Oil Service Reset Scam?

[grahamggg]

I just took my car into the dealer for an oil service. My car had 33500 miles at the time of the service.

After the service, the dealer reset the system to that the next oil service is now 18000 miles later...just long enough (because the service light comes on 1000 miles in advance) so that I won't get another free oil change. I thought the interval was 15000 miles?

What gives?

No need for the comments saying I really should change the oil more often than the BMW interval...

[Kredithai]

Doesn't sound fishy to me. Took my car to an indy shop for an oil change, the interval reads as 19000 miles, or May 2014.

[toniebmw]

That sounds fishy to me.... Can't you go back in and reset it to 15000 miles?

[mryakan]

I do not think they can set the interval manually, CBS does it automatically. It will adjust with time. Drive harder and it will drop faster.

[e66man]

They'll change it again when it gets close to time to change it. No worries. When you come back just before the factory warranty expires, to get every minor issue fixed, make an oil change part of the list.

Go ahead and start rubbing some finish off the steering wheel so you can get that replaced when the time comes too... :)

[NFerber]

They'll change it again when it gets close to time to change it. No worries. When you come back just before the factory warranty expires, to get every minor issue fixed, make an oil change part of the list.

This is not true. Since everything is now CBS (Condition Based Service), they will only do maintenance under warranty coverage (no cost to you) when the car says that it is time. You can do maintenance before the CBS expires, but you will be paying out of pocket for it.


Go ahead and start rubbing some finish off the steering wheel so you can get that replaced when the time comes too... :)

It used to be the case where they would replace peeling trim under OEM warranty coverage, but they are slowly going away from that to cut costs. I wouldn't intentionally make your trim peel, for fear that they might not replace it under warranty. Because then you are stuck with your trim unless you want to pay for the replacement yourself. They might replace it under warranty, but I wouldn't count on it 100%.

[e66man]

[QUOTE=NFerber;24311771]This is not true. Since everything is now CBS (Condition Based Service), they will only do maintenance under warranty coverage (no cost to you) when the car says that it is time. You can do maintenance before the CBS expires, but you will be paying out of pocket for it.

That's odd. My dealer here would do it as long as it was close, covered under the MP.

[NFerber]

That's odd. My dealer here would do it as long as it was close, covered under the MP.

That might be at the discretion of your SA. I have tried before, and was told that unless the CSB states that service is due, it will not be covered under warranty.

[mattjw916]

If it's close a dealer should change the oil for you under the maintenance plan especially if you're there for other work. It's not like they are going to make you get a separate appt to drive a couple hundred more miles and then come back and do the service. At least that's been my experience.

Then again, people are waaaaay too obsessed with oil in general whether it be service intervals or brands...

[AndreyT]

In my car ('11 MY) there's no such thing as pre-set service interval. The car's computer is constantly updating the remaining mileage, based on some input parameters (I'd guess engine loads, RPM consistency and other stuff like that). You are apparently talking about your '09 328, which is likely the same. Which mean that they did not set it for 18000 miles, they simply "reset" it and the car used 18000 as the default value.

Drive it for a couple of days. I'd expect it to drop significantly from 18000.

[02325]

i have reset service light son E90 before and it say 20k+. it all depends on how you drive the car. it is CBS, so the harder you drive the faster the miles will count down. But ou may drive 1k actual miles and it could reduce it to 15k miles left. it all depends on what the computer thinks.

[Pyewacket69]

My dealer changes the oil under the 4 year no maintenance warranty annually, as I don't get close to the computer-calculated change interval in a year. I've heard that BMW corporate doesn't cover it (comments by others on forums), but seems like they would, as it's in the owners manual to change it at least once a year. Personally, my dealer as never given me any static about it at all, with the following requirement.

It has to be 365 days from the last oil change, or within the last few days around when the 4 years expire.

[mryakan]

My dealer changes the oil under the 4 year no maintenance warranty annually, as I don't get close to the computer-calculated change interval in a year. I've heard that BMW corporate doesn't cover it (comments by others on forums), but seems like they would, as it's in the owners manual to change it at least once a year. Personally, my dealer as never given me any static about it at all, with the following requirement.

It has to be 365 days from the last oil change, or within the last few days around when the 4 years expire.
That's standard and covered by BMW, at least for Canada.