Approach to oil changes - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

M5Ranger · 19th July 2007, 16:13

Do the board members subscribe to BMW's recommendation of oil changes every 10,000 miles ? I certainly do not and I am not impressed that it's the synthetic oil. A vehicle as this and the stress I push this beautiful engine to, certainly I have chanded the oil every 4000 miles. I buy the Castrol 10 W 60 from Turner Motorsports. This is too important an issue to me. Active Autowerke recently had two 330's ( 2002 ) in whom the owners followed the BMW recommendation and now the are out of warranty their engines are totally sludged and they need a new engine ( $7000 ). Needless to say there is litigation.

JoeClothing · 19th July 2007, 17:20

I have been going by BMW's recommendation. On a side note, do you have any pics of your car? Sounds like you've got some great upgrades.

boarder1995 · 19th July 2007, 20:44

Not a bad idea about aditional oil changes.

Out car had its 1200mi service done. We're at ~9000 miles, but it says we've got 8000 miles to go before next oil service! Can this be so? During one of the top-offs, do you think BMW service reset the oil change parameter? Not too trusting of the computer right now.

ALTANertive · 19th July 2007, 21:52

A few members do oil changes at mid-intervals (7500mi) including myself. Synthetic is made to last longer, however the oil filter is probably the weak link.

Dukecat · 19th July 2007, 22:01

Here are the results of a poll I posted a couple of months ago.

It looks to be about 50/50 between people who take their car in for interim oil changes and those that wait until the computer says it's time.

Interim oil changes

Carbon Black · 19th July 2007, 22:28

It depends if you own or lease - if you lease then no - if you own then do it every 5K-7K miles

Barry Lausch · 19th July 2007, 23:43

Two factors with oil, lubricity and detergent qualities. With synthetic based lubricants breakdown of base carbon chains takes longer because of the chem engineered structure. As someone mentioned the weak link is the filter. I would hope that the surface area of the filter media has been increased proportionately to the service life of the oil. Ya gotta trust somebody......................by the way I made this all up.

AbruzziBoy · 20th July 2007, 03:49

Every 6K or 6 mo. for my M5

LI-M5 · 20th July 2007, 19:23

my beast is leased , so i do it when it tells me too..as a matter of fact i just had it done yesterday while i waited..since its leased i could'nt care if the engine gets sludged later on in life simply cause i will not have the car after 3yrs although i may opt for the 4th year on this one though !!

one question ii had yesterday at the dealer was if my beast drinks a quart of oil every 4-6 weeks then why do i need to change the oil anyway ?? i mean its getting burned and refreshed every mo or so anyway ..

Barry Lausch · 20th July 2007, 19:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by LI-M5

my beast is leased , so i do it when it tells me too..as a matter of fact i just had it done yesterday while i waited..since its leased i could'nt care if the engine gets sludged later on in life simply cause i will not have the car after 3yrs although i may opt for the 4th year on this one though !!

one question ii had yesterday at the dealer was if my beast drinks a quart of oil every 4-6 weeks then why do i need to change the oil anyway ?? i mean its getting burned and refreshed every mo or so anyway ..

One more reason not to buy one of these cars used...........and the answer to the oil consumption question is; it's not what gets burned it's the quality of what's left behind.........but your point is well taken.

LI-M5 · 20th July 2007, 19:38

very goood barry i guess my point was clear !! personally i'd buy one used as long as it was well under warr'...then and only then would i consider...but after i turn it in after lease you'd never want this beast...i keep it looking great im very meticulous in all honesty as anyone who knows mewill tell you i drive the $hite outta this car !!

jmayzurk · 1st August 2007, 23:43

I generally do more frequent oil changes than recommended by the manufacturer (BMW and Porsche both specify intervals that are too long for my comfort), but I like to use oil analysis during my first few changes to get a sense of how well the oil is holding up during my typical use cycle. If the oil analysis shows low contamination and lots of remaining additives, I extend the interval a bit for the next change.

My E46 M3, also with TWS 10W60 fill, the sweet spot was around 7500 miles, which just happened to be one change between every dealer change.

Here is a grab from my first oil analysis on the E60 M5, at 6300 miles (5300 miles on the oil).

keang24 · 1st August 2007, 23:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmayzurk

I generally do more frequent oil changes than recommended by the manufacturer (BMW and Porsche both specify intervals that are too long for my comfort), but I like to use oil analysis during my first few changes to get a sense of how well the oil is holding up during my typical use cycle. If the oil analysis shows low contamination and lots of remaining additives, I extend the interval a bit for the next change.

My E46 M3, also with TWS 10W60 fill, the sweet spot was around 7500 miles, which just happened to be one change between every dealer change.

Here is a grab from my first oil analysis on the E60 M5, at 6300 miles (5300 miles on the oil).

Attachment 45662

Good info. Where do u get those oil analyze? Dealer

?