Service Interval New Guy Question

[Gymbeau]

I have a CPO 2005 X5 new to me in Dec of 2008. It's my DD and I love the car!

When it hit 15k miles from my purchase, I took it in even though the service indicator still showed 2k miles before service. And the low oil light had come recently as well (of course I added a quart).

I'm now bout 7k miles since last service and the indicator shows 12k until service is due. My wife's Porsche is supposed to go 20k between services so I know this in not uncommon but my question is do most of you wait until the "timer" goes off before you change your oil? The fact that mine was low enough just before 15k makes me uncomforatble. I have another high performance American made car and I religiously change the Mobil 1 as soon as it starts to show enough color to see on the dipstick.

Am I safe or should I change the X3 oil sooner?

[AgentRabbit]

I don't think it's necessary to do it more often, but a lot of people change it halfway between the service intervals because it makes them feel better. I'm not sure how many miles you put on your car in a year, but BMW recommends doing an oil change at least once per year even if the indicator isn't showing that it's due.

[robmpulse]

12 months from last service or when the vehicle asks for it. No sooner, no later. This is outlined in your owner's manual, as well as located in 6,345,674,899,455,430,436,243,786,531,255 different threads within this site.

:)

[Kevlar]

12 months from last service or when the vehicle asks for it. No sooner, no later. This is outlined in your owner's manual, as well as located in 6,345,674,899,455,430,436,243,786,531,255 different threads within this site.

:)
What he said.