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04-03-2008, 01:11 PM | #1 | |
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Interesting info about real maintenance intervals on BMW's (pre-free maintenance)
this has been passed along on a few other BMW forums, I think a lot of people here would benefit from this information. In the days before BMW included "free" maintenance with the purchase of their cars, their maintenance intervals were about double the frequency of their current schedule.
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04-03-2008, 01:12 PM | #2 | |
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Part 2
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04-03-2008, 01:50 PM | #3 |
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good read ..
thanks, Crowley
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04-03-2008, 02:51 PM | #4 |
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The best info in all of this is that just about any modern car will last 100k with almost no maintenance. For those of us leasing or getting new cars before then (most of us), maintenance becomes a moot point.
One of the reasons I think engine break in and oil change intervals are such a religion is very few people who have the car at 0 miles also have it at 200,000 miles (and remember what they did when it had 0 miles). |
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04-03-2008, 03:04 PM | #5 |
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Question on transmission service. Is it a flush or drain and refill? Does it require special tools or it's as easy as engine oil?
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04-03-2008, 04:24 PM | #6 |
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Very helpful thread. Thanks M3.
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04-04-2008, 08:51 AM | #7 |
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Great post. When I bought my first car at 16, I was still young and ignorant. Now that the 135 should be here within a week, I want to maintain this car as best as I could.
Now all we need is a thread in the DIY section on how to change engine, tranny, and diff oil. |
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04-04-2008, 02:43 PM | #8 | |
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I can't imagine that those jobs are any more difficult than they were on previous generation BMW's, the oil change on my E36 and E46's is the easiest I have ever done on any car (once you get the car on the ramps). |
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04-08-2008, 05:06 PM | #9 |
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I've read that article on E46fanatics before, and it's very good IMO. (printed out a copy to keep). Anyone who really cares about their car only uses the BMW schedule for the freebies.
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05-22-2008, 06:24 PM | #11 |
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I find it's much more helpful to get my own digital copy of Mike Miller's comments. A simple email to Mike, along with a 'Thanks, much...', will result in an immediate reply with his comments attached in .pdf format.
Mike Miller BMW CCA Roundel Magazine Technical Editor techtalk@roundel.org There's some scary stuff there, even if buying a new car. E.g. note the description of how the differential has squoosed down in size (the gear oil volume along with it) and the ongoing saga of problematic automatic transmissions. Ouch... Jack |
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05-23-2008, 01:08 AM | #12 | |
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05-23-2008, 11:33 AM | #13 |
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I've read that article before too..
Going from personal experience
I had a 2000 323i that I purchased brand new. I never deviated from the "scheduled" service intervals. Never did oil changes sooner etc. But I never missed or neglected anything either. My car was heavily modified, and saw a fair amount of track & autocross time as well. I sold that 323i this past summer with 229,000 miles on it. The car still ran flawlessly. The current owner now now has 237k on it, & still drives it every day. Maybe I was lucky, don't know, but my 323i was driven very hard & it made me a believer of the engineering of the car. |
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07-17-2008, 09:00 PM | #14 |
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Just thought I would add a little comment here since I have a slightly different perspective living in Germany (for the time being) and have heard some other information about the extended service intervals.
BMW does not provide free service over here, but the service intervals are the same. BMW would not change service intervals world-wide just so the dealerships in NA could provide free service. The reason I have read is that BMW was pressured to lower the environmental impact of their cars. Going to extended (or life-time in some cases) fluids lowers the amount of possible environmental impact that the car will make over the course of it's lifetime. One other thing to think about: If it could be proven that the BMW extended service intervals severely degraded the life of the car, I am sure that BMW NA would have a nasty class action lawsuit on their hands for trying to ensure shortened car life to generate more business (just because Americans are sue happy) With all of that said, I will be doing a break-in change myself, and probably half-cycle changes for the life-time of the car once i get it in a couple of weeks. (Oh, and my comment about Americans being sue-happy....I am American, just working overseas on an Army base. After living over here, it is refreshing to see that you can't sue over as many stupid things in other countries...not saying a class action suit over something like that wouldn't be appropriate, just saying it would only happen in the US) |
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07-20-2008, 07:48 PM | #15 |
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I am leasing BMW's car and if they want me to change the oil on THEIR car every 15,000 miles then that's what I'll do. If it were MY car, I would do every 5,000.
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07-21-2008, 08:25 AM | #16 |
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Having lived in Europe for most of the last 5 years, I'm sure Mike is correct in suggesting that one factor in BMW's service interval changes has been due to environmental compliance. There is a much stronger emphasis on 'green' initiatives out of Brussels on behalf of the EU generally, and some countries (including Germany) are especially sympathetic to 'green' issues, even to the extent that they have major political parties with that focus as the backbone of their party platform.
Having said all that, BMW is like any other manufacturer and enjoys legal limits on its warranty-related and even safety-related liabilities. It is not going to experience legal liability if its transfer case, diff, AT or MT suffer excessive wear at 100,000+ miles due to lack of lube oil replacement. Comments like Dave's are always reassuring to hear - long, trouble-free mileage while following the newer, more limited maintenance regimen. Unfortunately, there are other owners who have had different experiences (which Mike Miller addresses to some degree in the OP). It's just my opinion but I break the 'right level of maintenance' into 2 categories: 1) If planning short-term ownership or leasing, obviously do only what's recommended...but obviously, this may have a ripple effect on Owner #2 or #3; 2) If you want to leave open the door to long-term ownership (not likely for most new car buyers these days), then the choice is whether you want to put the odds more in your favor...or not. Running engine lube oil without filter or oil replacement for your first 20K km, or choosing to believe diff lube oil is 'lifetime' capable are simply choices that don't help your odds (rather than some kind of death sentence that applies across the board). BTW it doesn't make sense to post a copy of Mike Miller's .pdf file here because he routinely edits and updates his commentary on maintenance. Far better to contact Mike and get his most recent edition (for which I've offered his email address in an above post). Jack |
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05-06-2009, 01:16 PM | #20 |
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Just an observation - Mike Miller, the author of this material, has asked that people NOT post it on the internet because (a) it is copyrighted (b) he updates it periodically with new information (looks like the copyright date on this one is 2002,) and (c) he is willing to email a free copy of the latest version of the maintenance schedule to any of his readers who request one.
I believe his contact info can be found here: http://bmwcca.org/index.php?pageid=r...staff_masthead EDIT: Sorry, didn't notice Jack in St. Pete's comments. |
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