[jyeh74]

I'm on my last year for the 4 year factory BMW warranty. The dealer said oil changes are not based on mileage but to bring in the car once a year. All my friends tell me they change their BMW oil once every 7500 miles but the dealer says to come once a year?

It's been about 13,000 miles since my last oil change but the light hasn't come on.

My service advisor told me to go into the Idrive to look. I never pay attention to the Idrive vehicle settings. I look and it says engine oil- next service due after driving the specified distance. 08/2017 in 1100 MLS. That can't be right. In 1000 miles, my car will have 40k miles. Last time I got oil change was 25k miles. So Idrive is recommending oil changes at 15k mile intervals. But following the Idrive recommendations, Aug 2017 is next year. Not 1000 miles later. What the heck?

 

[edycol]

You dealer is wrong!
Dump that oil like RIGHT NOW!
BMW had 15K OCI but scaled back to 10K since there were issues with oxidation of the oil.
Change it 5-7.5K.
I got out of factory warranty like two months ago. Did oil change on my own at 5K interval, and then after another 5K I would take car to BMW and then they would do OCI that falls on 10K since car was last time for oil change in BMW. No one told me I should base it on time. Why? Because I know schedule and I know what they need to do so when I brought keys I did not give them any other option but to change that oil.

 

[jyeh74]

I never heard once a year either. Crevier BMW is the dealer. I think they are just trying to minimize the times they change the oil because they think people drive on average 12-15k miles annually

 

[DjD-X5]

I'm on my last year for the 4 year factory BMW warranty. The dealer said oil changes are not based on mileage but to bring in the car once a year. All my friends tell me they change their BMW oil once every 7500 miles but the dealer says to come once a year?

It's been about 13,000 miles since my last oil change but the light hasn't come on.

My service advisor told me to go into the Idrive to look. I never pay attention to the Idrive vehicle settings. I look and it says engine oil- next service due after driving the specified distance. 08/2017 in 1100 MLS. That can't be right. In 1000 miles, my car will have 40k miles. Last time I got oil change was 25k miles. So Idrive is recommending oil changes at 15k mile intervals. But following the Idrive recommendations, Aug 2017 is next year. Not 1000 miles later. What the heck?

There are slight differences from year to year. For my 2013 the iDrive is set for 15000 miles and will/should adjust according to driving conditions. There is no dealership adjusted to once a year on my 35i Premium in writing. Local dealers don't know of any such thing for my vehicle. The 4 year maintenance allows for 15000 mile oil changes as well...

I'm not voicing my own opinion, just what I know about factory recommendations for my own vehicle based on both the paper provided and talking with the dealership folks...

 

[jyeh74]

Mine is also a 2013 model. Maybe the standard BMW service calls for 15k mile oil changes. I just looked up the new 10k mile and that supposedly applied to 2014+ models. Not sure why.

I would imagine BMW would follow the same mileage rules for oil changes for most BMWs.

 

[boostedX5SAV]

My 2012 is every 15k miles or 1 year, whichever comes first. Sometimes I don't drive 15k miles a year so I'll still get the oil change from the dealer if I'm at the one year anniversary. Same goes for brake fluid, every 2 years or whatever the mileage is (I don't remember). I have changed my oil every 7.5k, but will do around 5k since I do heavy city and stop and go driving.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[DjD-X5]

I just looked up the new 10k mile and that supposedly applied to 2014+ models. Not sure why.

I would imagine BMW would follow the same mileage rules for oil changes for most BMWs.

As I said, things change from year to year... Up till now they gave a 4 yr maintenance program. With the new model it is changing to 3 years and no brake or wiper coverage I believe...

As I understand it one of the engine options was burning oil or had some other issue and the fix was a yearly or 10k oil change... I'm not 100% on that as a fact but it's something like that. I'm sure someone with better info will pipe up it that is wrong. Bottom line, there is no blanket coverage that covers every BMW unless you break it down by year make, model and drivetrain and most likely production date as well...

 

[edycol]

Mine is also a 2013 model. Maybe the standard BMW service calls for 15k mile oil changes. I just looked up the new 10k mile and that supposedly applied to 2014+ models. Not sure why.

I would imagine BMW would follow the same mileage rules for oil changes for most BMWs.

Nope, yours is diesel, it is 10K. 35i 2013 stayed at 15K (which in my opinion is crime against BMW owners considering sulfur levels in the U.S. gasoline).

 

[edycol]

My 2012 is every 15k miles or 1 year, whichever comes first. Sometimes I don't drive 15k miles a year so I'll still get the oil change from the dealer if I'm at the one year anniversary. Same goes for brake fluid, every 2 years or whatever the mileage is (I don't remember). I have changed my oil every 7.5k, but will do around 5k since I do heavy city and stop and go driving.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Brake fluid is more based on time the mileage. You could leave car in a garage for 2 years, brake fluid due to the moisture in the air will have boiling point low enough that it is due to change.

