Against BMW's recommendation, I changed my oil.
#21
Originally Posted by speedracerF4i' date='Sep 14 2005, 10:25 AM
[quote name='Robert A' date='Sep 14 2005, 08:14 AM']If you'd waited one more month, the dealer would have done it for free under the full maintenance program.? Oil has to be replaced annually regardless of mileage.
No, the dealer told me that what i-drive says, goes. So, another 6,000 miles to go, or in my case, another 7 months. Maybe my dealer was pulling my legs, but I did like the idea of 18 month oil change interval.
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[/quote]Your dealer is incorrect. Check your service/maintenence manual. My 2003 330i information clearly states that oil changes are required at one year regardless of mileage and therefore it should be covered under the included maintenence. I've had two of these "low mileage" oil changes so far at no charge.
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Originally Posted by ceejay' date='Sep 14 2005, 03:11 AM
Are you saying its based on your feeling that it should be changed and not any technical reason?
But the manual says change when the service light says so, so why ignore that and not the specification for the oil?
I can't see the logic of going against squillions of euro's spent in BMW reasearch and testing that have developed the car in the first place. Why should the manufacturer not recommend the correct procedures for maintenece?
Its not the colour of the oil - its the chemical composition. If you took your oil out after 500 miles it would look exactly the same as it does after 15000 miles, but would you think this is the right change interval?
I can imagine the poor thing hardly turning over!! Again, just because the bike reccomendation is every 4000 miles doesnt mean it follows for the car. Any sports bike engine will rev more thatn the car - by a factor of 2-3 - so it stands to reason that the moving parts cover 2-3 times more distance in the engine,run hotter, and hence will degrade the oil 2-3 times quicker...... I run my Fireblade now on semi synthetic as the full synthetic was not recommended by Honda. My previous 'blade ran on castrol R4 superbike semi synthetic.
I am just interested in the reasons you choose to ignore manufacturers instructions on the recommended oil/change intervals. For sure the machines of 20-30 years ago may have benefited - but then oil wasn't as good, filters not as effective, and machined parts not to the same tolerence...........
If its based on technical reasons - I gotta know cos I'm doing it wrong!
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Originally Posted by AEC' date='Sep 14 2005, 09:33 AM
Your dealer is incorrect.? Check your service/maintenence manual.? My 2003 330i information clearly states that oil changes are required at one year regardless of mileage and therefore it should be covered under the included maintenence.? I've had two of these "low mileage" oil changes so far at no charge.
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Damn it
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Originally Posted by speedracerF4i' date='Sep 14 2005, 11:27 AM
[quote name='AEC' date='Sep 14 2005, 09:33 AM']
Your dealer is incorrect.? Check your service/maintenence manual.? My 2003 330i information clearly states that oil changes are required at one year regardless of mileage and therefore it should be covered under the included maintenence.? I've had two of these "low mileage" oil changes so far at no charge.
Your dealer is incorrect.? Check your service/maintenence manual.? My 2003 330i information clearly states that oil changes are required at one year regardless of mileage and therefore it should be covered under the included maintenence.? I've had two of these "low mileage" oil changes so far at no charge.
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Damn it
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[/quote]If you hit the mileage like 15000 in less than a yer CHANGE IT! If you don't hit the mileage in one year, and the year is done even though the car is less run, also change it! So the question is this , as i said a milion times before:
What benefit do i get for changing the oil sooner than bmw tells me?
The dealer told me: none.
Of course it won't harm your engine. At least i think it won't harm (read a post earlier when it was stated that changing the oil way sooner harms your engine because the synthetic oil comes to 100% protection after a few thousand miles, it's like a brake-in for the oil smth like that. It said that changing the oil after brake-in is not uncessary it's even more wear to the engine because you'll put a new oil that will start to protect optimum after a few thousand miles). Anyway i don't know if that is true or not.
SO IN THE END: IMO it won't harm your engine but it won't do you much good either. Those oils are made to last and the car maker is the best expert to tell us what to do with the cars that they build. That's why they brake-in the engine before the cars leave the assebley line and that's why they suggest the oil changes times because they use the proper oil. Anyway just my opinion.
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Originally Posted by Evenflow545' date='Sep 14 2005, 08:54 AM
Is this some sort of conspiracy therory?
Let's say, hypothetically, that BMW tells you to get the oil changed every 15k miles because they want to save cash on their free maintenance plan.? ? Then, let's suppose the oil should actually be changed every 3k miles, causing the engines in thousands of e60's to critically malfunction between 50k and 100k miles, therefore critically impairing their resale value and making BMW customers extremely mad and making potential BMW customers not want to buy cars.?? BMW customers then start to buy Mercedes and Audi.? ? That wouldn't be overly smart.? ? Why would you intentionally set maintenance standards that would impair the value and reliability of your cars??
