Engine oil / general service question

[ImagineAllTheMs]

My last engine oil change was almost a year ago @ 4,000 mi. I'm at 11,000 mi now. My car shows 6,000 mi / 7 months until my next service, but I'm driving a lot more than I used to (no track use, just normal everyday driving), should I go ahead and get an oil/filter change since it's been a year from the last one?

Side note: Is there anything else maintenance-wise I should look out for, since my car is nearing 2 years old? Looks like it's just oil/filter changes until 3yrs/30,000 mi, in which I'll do the engine intake air filter / spark plugs / brake fluid. Am I missing anything, I was let to believe that M4's had very expensive maintenance...

[danchee]

I replace oil in my car every 6 months or half way through the suggested maintenance interval whichever comes first. Oil is cheap protection for the engine.

[ImagineAllTheMs]

Originally Posted by danchee

I replace oil in my car every 6 months or half way through the suggested maintenance interval whichever comes first. Oil is cheap protection for the engine.

Do you go to the dealer, indie shop or do it yourself?

[overlook637]

Recreational maintenance is defined as engine maintenance such as fuel system cleaners and early oil changes that do near zero good for the engine and really only make the owner feel better.

Modern engines and modern oil does not need to be treated like a 1980 Ford Mustang. BMW along with every other engine manufacture has tested engines and oil. Trust what they advise.

[danchee]

Originally Posted by 95f82

Do you go to the dealer, indie shop or do it yourself?

Myself. Takes an hour or so with the E92. Haven't had to do it with this car yet.

[danchee]

Originally Posted by overlook637

Recreational maintenance is defined as engine maintenance such as fuel system cleaners and early oil changes that do near zero good for the engine and really only make the owner feel better.

Modern engines and modern oil does not need to be treated like a 1980 Ford Mustang. BMW along with every other engine manufacture has tested engines and oil. Trust what they advise.

"Near zero good", so it's not absolutely no effect and I'm pretty sure none of the manufacturers are going to say with absolute 100% guarantee that doing the oil changes will provide absolutely zero benefit. For essentially $20 a month it's a minor expenditure compared to the amounts of money many spend on cosmetic improvements.

[hellokitty]

I'd change the oil every 5-6k miles or once a year whatever comes first.

[Ian1973]

Back when BMW recommended 15,000 mile changes, I would half that, but no way I'm halfing the new 10,000 mile interval. 5,000 miles on synthetic is throwing money away.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by Ian1973

Back when BMW recommended 15,000 mile changes, I would half that, but no way I'm halfing the new 10,000 mile interval. 5,000 miles on synthetic is throwing money away.

So 7,500 miles is ok but 5k is a waste? To each their own.

[jww///95]

Originally Posted by 95f82

My last engine oil change was almost a year ago @ 4,000 mi. I'm at 11,000 mi now. My car shows 6,000 mi / 7 months until my next service, but I'm driving a lot more than I used to (no track use, just normal everyday driving), should I go ahead and get an oil/filter change since it's been a year from the last one?

Side note: Is there anything else maintenance-wise I should look out for, since my car is nearing 2 years old? Looks like it's just oil/filter changes until 3yrs/30,000 mi, in which I'll do the engine intake air filter / spark plugs / brake fluid. Am I missing anything, I was let to believe that M4's had very expensive maintenance...

Talk to your SA and/or do some googling. Pretty sure BMW will do an annual oil change under their maintenance program in specific low mileage conditions.

[SpaceCowboy]

Every 5K for me.

[JamesGames]

Originally Posted by jww///95

Talk to your SA and/or do some googling. Pretty sure BMW will do an annual oil change under their maintenance program in specific low mileage conditions.

My car is 3 years old with 8k miles and dealer has changed the oil every year. (less than 3k miles per year) Once per year, 10k miles interval, or when CBS on iDrive tells you its time.

[dawei213]

Originally Posted by JamesGames

My car is 3 years old with 8k miles and dealer has changed the oil every year. (less than 3k miles per year) Once per year, 10k miles interval, or when CBS on iDrive tells you its time.

Does the CBS on iDrive explicitly tell you without having to go to a sub menu? Like it's a notification that'll come up? Reason why I'm asking is this thread: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1544189

They are saying the car is telling them to change it but I didn't see any indication on iDrive when I drove the car to the dealership that tells me to do that.

