[bfung]

7kKM rite now, CA recommends early oil change only if intending to keep the car after my 3yr lease...but i've also heard it's better to do so if i'm to do more spirited driving (e.g. on mountain roads)...

any professional opinion on this?...like does it only affect the smoothless? or would it actually harm the engine?

[OC Guy]

How about a non-professional opinion? The harder you drive, the more frequently you should change your oil.

[SROC3]

Another non-pro opinion:

- 1st change at 1000
- 2nd change at 5000
- 3rd change at scheduled maintenance

[OC Guy]

My schedule was
1st - Change @ 1,700
2nd will be 7,500
3rd will be scheduled
and I will pay every other 7,500 miles.

[MBMWTECH]

I do oil changes every 3-4000 miles. The oil is very dark even after 3-4000 miles. If you dont want to do it that often you could be safe waiting till 6000-7000. I dont suggest waiting till 15000 miles for oil change...the filter(depending on how hard you are on the car) can actually start to fall apart
if you wait that long.

[1clean335i]

Originally Posted by OC 335i

My schedule was
1st - Change @ 1,700
2nd will be 7,500
3rd will be scheduled
and I will pay every other 7,500 miles.

Thats pretty much exactly how I did mine

[Mikes12985]

damn, I drive hard and im on my first oil still at 9300 miles. I think im getting it done thursday. Mike.

[wj4]

Originally Posted by SROC3

Another non-pro opinion:

- 1st change at 1000
- 2nd change at 5000
- 3rd change at scheduled maintenance

Mine is similar to this. I always change the oil of a turbo'd car at around 1k mile, which is the break in point. You'd be surprised at how dirty it is...pitch black!


My first oil change was at 1,200. 2nd was at 6,500. Now I'm waiting to hit 15k for the 3rd one.

[Crazy Bimmer]

Originally Posted by OC 335i

My schedule was
1st - Change @ 1,700
2nd will be 7,500
3rd will be scheduled
and I will pay every other 7,500 miles.

Mine will be almost the same, but I waited till 2k miles for the 1st change.

[bfung]

hmm...sounds like i've already skipped the 1st one and approaching the 2nd from what you guys do...dealer said they may let me do it for free if i wait till 10k KM...but that's another 3000 KM...hmm

i usually keep the engine speed b/w 2.5 - 4k most of the time...and maybe hit 5k several times a week...so not xtremely spirited...but i'm worried if those condensed stuff would flow back and block any stuff and cause harm...

mine actually went 1 quart low at 5k KM...CA topped it up 4 me, and said it's kind of a waste to change oil after topping up

[vase330]

I changed my first one at 2700 miles only because I put 2500 miles during ED in Europe and could not find a dealer to with a free open slot to do the change in Germany. They were booked 2-3 weeks in advance. Just as bad as in the US. BMW really needs more service shops. I will be doing it every 5000 miles from here on out. I will DIY if necessary, I bought the car and plan on keeping it 5yrs atleast. But 3000 Km they are asking you to wait for a free change is not too much. Just wait for it.

[6Zylinder]

Maybe this write up helps if your not sure when to change the oil.

DRAIN INTERVALS

Red Line stands alone in the ability to provide extended drain intervals and lower friction and wear. Red Line Synthetic oils have been shown to last 25,000 miles in field tests; however we recommend shorter drain intervals in order to provide a
margin of safety with the oil. We recommend draining the oil between 12,000 and 18,000 miles depending on the type of service and the degree of blow-by gases contaminating the oil. High-speed freeway driving is easy on the oil due to its excellent thermal stability. If the engine is worn and if considerable stop-and-go driving is involved, 10,000-12,000 mile drains are suggested. A good rule of thumb to follow is to change the oil at least once a year regardless the mileage. Manufacturers warranty requirements should be followed while under warranty. Filters can be changed every 7,500 to 10,000 miles in order to assure filter durability is not a problem.

[ilovejordanz]

damn i drive hard aswell, i wanted to get an oil change but BMW didnt want to give it for free since i wanted to do it at 1500 and told me theres no need untill the shedule time unless I wanted to pay 200$ :/

[OhhaiAlex]

Originally Posted by OC 335i

How about a non-professional opinion? The harder you drive, the more frequently you should change your oil.

+1

I change every 7K miles. BMW changes every 15K

[bfung]

Originally Posted by vase330

I changed my first one at 2700 miles only because I put 2500 miles during ED in Europe and could not find a dealer to with a free open slot to do the change in Germany. They were booked 2-3 weeks in advance. Just as bad as in the US. BMW really needs more service shops. I will be doing it every 5000 miles from here on out. I will DIY if necessary, I bought the car and plan on keeping it 5yrs atleast. But 3000 Km they are asking you to wait for a free change is not too much. Just wait for it.

so u mean u actually planned on doin the 1st one at 2500 miles? i was gonna do mine rite after break-in...just that i may only keep the car for 3 yrs...and CA said no need...

ya makes more sense to wait 4 anther 3000km....but i'm thinking of joining these frens who do mountain cruising during wkends...and i just wanna make sure it wun harm the engine if i do that b4 the oil change

[bfung]

Originally Posted by 6Zylinder

Maybe this write up helps if your not sure when to change the oil.

