Oil Change; been a year, but only 3k miles...

[Blacksport]

Originally Posted by 128GP

N52, had the oil changed at the dealer a year ago next week. The thing is, I have only put 3k miles on the car since. Is there a reason to go in for another change?? Believe it or not, the car is daily driven on weekdays.

What kind of oil?

You're obviously making numerous small trips...very bad...it take about 8 miles to get the oil hot enough to remove all condensation from your previous drive...if your drive is less than that, and you do the same drive repeatedly, you oil is polluted with water...synthetic oil is much better at dealing with condensation.

I wouldn't trust the dealer to change my oil, or anyone else; are they really using top quality synthetic? ...unless I actually saw the oil being poured in my car from a bottle, not one of those pump rigs.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by klick

My opinion is that BMWs maintenance schedule is all out of whack.

Apparently lifetime coolant, PS fluid, diff fluid, and tranny fuild... I disagree. That stuff has to be replaced sometime into the car's life. Usually before 100k miles.

Its funny how people ask why BMWs always seem to have leaks, when its because fluids are not be changed regularly or at such extreme scheduling.

Then oil changes are 15k miles or 1 year. I say every 7k miles. The oil might last a while, but the filters definitely do not.

That's the consensus among those of us in the know.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209718

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by 631twentyeighteye

every 5k miles(15k as per BMW... LOL) or every year. whatever comes first.

How do people NOT drive their cars? I put on 3K a month sometimes LOL.

Some of us work from home (or are retired, as I am now) and some of us have short commutes to work (wife drives ~25 mi. round trip). My 2013 335i, delivered 3/2013, has less than 15K miles on it. I'll add a couple thousand this summer on a couple of vacation /long weekend trips.

I get both of our cars' oil changed at 7500 miles or 1 year (BMW would change it annually if you didn't meet the 15K mile mark while under the 4/50 maintenance program). I had the manual trans and diff fluids changed at 35K miles on the wife's 128, and I make sure both cars get the brake fluid flushed every 2 years and the coolant replaced on the same interval. Needless to say, I'm planning on keeping both cars for awhile.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by roundel335

Some of us work from home (or are retired, as I am now) and some of us have short commutes to work (wife drives ~25 mi. round trip).

I live 3 km from work. I have still put 40k on in less than 2 years.

Life's too short to just drive to work and back.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by klick

Then oil changes are 15k miles or 1 year. I say every 7k miles. The oil might last a while, but the filters definitely do not.

Actually, the oil filters for the 128i/135i probably can last longer than the oil, depending on your driving habits. I think they could go 10-15,000 miles pretty easily, while I would never go this long on the oil.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

Actually, the oil filters for the 128i/135i probably can last longer than the oil, depending on your driving habits. I think they could go 10-15,000 miles pretty easily, while I would never go this long on the oil.

Hard to justify when they are dirt cheap.

And it might be the aircooled 911 owner in me speaking(filter is the same size/unit as a Lambo Diablo), but the 128i filter is pretty dinky.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

I live 3 km from work. I have still put 40k on in less than 2 years.

Life's too short to just drive to work and back.

I agree. I haven't driven back and forth to work in 5 years (working from home/retired). All of the mileage on my car and a good deal of it on my wife's is pleasure trips, including those with my BMW CCA chapter. But we don't drive to Mexico or all the way across the country (aside from our move here from TX). We'll be taking a 1600-mile trip to New England and then back down the coast in 2 weeks. Drove the Outer Banks in our convertible last year. Plenty of other non-business trips coming up.

Nice benefit of not using your car for commuting to work/low yearly mileage is reduced insurance premiums...

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Hard to justify when they are dirt cheap.

And it might be the aircooled 911 owner in me speaking(filter is the same size/unit as a Lambo Diablo), but the 128i filter is pretty dinky.

Not trying to justify anything. It is not necessarily the size of the filter, but the quality of the media and the overall construction of the filter. It may not be huge, but well constructed with excellent/efficient filter media. A good BMW oil filter is top notch (OE, Mann, Hengst, etc) and should last 15,000 miles.

I would add that I never use my filters that long, and advocate changing oil and filters at the same time (~7,000-7,500 miles).

[NIB]

Originally Posted by klick

My opinion is that BMWs maintenance schedule is all out of whack.

Apparently lifetime coolant, PS fluid, diff fluid, and tranny fuild... I disagree. That stuff has to be replaced sometime into the car's life. Usually before 100k miles.

Its funny how people ask why BMWs always seem to have leaks, when its because fluids are not be changed regularly or at such extreme scheduling.

Then oil changes are 15k miles or 1 year. I say every 7k miles. The oil might last a while, but the filters definitely do not.

Yes you are right, the filters do not last. I bought mine car from a dealer shop and immediately went for an oil change and found out that the have not changed the oil for quite a long time, probably more than 2 years. The filter have shredded. The Auto shop used Rhymax Posedon 5W/30 (Is this Good) for Oil change and the right BMW filter. I noticed oil seepage from the Engine gasket joint.

Is their any further treatment to reduce or eliminate the Gasket leakage and improve the engine performance, without going in for a gasket work reseal for now.