Great summary of what an oil analysis can do. It's mostly for checking the ability of the oil to do it's job. It can also pick up contamination from poor air filters or coolant. It's not as good at determining "wear" as some people seem to think it is.

 

Like all good threads - several themes morphed: Frequency of oil changes; oil analysis & degradation measurement; accuracy of reading the oil level; oil escaping out of a closed loop; engine wear; All good stuff !

 

Yes, no one has recommended an oil change only when wear metals appear in the analysis but that is often where it leads. The goal appears to be to extend oil change intervals at the expense of engine internals.

The problem with oil analysis is not sure oil "ok" at 5K miles would still be good at 7500 miles. My experience with 5K mile oil changes is the engine (oil) gives off signs the oil is nearing the end of its service life. The engine gets more tick-y. The engine smokes upon cold start. Not every cold start but the presence of any oil smoke at cold start given my usage is a very rare event and when it does appear signals the oil the additive package has broken down/worn out/been depleted and it is time to change the oil.

But these signs don't appear at 4999 miles but rather some hundreds of miles before 5000 miles. This suggests when the oil begins to become due to be changed the fall off in oil performance is not linear. Thus even if an analysis at 5K miles found the oil not yet at its change by time my concern by the time the 2500 mile oil analysis was done the oil could be *past* its change by time.

When I worked my schedule was packed. I could make time for an oil/filter service without too much upset. (It helped that my employer allowed me some flexibility in when I had to be at the office. No time clock to punch.) I had two cars and could drop off one car at the dealer and get a shuttle ride back to my house and use my 2nd car. It helped the dealer was not even 2 miles from my house. But to add in the time/effort to have the oil analyzed to try to time the oil change at just the right miles would just be too much trouble.

Even now that I'm retired I love having no (well, very few) deadlines/schedules. Having my cars in for their 5K mile oil/filter services is as much imposition on my time as I am willing to accept.

 

Interesting discussion as stated above by others...
Regardless - I will continue oil change regiment @ every 3,500 - 4k mi... just as long as I can afford it.
Or even better; "shelve" my R53 before or @ 100,000 and find/start driving a pos I don't care as much about.
In my opinion, these glorious 1st gens are becoming harder to come-by.

 

Just changed mine yesterday at 3500, pulled 4.5 qts out and it was black. I probably could’ve squeezed another 1500, but it’s my car, my time, my dime, my piece of mind. So much smoother and quieter with fresh oil.

On my wife’s RAV4 it gets to the “ticky” sound around 4500 and goes away with the fresh oil change. It runs 0w-16 or 0w-20 if they don’t have 16 in stock, this stuff looks like water not oil.

 

Every 5k and did a break in at like a little more than 1k (even though the salesperson thought I was crazy even asking about a break-in period/procedure).
According to the manual, the break-in procedure was to just keep it under a certain RPM until some amount of miles (I forgot both after it passed).

 

Really, the engine “break in” procedure in the manual is more to seat the piston rings in the cylinder bores, not for oil bearings and seals. Bearings and seals will “break in” almost immediately in the first few hours of engine running, which takes place at the factory when the engine is first fired up. Piston rings need a bit more time.

 

never ever wait 10k miles to change your oil.
Direct Injection
Turbo
The car isnt a POS you dont care about
It is costing me $47k plus tax for my JCW Iconic. Dont be a cheap ****. 6k is max.

early change break-in is a good idea. There is a complete myth that the factory "runs in the engine". It does not in the slightest. Maybe a Porsche 718 RS does, I believe the RS's are half broken in. That's it.

They quality control test them and turn them off. Complete myth of any break-in at factory for any vehicle.

2500 miles is pointless however. The engine oil lasts a lot longer than that. a lot. Keep it at 5k or 6 months. 6k is ok. 10k if you dont give a **** about your car.