DRAIN INTERVALS

Red Line stands alone in the ability to provide extended drain intervals and lower friction and wear. Red Line Synthetic oils have been shown to last 25,000 miles in field tests; however we recommend shorter drain intervals in order to provide a
margin of safety with the oil. We recommend draining the oil between 12,000 and 18,000 miles depending on the type of service and the degree of blow-by gases contaminating the oil. High-speed freeway driving is easy on the oil due to its excellent thermal stability. If the engine is worn and if considerable stop-and-go driving is involved, 10,000-12,000 mile drains are suggested. A good rule of thumb to follow is to change the oil at least once a year regardless the mileage. Manufacturers warranty requirements should be followed while under warranty. Filters can be changed every 7,500 to 10,000 miles in order to assure filter durability is not a problem.

hmm...wat abt the 1st change?....should be sooner?

[6Zylinder]

IMO, since the engines come from the factory with synthetic, it seems that they are already run in at the factory or they are manufactured with very little tolerances so that they can use a synthetic. Not sure, I'm guessing.
But they don't use breakin oil for sure. When I got my car it showed my next oil change is at 18000 miles with my driving style.
I changed it anyway at 10000 because I love the Red Line oil. I'm a bit of an oil nut, I have always used synthetic oil since the 80's.
If you drive low milage change it once a year. Otherwise follow the cars oil service indicator.
And if you change your oil every 3-5k miles, it's a waste of oil and money.
People should forget the oil change intervals at 3 or 5k! That was with MINERAL OIL! Now we have SYNTHETIC OIL which enables the manufacturers to push the service intervals so high. Good for us customers.

[michaeljr6]

Originally Posted by 6Zylinder

IMO, since the engines come from the factory with synthetic, it seems that they are already run in at the factory or they are manufactured with very little tolerances so that they can use a synthetic. Not sure, I'm guessing.
But they don't use breakin oil for sure. When I got my car it showed my next oil change is at 18000 miles with my driving style.
I changed it anyway at 10000 because I love the Red Line oil. I'm a bit of an oil nut, I have always used synthetic oil since the 80's.
If you drive low milage change it once a year. Otherwise follow the cars oil service indicator.
And if you change your oil every 3-5k miles, it's a waste of oil and money.
People should forget the oil change intervals at 3 or 5k! That was with MINERAL OIL! Now we have SYNTHETIC OIL which enables the manufacturers to push the service intervals so high. Good for us customers.

do anyone else agree with this?

[742]

Originally Posted by 6Zylinder

Maybe this write up helps if your not sure when to change the oil.

DRAIN INTERVALS

Red Line stands alone in the ability to provide extended drain intervals and lower friction and wear. Red Line Synthetic oils have been shown to last 25,000 miles in field tests; however we recommend shorter drain intervals in order to provide a
margin of safety with the oil. We recommend draining the oil between 12,000 and 18,000 miles depending on the type of service and the degree of blow-by gases contaminating the oil. High-speed freeway driving is easy on the oil due to its excellent thermal stability. If the engine is worn and if considerable stop-and-go driving is involved, 10,000-12,000 mile drains are suggested. A good rule of thumb to follow is to change the oil at least once a year regardless the mileage. Manufacturers warranty requirements should be followed while under warranty. Filters can be changed every 7,500 to 10,000 miles in order to assure filter durability is not a problem.

Emphasis added.

Adding a quart of oil well into the OCI, which changing the filter will require, greatly improves the oil’s chemistry -- much more so than the ratio of new oil to old oil would suggest. So given otherwise identical engines on long OCIs, the one that gets a quart added from time to time will have much better results than the one that simply goes oil change to oil change.

This is why companies doing oil analysis want to know the amount of top off oil added during the run.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by bfung

7kKM rite now, CA recommends early oil change only if intending to keep the car after my 3yr lease...but i've also heard it's better to do so if i'm to do more spirited driving (e.g. on mountain roads)...

any professional opinion on this?...like does it only affect the smoothless? or would it actually harm the engine?

It's up to you... I will leave you with this however. BMW began the extended drain intervals with the E46. Now the E46 came out in 1999, and there has NEVER been any reports of WIDESPREAD sludge buildup in those engines. If you don't already now this, the majority of new BMW's are sold as leases, and consequently have followed BMW's recommended oil change intervals.

Mike Miller of Roundel said it best. (Paraphrasing here) "If you plan to keep the car over 100-150k miles, you will reap the benefit of more frequent fluid changes (oil, tranny, diff fluids), but keep in mind that more than likely the rest of the car will begin to fall apart before you develop problems with the engine/tranny."

My $.02


PS: If you search the internet you will find pictures of an I6 off an E39 showing sludge buildup. What you DON'T know about that engine is whether or not the owner followed BMW change intervals, did the changes himself using non-synthetic oil, or constantly drove extremely short distances.

[SE3P_to_E90]

if you change the oil yourself, does the SERVICE INDICATOR (OBC) reset itself to another 19,000 miles or so until your next oil change?

i got a oil change a while ago, and it was at around 11,000miles... but then it said my next oil change is in about 19,000 miles.... so if i go change the oil now, would it go back to "next oil change 19,000 miles" or will it stay the 10,000miles until oil change mark?

also, how much does a synthetic oil change usually cost? ~$60?

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by SE3P_to_E90

also, how much does a synthetic oil change usually cost? ~$60?

Oil/Filter ~$50 + Labor (Dealership) = ~$100 on avg.