Maybe, instead, motor oil manufacturers have been misleading us for all these years, because they want us to frantically run to the store every other Sunday, in our greasy t-shirts and cut-off jeans, and buy 5 quarts of oil?
Just a thought.
Let's say, hypothetically, that BMW tells you to get the oil changed every 15k miles because they want to save cash on their free maintenance plan.? ? Then, let's suppose the oil should actually be changed every 3k miles, causing the engines in thousands of e60's to critically malfunction between 50k and 100k miles, therefore critically impairing their resale value and making BMW customers extremely mad and making potential BMW customers not want to buy cars.?? BMW customers then start to buy Mercedes and Audi.? ? That wouldn't be overly smart.? ? Why would you intentionally set maintenance standards that would impair the value and reliability of your cars??
Maybe, instead, motor oil manufacturers have been misleading us for all these years, because they want us to frantically run to the store every other Sunday, in our greasy t-shirts and cut-off jeans, and buy 5 quarts of oil?
Just a thought.
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Agreed Evenflow. Modern technology helps and, besides, engines hold more oil nowadays.
It might be a conspiracy by the Jiffy-Lubes, the Autozones, and the Wallmarts. Stores for the NASCAR fans
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I go with the in between changes too. when I hit 7000 to 8000 miles I pay for one and when the car tells me to I let the dealer do it.
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Originally Posted by BetterMakeWay' date='Sep 15 2005, 01:04 AM
And btw only americans get the free meintenance? programme...correct me if i'm wrong! so under that perepective USA is only a bit of the entire bmw market. So the rule does no longer appply (to save money from the free meintenance).
SOOOO can anyone give a SOLID reason why bmw would misslead all it's customers? I think not...
SOOOO can anyone give a SOLID reason why bmw would misslead all it's customers? I think not...
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I'm interested in finding out if there is a definitive answer out there to this topic and especially the views of those drivers who live in a similar climate to myself here in Queensland, Australia where the weather is hot & humid but almost never cold to the point of 0 degrees celcius.
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Originally Posted by JC3' date='Sep 14 2005, 07:29 PM
[quote name='BetterMakeWay' date='Sep 15 2005, 01:04 AM']And btw only americans get the free meintenance? programme...correct me if i'm wrong! so under that perepective USA is only a bit of the entire bmw market. So the rule does no longer appply (to save money from the free meintenance).
SOOOO can anyone give a SOLID reason why bmw would misslead all it's customers? I think not...
SOOOO can anyone give a SOLID reason why bmw would misslead all it's customers? I think not...
[snapback]170409[/snapback]
I'm interested in finding out if there is a definitive answer out there to this topic and especially the views of those drivers who live in a similar climate to myself here in Queensland, Australia where the weather is hot & humid but almost never cold to the point of 0 degrees celcius.
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[/quote]I don't think you'll find a definitive answer to this question, which has been debated for years on every car forum I've visited. At the end of the day, do what you're comfortable with. For every car that doesn't have its oil/filter changed for 15,000 miles or more and runs for 200,000 miles, there will be another that has oil/filter changes every 7,500 miles and has significant engine problems. Do what you feel comfortable with.
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The 15,000 computer rule is like the bare minimum. If you want better you change it earlier. Its like any other thing... MINIMUM requirement vs in between vs TOO MUCH
I just think 7-8K is about right. Not too much not too little.
I just think 7-8K is about right. Not too much not too little.
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OK so there are no technical reasons given as to why the manufacturers reccomendations should be ignored.
My theory is that it is an urban myth based on what it was like 30 years ago when engineering practice and materials of manufacture for engines where not as good - and oil not as advanced. Oh, and of course the good old oil companies.......
Who benefits from the more frequent oil changes?
The reason this subject keeps going round is that really, the guys who can tell on what happens to oil as it degrades are of course the oil companies. so they are going to tell us that there products are good for a life cycle of 30 000 miles? Yeah, Right!
So we should believe the next best - thats the manufacturers of the cars (and bikes) who have linked their R&D with the oil companies at huge expense to market the right product, with suitable perfomance, acceptable failure rates, and acceptable lifecycles.
More frequent oil changes are simply wasteful of a finite resource.
My theory is that it is an urban myth based on what it was like 30 years ago when engineering practice and materials of manufacture for engines where not as good - and oil not as advanced. Oh, and of course the good old oil companies.......
Who benefits from the more frequent oil changes?
The reason this subject keeps going round is that really, the guys who can tell on what happens to oil as it degrades are of course the oil companies. so they are going to tell us that there products are good for a life cycle of 30 000 miles? Yeah, Right!
So we should believe the next best - thats the manufacturers of the cars (and bikes) who have linked their R&D with the oil companies at huge expense to market the right product, with suitable perfomance, acceptable failure rates, and acceptable lifecycles.
More frequent oil changes are simply wasteful of a finite resource.