed? If feel a little put off that I was in for warranty repair JUST last week and you guys couldn't budge on that. When I bought the car, the service advisor told me that this system is in place for a reason- the car adjusts to my driving habits and will know when I'm due. I don't feel like I'm asking for some special favor here- this is the manual in my glovebox says I should do.

I travel past BMW Encinitas to get to your dealership, because your reputation for quality service is a bit better than theirs. Including the two High Pressure Fuel Pump failures, I've now been in for warranty repair FIVE times... and now I'm getting hassled for my first oil change?

Anyway... sorry to gripe. I love my car, I saved and saved for it and I love driving it. But I'm really having a hard time with BMW as a premium brand (their inability to fix a longstanding issue in the N54 engine, and now they (via Brecht BMW) are reneging on their service agreements with me).

I'm ready to bring in my car in any morning this week. Please let me know.

Thanks,
~ Jeremy

[MrBimmer]

i got my oil changed today with 1500 on the dash. it was weird tho, because i went to the dealer for something unrelated to the oil but i mentioned that the oil level randomly tells me that it is low from time to time ( along with the windshield washer fluid ) he comes back to me and tells me that they'll change the oil for me since i would have a long wait anyway.

[IZAGLO]

i was under the assumption...told to by the dealer....that you are allowed to one oil per year even if the car does not register 15,000 for each year...my car will be 1 year old this July6 and i am bringing it in in a couple weeks early,,,10,700 on the car... but from here on in i will be changing it every 7500 miles with the BMW oil kit...approx $65 in parts...no matter what BMW say's i do not feel comfortable with 15k changes , especially a Turbo and this car will be in the family a long time...