[JamesGames]

Originally Posted by dawei213

Does the CBS on iDrive explicitly tell you without having to go to a sub menu? Like it's a notification that'll come up? Reason why I'm asking is this thread: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1544189

They are saying the car is telling them to change it but I didn't see any indication on iDrive when I drove the car to the dealership that tells me to do that.

Right when you get in your car and open the door/start car it usually says "service due xxx miles or date". Otherwise go into your idrive and go into vehicle status and service and you'll see what's due. 1200 mile service is always due for M cars, and I got a notice whenever I started my car for that. I did my service early for every single oil interval, and dealer's are fine with it.. Right now, I just passed the 3 year mark and I show 2 services; brake fluid and oil change. It's clockwork, every october, Idrive notifies me for oil service.

On my other BMW, I was due for service in 9/2018 but I brought the car into dealer for warranty work on 7/2018, with only 5k miles on the oil, and they changed it because they said it was close enough. Dont make it hard - once per year or when Idrive tells ya if you want to follow BMWs recommendation.

[dawei213]

Originally Posted by JamesGames

Right when you get in your car and open the door/start car it usually says "service due xxx miles or date". Otherwise go into your idrive and go into vehicle status and service and you'll see what's due. 1200 mile service is always due for M cars, and I got a notice whenever I started my car for that. I did my service early for every single oil interval, and dealer's are fine with it.. Right now, I just passed the 3 year mark and I show 2 services; brake fluid and oil change. It's clockwork, every october, Idrive notifies me for oil service.

On my other BMW, I was due for service in 9/2018 but I brought the car into dealer for warranty work on 7/2018, with only 5k miles on the oil, and they changed it because they said it was close enough. Dont make it hard - once per year or when Idrive tells ya if you want to follow BMWs recommendation.

yeah that's what I figure about the notification, sounds similar to my S4. I dropped my car in at 650 miles (coming from PDC) for my state emission and inspection stickers at the dealership. The dealership stated the data pulled off the car say it's time to do the 1200 mile change now, but it's not showing up in the CBS nor did I see anything to that effect.

[Poiseuille]

for those who may not have seen it before, this is the schedule

[Fast4d]

having owned a few BMWs since the early 2000s I have always followed the BMW factory intervals for oil changes, or per year. NEVER an oil related issue. Please do check that the crank case vent system is working especially if you live in cold climates.

at one point I was using amsoil and IIRC they had this oil that is claimed to be good for one year or 25k miles.

but if you can't sleep without changing your oil prematurely by all means...

our previous BMWs with these powertrains and mileage when they were sold/traded in for replacement:

E36 M3 130k
x5 4.4 180k
x5 4.8 130k
E90 325 115k

[wsccsw13]

I change my oil every 3 track weekends and at the end of the season. Do it myself in the garage, pretty easy, just don't strip the aluminum oil pan....

[Remonster]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

So 7,500 miles is ok but 5k is a waste? To each their own.

Depends on the engine and the oil in question.

When I had an E92 M3 that was known to have bearing issues and I had seen some used oil analysis data that made me question how well the oil might hold up to 15,000 miles of my torturous driving style, I let BMW do free oil changes for me every 15,000 miles and paid out of pocket for the oil & filter and did my own changes half way in between. That car was also supercharged for part of its life so I figured I may as well be sure it had proper lubrication since supercharging the S65 engine is known to put a little more stress on the #1 main bearing. While supercharged, I would routinely see my oil get up above 275*F on track days so I didn't want to leave the oil in there for too long.

I think the fact that BMW switched from their 15K recommendation down to 10K miles per oil change for MY2016 might suggest that even they admit 15k was too long although they are also using different oils in these cars vs the <2015 BMWs so that's also a big factor to consider.

I'm planning to stick to the 10,000 mile interval for my current F80. I haven't seen any data to suggest these S55s have issues with oiling, engine internals, etc. that would be helped by changing the oil more often.

My other car is a 2003 Mercedes E320 with 230,000 miles. It's had its oil changed every 10,000 miles following the MB recommendation and it's doing great. I recently had the engine opened up to replace some leaky gaskets and from what I could see, it looks like a brand new engine in there.