I just had my oil change done at Autobahn East @ Lexington, MA for $70. When my car was done, I asked the tech how the previous oil was and he said it was about as dirty as it could be. I just had my car in for 30K mile service at the dealership 2 weeks ago and they told me that it didn't need it (yet).

 

2 weeks? Didn't you get your oil change @ 30k service?

 

Just change your oil every day.

 

Because I drive BMW harder than my Toyota Solara, I found it's a peace of mind to change oil every 7500 miles. It's a personal preference
Think about this, just change oil at 7500 mile interval for the first time and tell yourself how you feel - good or bad. If you feel good, do it every 7500 miles. If you feel bad, it sounds like $70 is quite significant to you

 

I believe 15k miles is just an anticipated life time for the oil. Based on you driving style you will end up somewhere between 10k and 18k. I have a pretty heavy right foot and for me it is around 12k. That how it worked for my 2005 545 and the current 550 seems to be on the same schedule. I do an additional oil service mid-term around 6k miles. Just to treat the car well. I am not concerned with longevity. I am on a 2 year lease.

 

It is overkill. The new synthetic oils will last much longer. One thing you cannot argue with is that your engine will last longer.
I changed my oil on my e39 petrol, well over the recommended limit. I reckon on average i changed the oil every 25,000 miles and used normal oil not synthetic. And my engine still runs with 267,000 miles on it!

I would reckon with oil changes using synthetic oils you would easily get 300,000-400,000 miles.

Guys do you have any idea what your car would look like after 300,000 miles. A perfect engine in a bag of bones. Your paint will look crap, the electronics, suspension door seals, hinges, suspension you name it. Will all be knackered long before your engine says goodbye.

Another thing, i do 1,000 miles every week at 52,000 miles a year if i plan to get 300,000 out this car thats 6 years. How many guys just do say 12,000 per year which is supposed to be the uk average. At 300,000 miles on the clock you would have owned the car for 25 years!!!

If you change your oil at the service intervals as per the book you are not going to get any problems with your engine.

 

They said it wasn't required yet... 4K miles more they said.

 

I'm the first to say that it overkill to change your oil too often and the oil change shops trying to convince everyone to do it at 3,000 miles (with conventional oil) are just hurting the environment and making themselves rich.

Having said that, I change the oil in BMW's at about 7,500 and then let the dealer do it when the service indictor says so. The oil may last that long under most conditions, but I don't think the filters are that good and I don't drive under perfect conditions. It's also interesting that BMW basically doubled their service recommendations when they started covering routine maintenance....

If the car doesn't feel better with new oil at 7,500 miles, at least I feel better about the car and not guilty when driving it hard!

 

However, my wife's leased Cadillacs -- they go a looong time between oil changes!

 

Really? Synthetic oil every 7,500 miles?

Hmmmm...

ABC