At first I heard the general rule was no oil change until 15,000 miles. On the vehicle service status panel, however, I noticed a while ago that it read 11,000. Now it's down to 9,000 miles.

Is that the car re-evaluating the actual quality of the oil? Or just evaluating the rpms/throttle position etc. to estimate what the oil quality must be?

At what mileage have other people's E60s recommended an oil change? It's included in my service, so frankly I want it as soon as possible, so it's fine with me if it's earlier rather than later.

Without making any assignments, this sounds like something Iceman will know exactly.

 

Several factors come into play, including miles and how hard you drive the car (I think the computer uses gas mileage as a measure), so yes the onboard computer continually recalculates the estimated service point.

There have been several discussion on whether to let the car go that long between oil changes, whehter the synthetic oil used can really stand up to that type of mileage. I think in general, the answer is yes, from the research folks have found on the subject.

Me personally, I bought the car as opposed to leased, so I hope to keep it for a long time. I don't go through a new car every 3 years. I had my oil changed at around 4,000 miles, mainly because I had read some things about the presence of tiny metal shavings in the oil after break-in. I firgured for $80 bucks, it was worth the piece of mind to try and protect the engine a bit. As I am now at nearly 8,000 miles and the service indicator says only 3,000 to go, I will likely let it go until then.

Some folks who have leased and will be turning the car back in 3 yrs from now find it hard to justify the extra expense of earlier oil changes.

just my $0.02

 

I have had my e46 since 1999 when I believe they first started going to the 15,000 mile oil change. Many people have said its a bad idea, you need to change the oil every 7,500 to 10,000. This being my 6 year with the car I have only taken it in basically once a year and it runs like a charm. No engine problems, nada. I run it hard and it was one of the first production cars for the e46. People say not to buy a first run car and they say to change my oil more often but from my experience iI ould have to conclude they are wrong.

 

That was me up above.

 

Thanks. Good thinking on the early change. I was going to do that early change, too, but I guess I was just relying on the synthetic oil and the BMW experts to tell me it would be a waste. I've always heard super-regular oil changes seem to be correlated with long engine life, but it's hard to prove.

So I guess I'm pushing my car harder than usual, eh? Oh, well.

 

That has been my experience, too. My 540-6 is eight years old and has 100,000 miles. My son now has it in Denver. The engine is perfect. I never changed oil less than the lights suggested and that was at least 15,000 miles or once a year in later years. The engine appears perfect and uses no oil.

 

What you are seeing in the change from 11 to 9,000 are the miles remaining before service. It should continue to count down. Mine now has 8558 miles and calls for service in 7000. I will either wait until then or have it changed on the birthday.

 

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Hi tab545:

On your question pertaining about our entitled FREE BMW maintenance oil changes at every 15,000 miles by BMW. :'(

I have my own reasons to not wait that long, and I personally change my every in between that high mark of 15,000, and reduce it to 7,500 miles, that I pay for that one myself $69.00 . My belief we have too fine of toys to risk these 15,000 mile oil changes.

Lets pretend that their oil is that good and does last 15,000 miles + without breaking down, but how about our BMW paper oil filters? Do you think they would last 15,000 miles, I do not think so, and that is why I choose to change my engine oil in between that 15,000 mile figure mark set by the oil companies, and make sure to have my E60 oil and filter changed 7,500 miles or better.

Sincerely,

Presley348

 

me too, I have an '00 E46 which I own outright and I have only changed the oil as recommended by the computer. I have some friends at my dealer and they tell me its not necessary to change any more than once a year under normal use...

 

================================================== ===

Hi tab545:

On your question pertaining about our entitled FREE BMW maintenance oil changes at every 15,000 miles by BMW. :'(

I have my own reasons to not wait that long, and I personally change my every in between that high mark of 15,000, and reduce it to 7,500 miles, that I pay for that one myself $69.00 . My belief we have too fine of toys to risk these 15,000 mile oil changes.

Lets pretend that their oil is that good and does last 15,000 miles + without breaking down, but how about our BMW paper oil filters? Do you think they would last 15,000 miles, I do not think so, and that is why I choose to change my engine oil in between that 15,000 mile figure mark set by the oil companies, and make sure to have my E60 oil and filter changed 7,500 miles or better.

Sincerely,

Presley348
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I used to have a Lexus and with Mobile1 I changed the filter at 7,500 miles and change oil and filter at 15,000. Kept it for eight years and never had any engine issues.

I now have a '04 325I and on my Dealer's web site they recommend a change of oil every 7,500 miles. I plan to go along with this recommendation.