Quick question: Oil change

[SseeDragon]

What is the rule of thumb in changing OIL?

every 2k, 3k, 4k, 5k ???

Just wondering

[NLR]

I'll be the first one to say it.... SEARCH

There are tons of threads on this. Anyways, most people on this board generally go between 5-7k miles between oil changes when using a quality synthetic, but change out the filter at 3k. I personally change my oil and filter approx. every 4k miles. I seriously doubt many, if anyone goes by BMW's recommended service interval of ~15k miles between services.

The important thing is to check the oil level frequently, since these engines tend to use a bit of oil when compared to other cars.

[nismo skyline]

it depends, i do it every 3k though.

[///w3fl3x]

Depends on how you drive.

I personally have always done it at every 3k or 3 months.
Now i'm trying the 3k filter change and 6k full oil change and filter change. I usually check my oil once a week. Oh i run mobil 1 15w50 too.

[shawn5096]

I usually just do mine between 3k-5k.

[Kell]

I use Mobil 1 Synthetic 15-W50 Extended Performance and I change my oil every 15 thousand miles.

[korto]

I do mine every 10000 kms... that would be approx 6215 miles.
But, I use synthetic and do a lot of city driving, and the car mostly sits in the winter...
You should be ok with changing good synthetic every 10000 miles no problem... If your engine is good...

[RRSperry]

Go to www.blackstone-labs.com request a few oil test kits. Every thousand or so miles send a sample off and see what is says. What I have found is that if you change the filter every 4-5K and have to add a qt every once in a while, you can almost go indefinatly without actually changing the oil. After using analysis for a while I'm changing the oil at 10K miles, although I don't have too. I change the filter at 5K.

Again it will depend on your particular vehicle and driving habits. I tend to use my car for longer trips, with almost no "city" driving.

[Cory]

petroleum based - every 3,000 miles
synthetic - every 5,000 miles
BMW recommended for synthetic - every 15,000 miles - insane

[RRSperry]

petroleum based - every 3,000 miles
synthetic - every 5,000 miles
BMW recommended for synthetic - every 15,000 miles - insane

And you base this on what? Any scientific evidence to support it?

[Cory]

And you base this on what? Any scientific evidence to support it?
Nothing scientific - just my ultra keen sense of intuition doing well over 100 oil changes myself. Some things just can't be explained by science.

[Perculator00]

petroleum based - every 3,000 miles
synthetic - every 5,000 miles
BMW recommended for synthetic - every 15,000 miles - insane

this is a good remedy to follow as a rule of thumb

iv always done the oil change every 5-8k miles but the filter at 3-4k miles....this is for synthetic though

[RRSperry]

Nothing scientific - just my ultra keen sense of intuition doing well over 100 oil changes myself. Some things just can't be explained by science.

Yea, but this ain't one of them.

[PALELLA]

I use Mobil 1 Synthetic 15 W 50 and I change it every 3,000 miles or every 3 months.

[TXBDan]

3k is silly. 5k is fine, 10k is fine. the only way to know is to have your oil tested. my plan is 10k oil, 5k filter changes unless something unexpected shows up on an oil test. modern oil is really quite robust

[Cory]

Yea, but this ain't one of them.
I do believe in evolution, though, if that adds to my position.

[Kell]

BMW recommended for synthetic - every 15,000 miles - insane

I don't understand what is so insane about this. Like I said, I do an oil change about every 15,000 miles, but my oil is guaranteed to go to that length. Everytime I change the oil, it has never been black and upon inspection of my filters, they're always in great condition. I like the sense that I save a ton of more money than you guys who change every 3,000 miles... Now that's insane.

[Cory]

Insane people don't know they're insane. OK, maybe it's me, but (regardless) you'll know I'm dead if any car of mine goes beyond 5,000 for a synthetic oil change or 3,000 for a petroleum based oil change.:eyecrazy

[RRSperry]

At least you aren't one of those ignorant Pa. intelligent design zealots. I'm glad that they were voted out of office.

Anyway, it really is interesting to see the analysis well worth the $20.

[Cory]

At least you aren't one of those ignorant Pa. intelligent design zealots. I'm glad that they were voted out of office.

Anyway, it really is interesting to see the analysis well worth the $20.
Some would say that I'm still an ape.

[Don Nguyen]

I do it every 15k also, but then again I also burn a lot of my oil. I do change the oil filter half way through though just in case.

[SpeedLi///Mit]

And you base this on what? Any scientific evidence to support it?


also nothing scientific... but, I work at a LandRover dealer.. and on the 03 RangeRovers with the 4.4 BMW engines, I have seen a few people push the 15k oil change interval and some of the filters are coming out completely destroyed.. they get brittle and break apart.. and the guys have to dig them out of the filter housing piece by piece. So for you guys that are waiting that long to change the oil... the filter change inbetween is definetly a good idea.

