BSLNoel

Vehicle has 61k miles and it's up for many service intervals. I want to personally do what I can but I think that's limited to air filters and the seals around the sunroof and rear window.

I'm expecting spark plugs, M/T oil, Diff oil, and fuel filter, along with engine oil and filter. There's no reason I couldn't do all of those, but I don't have a lift or a way to dispose of the chemicals.

Do I need suspension or rear ball joint work? My rear tires were wearing on the insides fairly rapidly, but outside of that nothing seems out of place. When I researched the tire wear issue answers ranged from ball joints to alignment to 'that's just how the car is setup', so I'm not sure what to believe.

This will be my first out of maintenance plan service and I was planning on trying to find an independent shop to upkeep her, but it's not that easy down here on the gulf coast. Any help on what to expect or a place to look for service is appreciated.

I want to aggressively upkeep this car, so the cost of this one service doesn't bother me as much as having everything done correctly. I just feel that I'd take more time on the seals than a shop guy and it would be perfect when I was done. Not sure how to apply that attitude to other maintenance issues though. The M/T and diff oil...spark plugs... Anyone done these jobs yourself? Advice?

BimmerFan52

What model and year?

BSLNoel

It's an early 2009 528i with a 6MT.

wcr3d

Idrive will tell you when it is ready for most of what you mention. For others like m/t and diff fluids, they are supposed to be "lifetime" fluids, though some believe its better to change them but only if you do it early enough otherwise you can affect the seals. Still others believe bmw's service intervals are too long and make their own schedules. Totally up to you. As for the tire wear, that sounds typical as you have probably read this is due to the high camber setting. Its set this way for better handling. You can dismount the tires and rotate side to side for longevity, decrease the rear camber or just expect less mileage out of your tires in trade for that known great handling. Sorry I can't help for the regional recommendations.

BimmerFan52

Many factors are important in designing your own maintenance schedule, but a good plan that works for your situation is primarily driven by whether the vehicle is under warranty, leased or owned and your plans for the future of the car.

The person who leases a new car every three years is the least interested in doing anything more than the minimum BMW will provide you for free. The car would likely last to the end of the lease if you did nothing to it.

The other extreme is the person who buys either new or used with plans to put many miles on the car and wants it to run like a top for a long time.

The attached article is an in-depth review of general maintenance for BMWs and is a very good guide to helping build your own personalized maintenance schedule that meets your objectives.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...Zbdtcp2WU3nTsQ

BSLNoel

I literally want to keep this car forever. I moved to San Francisco after college, in 2000, and bought a 1980 (e12) 528i to commute down to Santa Clara for work. I fell in love with the naturally aspirated inline 6 to a manual transmission in the 5 series. When I came back down south I sold the car but told myself one day I'd buy a modern version.

When I read that the F10 discontinued the non turbo I6 I freaked out. That was two years ago, so I searched everywhere to find a lightly used CPOed version off of a lease. I flew to New Jersey and bought mine with 24k on the clock, drove it back 1400 miles. The car is literally my dream car. It's my wife's car now, I drive a new manual tacoma dcsb 4x4, but when she wants something else it will be mine from then on.

Outside of the chrome bits, I plan on keeping it dead stock. I love pristinely maintained old German cars. This is my first service out of the CPO plan, and no warranty work needs to be done. I just know a good amount of stuff comes due between now and 100k, so I want to make a good plan to knock it all out.

My e12 had 242k on the clock and it didn't even work when I bought it. So yea, I need to find a good independent mechanic and create a relationship with them.

Thanks for the link.