 

[DefSport]

The main reason why oil in an engine has a finite amount of usable life is that it will oxidize and slowly turn more acid as it sits there. The key is that it's USED - it's been exposed to combustion byproducts and continually allowed to get exposed to moisture and oxygen.

Once a year - maybe a little conservative if you're putting 1-2k miles a year, but ~10k a year - yea, that sounds about right if you intend to really keep on top of maintenance.

 

[n1das]

The main reason why oil in an engine has a finite amount of usable life is that it will oxidize and slowly turn more acid as it sits there. The key is that it's USED - it's been exposed to combustion byproducts and continually allowed to get exposed to moisture and oxygen.

Once a year - maybe a little conservative if you're putting 1-2k miles a year, but ~10k a year - yea, that sounds about right if you intend to really keep on top of maintenance.

What DefSport said. :thumbup: Once a year sounds about right if you drive around 10k miles/year.

With my logging around 1k miles/week, I've never had to worry about oil changes based on time. 10k miles represents a little over 2 months of driving for me. 100k miles represents a little under 2 years of driving. I split up the miles between my 535d and X5 35d. All oil changes are done by the book (10k miles on the 535d, 11k miles on the X5 35d). With my splitting up the miles on my vehicles it works out to a little over 3 months between oil changes.

Have fun!

 

[n1das]

Not possible for oil to not turn black and engine still remain dirty, so it is a non-issue. When I bought a 2007 F-350 6.0L Powerstroke (w/ 210,000 miles), it had been bought at auction in Houston and DRIVEN to Tampa area to sell on Craig's List. The oil was NOT black after all those miles!

They have greatly improved diesels; our 1998 Jetta TDI would have black oil after very few miles on the oil.

No, NOT electric riding mower!

Diesels have greatly improved since your '98 Jetta TDI. They run so much cleaner now and push so little soot into the oil that it takes longer to turn black but it still will turn black. 100% normal and nothing to worry about. If anything, the oil SHOULD appear black because that means the oil is doing it job of soot control by keeping soot safely suspended in the oil where it does no harm.

Black oil in a diesel isn't "dirty". It's simply doing it's job. If the oil actually is dirty then you have bigger problems to worry about.

Bottom line is simply use the right oil (LL04) and change it on schedule by the book and then drive more and worry less. :thumbup:

Have fun!

 

[Rich_Jenkins]

Posts stripped. Please keep it on topic.

Thanks.

Rich

 

[jyeh74]

I just checked the vehicle settings and something doesn't look right. Next oil change says 8/2017 and 1000 MLS. Shouldn't it say 8/2016 if its 1000 miles left? I can't change the date. It's a factory setting. Thoughts?

 

[ard]

You are not understanding. There are two INDEPENDENT criteria- time and miles.

Actually just like your warranty is 4 ears OR 50k miles

I believe your CBS setting on the car are set for every 15k OR 2 years

9/2017 may in fact be two years. You may hit 1000 more miles before then..... get it?

The two extremes- if you only drove 500 miels a year, you would change the oil in two years, but far short of 15k miles. Likewise if you drove 30k miles a year you would change oil every 6 months...not 2 years.\





HOWEVER 15k is a pretty long change interval to go- why DO you listen to the dealer? Id do every 7500 or 10k. I simply and totally ignore the CPS/idiot lights- I do what I want when I want, I reset them when they get in the way. Just an annoyance.

 

[jyeh74]

You are not understanding. There are two INDEPENDENT criteria- time and miles.

Actually just like your warranty is 4 ears OR 50k miles

I believe your CBS setting on the car are set for every 15k OR 2 years

9/2017 may in fact be two years. You may hit 1000 more miles before then..... get it?

The two extremes- if you only drove 500 miels a year, you would change the oil in two years, but far short of 15k miles. Likewise if you drove 30k miles a year you would change oil every 6 months...not 2 years.\

HOWEVER 15k is a pretty long change interval to go- why DO you listen to the dealer? Id do every 7500 or 10k. I simply and totally ignore the CPS/idiot lights- I do what I want when I want, I reset them when they get in the way. Just an annoyance.

I thought the dealer is the only one who can reset the service lights. I know the TPMS light you can reset yourself.

 

[edycol]

I thought the dealer is the only one who can reset the service lights. I know the TPMS light you can reset yourself.

You can do it too.
35i stick to 5-7.5K. Those are DI engines and due to high level of sulfur in the U.S. gas, TBN in oil will deplete much faster then in engines with indirect injection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38QUj625SoM

 

[jyeh74]

Thanks for clarifying guys.

One more thing. Why does my "Vehicle inspection" in my I Drive says 12/2030? That's far away.

 

[ard]

Thanks for clarifying guys.

One more thing. Why does my "Vehicle inspection" in my I Drive says 12/2030? That's far away.

That is user settable. Someone put in a silly date.

Some states have odd inspection requirements, so this lets you enter those dates into the CBS,

 

[Doug Huffman]

Some states have no inspection requirements -- yet.