[ronmeister]

I have a 2011 335i Xdrive with a factory installed performance kit - I've been driving for about 18months. I was fortunate enough to get it new and thus I have a full factory warranty - and will likely seek an extended warranty upon expiry. To date I've had ZERO problems.

My question is, although the car is supposed to tell me when it needs maintenance...and I diligently intend on following the factory schedule...SHOULD I DO MORE?

It's my daily driver and I do not track it. I've considered doing more regular oil changes than BMW proscribes but haven't done so yet.

Are there other things that I, as a conscientious BMW owner, who bought this car with the hope of driving it into my old age, could or should be doing? Are there issues/signs I can or should be looking for to insure longevity?

Thanks for the insights...

[e90bmw328i]

You will get different opinions from every person you ask (and ofcourse few shops will want to flush the entire car's fluids so that they can steal money from you). Atleast until the warranty expires, you dont need to do anything. Also I dont think the dealers will change oil on your car just because you want to be more careful. They will only do it if your car needs it.

Given that you live in Canada you may want to look out corrosions underneath the car or brake lines and stuffs. But other than that, I wouldnt really worry abt it. BMWs are well built cars and you would expect the company would have done their research/testing before coming up with the recommended service intervals :-)

[chatoyer]

I change my oil every 8000km. At my first oil change after I bought the car, I asked for all kinds of fluid changes (coolant, ATF, diff), just to be safe. The SA said that, while he would love to take my money, I didn't need any of it done.

[mlifxs]

I changed diff fluid, trans fluid, power steering and coolant at roughly 100k, oil and brake fluid per CBS.

[Brian_TII]

Personally I like the factory recommended schedule except for the lifetime fluids. I'd do coolant once every 3 or 4 years. ATF flush every 50 - 70k miles. And diff every 100k or so.

If you're paranoid you could do oil changes every 10k miles instead of the 15k... But frankly I don't think anyone has seen an oil related failure following the factory schedule and correct oil. Anything less than 10k is likely extremely wasteful. Many of the high milage cars on here use the factory schedule without any problems.

[ronmeister]

Thanks guys!

[Efthreeoh]

I've pretty much followed the BMW maintenance schedule to the T. I just passed 234,000 miles.

[e92328i998]

What do you do for the "lifetime" fluids?

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I've pretty much followed the BMW maintenance schedule to the T. I just passed 234,000 miles.

[123Britt]

N52 engines are not DI. Post 50k miles ~ intake valve cleaning, oil filter housing gasket, valve cover gasket, water pump , thermostat, PCV valve will all need replacement. All would be better supported for longevity with Group V oils -- see Redline, Amsoil & Motul with OCI between 5-7k. I learned this from my n54 . Not all BMWs are created equal.

[m_thompson]

Originally Posted by Brian_TII

Personally I like the factory recommended schedule except for the lifetime fluids. I'd do coolant once every 3 or 4 years. ATF flush every 50 - 70k miles. And diff every 100k or so.

We just had the fluid in both differentials, the transfer case, and automatic transmission changed at 50,000 miles. The transmission shifts much more smoothly now, but that may also be do to having the adaptation values reset.

[pruettfan]

I have an 06 330i with 185,000 miles, I do all of my own maintaince and repairs. I follow the factory requirements for most things. I have changed the auto transmission fluid and filter at 100k and plan on doing it again soon. I replaced my water pump and thermostat at 170,000 miles because I knew I was on borrowed time and given the miles I drive and my plan to take to car over 250,000 miles I decided to change it before a failure. For the past couple of oil changes I have gone to 10k intervals because of the age of the engine. There are plenty of recommendations but I don't know how much is factual so you have to go with what you are comfortable with and weigh out the cost of the work and how much time you plan on keeping the car. For instance the transmission fluid and titer costs over 300 bucks as a DIY so if you were only keeping the car to 100k maybe it is not worth doing. Best of luck

[PichaDis11]

BMW dropped their requirement of oil changes earlier on this year. 7.5 km. you could do half that to be a little extra careful since you do plan to keep it. All else is go by the BMW schedule.

[Phil325i]

OP, the key question is how long you intend to keep the car. If you're not intending to own it beyond 100K then any extra maintenance will only benefit subsequent owners. But if you've bought the car as a keeper then yes, I would recommend going beyond the scheduled maintenance jobs.

Google Mike Miller Old School Maintenance for more info.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by e92328i998

What do you do for the "lifetime" fluids?

Per BMW's suggested schedule, they should be changed every 100,000 miles.