Post break in oil change?

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by M3_Dust

... but they decided to get cheap and double recommended service intervals when they started including maintenance with the cars.

Not quite. The doubled oil change intervals went into effect around 1999 when BMW switched over to OEM synthetic oil. The free maintenance was in effect prior to that, although it was subsequently lengthened from 3 years to 4.
Tom

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by bimmertech

the one place where i know bmw cheaped out is coolant. up until MY2004 the coolant replacement interval was 4 years. but now the coolant is lifetime and the funny thing is nothing about the coolant has changed.
my .02

Actually, my '03 Z4 called for "lifetime" (100,000 miles?) coolant, but as I neared the end of my 4 year maintenance period, my dealer changed it for free. They said that BMW had changed their recommendation back to 4 years - so go figure!
Tom

[sethchan]

FWIW:

The service guy at my dealer said that if it was his car, he would not wait for 25,000 kilometers before changing the oil for the first time. He would do it at at 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles). But not sooner.

He also said not to bother with the transmission or differential oil. He took a sample of his when he bought his bimmer. It was 10 years old at the time and the transmission and differential oils were like new.

[bimmertech]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

Actually, my '03 Z4 called for "lifetime" (100,000 miles?) coolant, but as I neared the end of my 4 year maintenance period, my dealer changed it for free. They said that BMW had changed their recommendation back to 4 years - so go figure!
Tom

Your MY2003 Z4 should have the 4 year coolant flush as part of it's maintenance plan. An 04 does not.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by bimmertech

Your MY2003 Z4 should have the 4 year coolant flush as part of it's maintenance plan. An 04 does not.

Sounds like the error was in my owner's warranty/service manual - or maybe I got an '04 manual with a car built in Dec., '02!

Oh well, if all new Bimmers have "lifetime" coolant, I guess I can afford to pony up for a change on the 128i at the 4 year mark.
Tom

[ManMachine]

do the oil change after breakin. unless you are leasing. care for your car well.

[WhiteOne]

TrogenBMW mentioned something about them changing the oil before shipping ED cars back to the states. I hope he is right. Anyone know for sure?

[ScullyD]

I have a few concerns here. I want to do the break-in service, but i don't have the equipment or expertise to do it myself. Will my BMW dealership even know what they are doing changing transmission and diff fluids, since they do it so rarely now? Also how much will this break-in service run me at a BMW dealership?

BTW, I Agree with everyone here, the 15,000 mile service intervals are :bs:

[ramair311]

An important thing to note here is that the 135 is delivered from the factory with synthetic oil. There is a major "break-in" difference between conventional and synthetic oil.

In the factory - they put the completed engine through its paces on a test stand with conventional oil in it - this performs a surprising amount of break-in on the brand new internal surfaces. Then this oil is drained in the factory and refilled with synthetic. From this point (with synthetic) there is very little "break-in" going on inside the engine.

[ChrisK]

I talked to the service rep at the dealership today about programming my alarm... Of course in conversation I said I would bring it in when I hit 1200 miles and change the oil. We he went on and on about how the oil didn't need to be change...blah blah

I said to him after owning 5 BMW's, you are wasting your breath. It's a turbo charged car, and I will change the oil when I want.

[TP 135i]

I just got back from a dealer oil change. 1872 miles on the odo and I thought that it was the right thing to do. It can't hurt and it gives me piece of mind. Now my little N54 is happy.

[Mad Dragon]

Originally Posted by ScullyD

I have a few concerns here. I want to do the break-in service, but i don't have the equipment or expertise to do it myself. Will my BMW dealership even know what they are doing changing transmission and diff fluids, since they do it so rarely now? Also how much will this break-in service run me at a BMW dealership?

The dealership is not going to change trans or diff fluids at 1200 miles.


There is no break in service on non-M cars! You can change the engine oil every week, if it makes you feel better. There is no need to touch the transmission or differential fluids.

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by TP 135i

I just got back from a dealer oil change. 1872 miles on the odo and I thought that it was the right thing to do. It can't hurt and it gives me piece of mind. Now my little N54 is happy.

I agree.. nothing better then fresh oil :biggrin:

[60Driver]

There are probably several reasons why BMW extended the oil change intervals. It's possible that, over the years, they've looked at the data coming back from the dealerships and found that the previous interval did little (or nothing) to extend the life of the components. Manufacturing technologies improve, oil properties improve, intervals get adjusted. The conspiracy theorists will tell you that BMW changed to the new intervals when they went to 4 years free maintenance. What if that was reversed? Maybe they realized they could easily extend the intervals with no risk to component life. Maybe they then decided to give us 4 free years of maintenance. We think we're getting something great but in reality we're not getting that much. But what a great marketing tool.

