Very happy I did it. Poured Mobil 1, new filter. Motor runs a little quieter now than it did with the dirty Castrol. My thought is that if you can tell you changed the oil, it was past due. What is the recommended service interval again????

Regardless, this is going to get a change every 5K miles.

Paul

 

Did you see this about Mobil 1?

 

Way too often.........every 7,500 to 10,000 miles is just fine with Mobil 1. Been doing this for over 25 years on all my cars with no ill effects.

 

When BMW changes the oil is there a reset feature for the on-board computer or does it know that the oil has been changed without manually resetting anything?

 

I believe the dealership has to reset the service light. It would be convenient if it knew to switch it off itself

 

You can reset the oil light yourself; search the archives as the instuctions have been posted a few times.

 

Robin, I did see that post, I used the Mobil 1 extended. I guess I will be taking my chances...

Scott, possibly I did change too soon, but other than the cost of the oil and filter, I don't see a big possible down side. The upside? Fresh oil and filter. I know you can't tell if the oil is good or bad by simply evaluating how dirty it looks, but it sure looked dirty and I am happy to have made the change.

Regarding the oil change light, I don't know how to reset it, nor do I know how to check the computer to see how the car evaluates the oil life. I am not sure when the car is eligible for a warranty oil change, but assuming it will occur around 10K miles, I figure I hit the change at around the halfway mark. If it works out that way, I will change at every 5K, alternating between a self service and dealer service.

Paul

 

I agree that the cost of changing the oil yourself is not significant (if you do it right), so, if it gives you peace of mind, no reason not to do it. However, I do not subscribe to the implication that failing to do so before the manufacturer recommends is in any way dangerous. As I asked in a previous post, do you through out food a week or so before the "use by" date?

 

Do you use food in your engine? Last time I looked, the FDA did not regulate engine oils. Your analogy has no real meaning in evaluating when to change one's oil. I could be convinced that, under certain driving conditions, the oil will last 15,000 miles. However, I understand that moisture and/or acids can build up in some conditions.

I wonder if the filter is really up to 15,000? I would guess it would vary with conditions.

To really sort this out, one would have to get their oil tested periodically, and somehow evaluate the extent to which the flow through the filter had been restricted. Otherwise, it is really hard to know.

BMW has to make their evaluation of when to recommend oil changes on various criteria. Part of that is marketing pressure for long intervals. I know BMW owners who find long intervals very appealing. So, if Mercedes had 15,000 mile intervals, and BMW only 7,500 mile intervals, Mercedes would have a distinct marketing advantage for these drivers.

 

The DOT does "regulate" engine oil, however. My point is simply that changing the oil before you need to may give you peace of mind, but that's it. Unless you have driven in conditions that would introduce un-natural amounts of contaminents into the crankcase, there's no reason to change the oil early.

 

Perhaps it's just me, but it seems a tad bit wasteful to shorten the life of a product (oil and filter) just for personal preferences. Especially when the costs of such (albeit not direct) are so high.

We're in the middle of a war for oil, yet we change it 3x more often than what it's been engineered to run. Where's the logic?

 

If I sold a car and agreed to perform routine oil changes at no cost, I would tell the buyer that the oil was good for 30K miles... or whatever I could get away with...

I think I will stick to 5K changes on my car. And no, I don't throw away my food before it expires unless I do.

Paul

 

If you changed your oil after the first 5700 miles you have a much different experience than changing it every 5K miles. When I got my '05 I think I went in after a few thousand as instructed to get the car checked out and the oil changed though I can't swear to it.

 

This makes zero sense. The manufacturer is on the hook for 4/48 here, why would they shoot themselves in the foot and NOT perform maintenance resulting in damage to their product?

Ethics.

 

Not to mention the fact that 15k is now pretty much the standard on new cars regardless of whether the car comes with free maintenance.

 

I'm just constantly amazed that people can't accept new technology. That's what got us into the whole oil mess in the first place. Change is bad.

 

The Toyota Rav 4 is 5,000 miles.

 

I think many people, who are interested in keeping their car for much longer than 36K (or 48K) miles, are a bit suspicious of the car makers. Their view is that the car makers are only interested in making sure the car last at least 36K/48K miles, and maybe even try not to make them longer than that, with their 15K miles oil changes. 15K miles oil changes might be fine if you don't plan to keep the car past 36/48K miles, but could lead to serious problems with engine in the long run. And that is where most of us here are interested in--keeping their car running smoothly for well over 100+K miles/10+ years.

After all, why would car companies make the effort to engineer their cars to last well more than 36/48K miles, if it mean they won't be able to sell more cars to us in the future, because their cars last so long?

This is assuming that it take extra effort to make a car run well for a long time, with 15K miles oil changes. But many of these folks haven't been satisfied that engine that need oil changes only every 15K miles can last for years and miles, well past the 36K/3 years period.

I hope this explains why some of us are a bit proactive about oil changes.

 

The problem is not that people continue to refuse technology. The problem is that the people who create this technology are not providing consumers with the whole truth.
Years ago, BMW claimed that their transmissions were "maintenance free." What a great feat of technology. The problem was that they were not maintenance free. We know this because the automatic transmissions on the Five series during the nineties were beginning to blow up on customers with 50,000+ mile cars (lots of articles on this). Why? Because BMW was warrantying those cars for 5 years, and their marketing department knows that the average 5 series BMW owner does not keep the car for more than 3-4 years. After that, the warranty and the new "used" customer has responsibility, and since the attitude of NO maintenance was marketed, then the from-new owners never did any transmission services. The problem fro BMW was that there were many 5 series buyers who decided to keep their cars and after enough of them screemed, BMW changed their tune about Maintenance Free.

Regarding the MINI, it continues to be a fuzzy subject. If you look in the owners manual it tells you to use either BMW oil or an SJ rated oil. Mobil 1 is not SJ rated, Castrol Full Synthetic is. Look it up. If you're planning on selling your car or returning your car after 3-4 years, then keep the maintenance schedule that MINI proposes. It won't be your problem. If not, change it every 7500.

 

I didn't say "all"

 

I would have bought this argument before the days of the internet but times have changed.

The two most valuable things a company owns are its intellectual property and its image.

Producing a product that does not stand up to it's useful life, which is well past 100k on an auto these days (not so much 2 decades ago) would harm it's image.

Stamping a 15k oil change period onto the product would be foolhardy if the product was not engineered and did not have the OTR testing to back up the claim. The MINI has been around for 5-6 years now and there are multiple examples of 150k + cars on the road....can you definitively say that their changing their oil every 3k or 15k miles led to this?

Who came up with the 3000 mile period anyways? Perhaps the same people that came up with the 15000 standard used today?

So my question to you is why are you borrowing yesterdays standards and applying them to todays technology when (as indicated) it's not in the best interest of a company to promote such?

 

And why wouldn't they use low-grade metals, thinner sleeves, lower-tolerance parts, etc. to ensure their cars won't last? If the manufacturers want to make a car that will only last x number of miles, they would design it that way, not rely on something out of their hands.

 

You said it better than I did (above your posting).

 

Based on what? Why not 3000? Why not 5,000? Why not 8002?

 

Exactly.

Regarding the comment above about the whole truth...did you ever get the whole truth?