Sasha

I know this topic was covered a lot, wether the oil needs to be changed more often than BMW recommended 15k miles. I just wanted to share my personal experience.

Although, the oil change indicator showed 15k to oil change at 52k when I bought this 545i, at about 59k, it showed oil change due. I drive mostly on the highway with a speed of 55-65mph, sometimes faster, sometimes slower when in a jam or in a city, and put a lot of miles, about 13.5k since July. So I reseted the oil change indicator at 59k and now at 65.5k, while it shows 4400 miles to change, I started getting a weird sound from the engine during the startup and warmup. Nothing major, but not a sound of a healthy engine. I changed the oil right away and now everything is fine. Well, at least it was this morning. From now on, I pledge to change the oil every 5k not to hear this noise again.

ExGMan

Odd noises from under the hood are always scary. I can't imagine what it would cost to actually replace any E60 engine. There are opinions regarding oil-change intervals which range all over the place. I have followed the BMWCCA Tech Guru Mike Miller's recommendations mostly, but with the gentle life my E60 leads, have decided that a 7500-mile interval is appropriate.

I wouldn't think that your ~80 miles per day would put that much stress on the oil, especially if it's not subject to stop and go, short distances, cold weather, etc. Maybe there's something else going on which caused the scary sounds?

rearwheeldrive

Hi
The interval for the oil changes that you see on the screen can vary from month to month all depending on how your car is driven, the outside tempreture, long drives, short drives etc. Just like the break pad indicator changes depending on your driving, hard breakings etc. Your E60 really does monitor your oil - not just the level.

Changing oil often naturally shouldn't do your engine any damage, but on the other hand I doubt that the engineers at BMW would let us all drive our cars for these many miles wellknowing that its unhealthy for the engine. This is just my personal view.

Hawkwing

Absolutely, you can trust the sensors - my e60 a 530d has 62,000 miles so far in 22 months - only two oil changes so far! Third is now indicated as required in another 1,100 miles - avg between oil changes is 21k - most of my driving is long distance though.

steve_gus

my 520d had an oil change at 21k and is asking for its 2nd at 43k. I do 100 miles a day of free flowing driving

luigi524td

Hawkwing, when I was doing the road warrior routine I depended more on the months driven than on the miles and would do an oil service 2x a year. In my e32 and e38 that usually worked out to every 10K- 12K miles. Over the road miles are less damaging to the fluids in your engine than were your 530d be used in short-run in-city stop and go situations. And I never needed to add oil between changes.

I would love to buy another BMW diesel and will be the first in line to shop when my dealer in the USA gets a delivery of the new models. Best information we now have is the first offerings will be in the X and 3 series. No need for an SUV and the 3 is too small for my driving style. Guess we'll have to wait for the 5'er to show up before I become a buyer.

BTW, are there any old e28 524td's still on the road where you are? (want to guess how long I've had my username ?)

Hawkwing

Yup, driving cycles are the key here, just cruising to the local store every day will kill the car let alone the oil! (I have to be careful with my MB S500 in this respect.)

One wonders as to the reason behind the X series first - shame you have to wait for the 5'er diesels - that said everytime I cross the pond to the US (approx. 10 times a year) I 'borrow' a 550, just for fun mind.............

Yes, I've seen a 524td quite recently in fact, sadly in very poor condition - I wouldn't dare guess................

Sasha

Yes, it also could be the cold weather we had in NY during the past few weeks. I got another ratling noise comming out of the part holding the belt pulley, located on the top, right of the front of the engine. It is like a $300+ part and I was told by my mechanic, "when it brakes, you will get a check engine light, then fix it." It makes a sound only at low RPMs and I had it ever since getting this car, which was after the warranty expiration, otherwise...

Sasha

Engineers no, but corporate could have let this slip into the market, since it lowers their cost for the free maintanance they are offering. They are relying on a system to stretch the interval to the maximum and until problems begin to happen it looks fine. We are testing this product at our expense, since any issues resulting of this error will likely happen after the original or even the extended warranty. They can say later, ooops, we were so conserned with the reduction of the waste or something else that we overstretched these intervals, bla, bla, bla. But I hope I am wrong about this.

lcc014

I change at every 5k miles too....