My service indicator typically takes around 10-11K miles to count down.m5tackulous said:Does anybody have the definitive on mileage between oil changes? I'm getting some mixed info and hope some of you here can help clear things up for me. thanks:confused3
BMW doesn't actually recommend 15,000 miles between oil changes. They actually recommend to adhere to the Service Indicator for reasons stated on Page 2 of the Service and Warranty Information Booklet, which is not only based on accumulated mileage, but also engine coolant temperatures, high or low engine speeds, short or long trip driving, and the number of vehicle starts. It doesn't always equate to 15,000 miles between oil changes.MAH said:This has been discussed to death but BMW recommends 15k miles. I am not sure about the once a year rule, but it does sound reasonable.
Mark
Hmmm...Mark, this is the situation as I understand it after thousands of oil changes I performed over my career. There are three major items to think about when it comes to oil changes, dirt, moisture, and the filter itself. I think after one year in an aluminium engine there would be a fair amount of condensation from normal thermal cycles. Water and engine internals do not mix. My 00 manual say at least every 2 years. Course my car is out of warranty and it's on my nickel, so I would play it save and do it at least once a year.MAH said:This has been discussed to death but BMW recommends 15k miles. I am not sure about the once a year rule, but it does sound reasonable. BMW does not measure the breakdown of the oil but rather the number of gallons of fuel consumed to determine when it is time for a change.
The oil is absolutely better today it doesn't break down as quickly but it still drags around the dirt and moisture that the filter doesn't get. And by the way the oil filter I got from BMW looks the same as all the non synthetic cars. Seems to me they would make a heavier filter to handle the longer mileage.I would never go 15k miles between oil changes but I also would not waste the money changing it out every 3k miles either. This is a throw back from a while back when there was no synthetic oil. Tolerences are tighter and oil is much better which is why you can reasonable go 7500 miles on a change.
I'm not sure that's a fair comparision. A $250 detail will buff the shine back up on the car, you lose a motor (worse case scenario) it's 25k plus labor.You could also wax your car every week, but this would not be reasonable either. It surely does not hurt to change the oil every 3k miles, but don't kid yourself into thinking that it will provide any additional protection either.