OK. So you think I'm an idiot who believes anything I read, hear or dream up. Highly unlikely. I've spent 23+ years in the military getting broken down shotgun style way too many times to readily believe anybody; the wife included. But as a maintenance test pilot I've seen our preventative maintenance schedules change over time. Why collect all that data if you're not going to do anything with it? It's far cheaper to repair / replace a component than it is to ball up a helicopter (or BMW) and have to replace it.

Having said that, and having a healthy distrust of everything, I'll probably change the engine oil at 1200 miles like most of you.

[ChrisK]

60Driver, I agree with 100%. I always change the oil at 1200 just to clean out the break-in particles. I'm sure the oil is still good. After 1200 I will change it every 5k-7K with full Synthetic...Try to space it between BMW's.

:iono:

[Larry_Legend]

So 1200 miles and then every 15000 after that?

[TP 135i]

Originally Posted by Larry_Legend

So 1200 miles and then every 15000 after that?

I'm doing 1200 (well actually I didn't get to it until 1872, but whatever).
Then every 7500.

[mikeo]

Larry Legend, it depends on you personal comfort level. If you beleve BMW NA is looking out for your interests by calling for normal oil changes every 15K miles you can simply follow recommend service intervals.

If, on the other hand, you are not comfortable with that frequency of oil changes for a high-heat, oil-killing turbo engine you can change more frequently. I did a post break-in change at 1500 and will most likely do one change between every BMW recommended change, or about every 7500 miles, using German Castrol Syntec full synthetic.

[kwanzto]

I'm so glad to hear that many of you will be changing your oil right after break-in, and more frequently than recommended. I thought I was just being overprotective. Now I feel justified.

[Mad Dragon]

There's no reason to do a "break-in" oil change. If there was, it would be in the scheduled maintenance.

[Jack in Jax]

Most comments here rest on opinion and assumption. It might be useful if at least one post in this thread mentioned WHY engine lube oil is changed, as that might help determine frequency of oil changes. These reasons are: 1) heat over time breaks down lubricity, thereby increasing wear; 2) oil additives neutralize combustion-related acids but these additives lose their neutralizing ability over time; and 3) wear byproducts ('trash') is collected in suspension in the oil (not just in the filter) and increases wear over time.

Here's the intro to Mike Miller's review of BMWs maintenance needs (posted in full here and on other BMW forum boards):

"Prior to the advent of BMW Free Scheduled Maintenance in the mid-1990s, approximate BMW maintenance recommendations were: automatic transmission fluid (ATF) and filter changes every 15,000 miles, manual gearbox and differential oil changes every 30,000 miles, annual brake fluid changes, and coolant changes every two years....

"Prior to Free Scheduled Maintenance, you couldn’t change engine oil often enough
according to most dealerships. And when the car was in the shop it would often be due for this service or that inspection, all at the owner’s expense. But once BMW began paying for scheduled maintenance, lo and behold the “schedule” was revised. Now the cars hardly need any maintenance at all. The 1,200-mile break-in
service was done away with except for M cars. Engine oil suddenly lasts 15,000 miles (dealers are supposed to use BMW synthetic oil). Manual gearbox and differential oil? No worries there – now BMW says they NEVER need to be changed; it’s “lifetime fill." Brake fluid and coolant service intervals were doubled with no change in the original BMW brake fluid and anti-freeze dealers are supposed to use. As of 2005, coolant is now “lifetime fill” as well – with no change in the actual coolant.

"So, is Free Scheduled Maintenance all about marketing and cost reduction – BMW’s costs? Draw your own conclusions... The operative word in the name is “scheduled.” In my opinion, extended service intervals and “lifetime fill” came very close on the heels of Free Scheduled Maintenance."

FWIW Mike's oil recommendations are:
-- "I have seen that the engine and driveline oils in new modern BMWs are literally full of metal at 1,200 miles – as has always been the case with any new car. For this reason, I recommend a 1,200-mile break-in service."
-- "If you are running BMW’s oil, I recommend an oil and filter change interval between 5,000 and 7,500 miles."

Jack

[mikeo]

Thank you, Jack. People that blindly follow BMW scheduled maintenance intervals now have the opposing viewpoint to consider when making their own decisions.