[RRSperry]

I never mentioned leaving the filter in there 15K miles...lol

Based on the analysis, the TBN, Ph, fuel, soot, antifreeze, and metal particles are within normal limits. When I used to run a trucking operation we had 20K change intervals. Our trucks weren't over the road either, they made a lot of deliveries. We really trusted the oil analysis and had several trucks over 1 million miles with almost no measurable wear. And with deisel trucks there is a lot more fuel and soot cantamination. Volvo used to have an video of a complete taredown of a million mile engine. The pan and internals looked almost brand new.

I'm not saying extended intervals are blanket deal, but backed by oil analysis, they are fine.

[Kell]

I do it every 15k also, but then again I also burn a lot of my oil. I do change the oil filter half way through though just in case.

Your engine burns oil?

Time for a new car.

[///M LIFE©]

5k

[deilenberger]

If 10k is good, and 5k is better and 3k is even better - how about changing the oil every time the engine is started? Mebbe that's not often enough and the oil should be changed hourly..

Think about this before doing your 3,000 mile changes.

Oil testing works. It does lots besides telling you how well your oil is doing - it also will tell you the health of your engine innards.. the lubricated parts.

ANY synthetic oil is good for 6,000 miles in every oil test I've ever seen. Changing it more frequently than that may make the owner feel like they did something good (feel-good), but it's not doing anything for your engine and certainly not for the environment.

Spend the $25 and prove it to yourselves.. Blackstone is good and inexpensive.

[catalyst.]

Every 3-4k.

I let it go to 8k once (i use Mobil1 syn 15w-50) And the car was getting horrible gas mileage and just not running as well as it ussually did, so im never doing that again.

[waferGS]

If 10k is good, and 5k is better and 3k is even better - how about changing the oil every time the engine is started? Mebbe that's not often enough and the oil should be changed hourly.....
but it's not doing anything for your engine and certainly not for the environment.

Spend the $25 and prove it to yourselves.. Blackstone is good and inexpensive.
Right on!

I'm doing extended oil change intervals (12k-15kmiles) because I'm 95% freeway and long distance with very few start-stop cycles. And no tracking/hard driving.
So in my case, extended intervals makes sense, saving me time and $$ without having to change the oil every 3k (==obsessive).

Does this mean my engine won't last 200k and I'll have to rebuild it @ 190k?? Maybe, but I'm looking forward to the possibility of upgrades whenever components wear out...

The car is currently @ 142k if it matters to anyone, and the car still pulls strong.

If anyone wants to question such abnormal behavior, my integra is @ 250k miles, original engine, and pulls stronger than most new cars. That car runs on dino-oil and it get it's changes @ relatively extended intervals with 5k miles in between. Our Audi-1.8T get 10k miles changes on synthetic -- 82kmiles.

If a car gets driven hard, the oil change interval needs to change to accommodate the added stresses. So in short... listening to "joe-shmo" and doing blind changes @ 3k is nuts. Do the interval that makes sense for your situation. The only one who benefits most from 3month/3k changes are oil manufacturers. ;)

[mich]

I will be changing at 20-25000km, top qual long life

[Trackout]

I do mine every 5K with synthetic. Many de's per year.

[Jeron]

7000mi (8mo) >> 3 DE's 8 AX's no problem

People changing Synthetic more often than 7500 (6mo) should spend $20 and get an analysis to PROVE they are wasting their money.

[Sadiq]

I thought engine oil was lifetime?

[Cory]

7000mi (8mo) >> 3 DE's 8 AX's no problem

People changing Synthetic more often than 7500 (6mo) should spend $20 and get an analysis to PROVE they are wasting their money.
The money saved by not doing an analysis could pay for another oil change.

[cachee0]

Me Mobil 1 every 4K with filter 5-w30

[Mattldm]

The money saved by not doing an analysis could pay for another oil change.

Think of the money for testing as an investment in saving money in the future! :)

My 03 540 has 29,700 miles and has had only one oil change. There is one light left on the service indicator so it is just about ready for its second oil change. BMW reccomended service = 15K mile oil changes!

I will probably change the oil on my 98 M3 twice a year or at about 7000 - 7500 miles. I have no evidence to tell me whether this is the right way to go other than the oil in my 540 is BLACK :( at 15K miles!

[xeler8]

My 03 540 has 29,700 miles and has had only one oil change. There is one light left on the service indicator so it is just about ready for its second oil change. BMW reccomended service = 15K mile oil changes

Your changing your filter every 3K though right??... they dont last much past 5K

Jason

[99E36M]

I never understood why you'd buy a $40k car and leave the $25 worth of oil and filter in for 3 times longer then the accepted limit. Honestly, what does 15k mile changes do for you??? Is $50 worth it? I guess if you drive insane highway miles where the oil can get hot, stay hot, and burn off stuff then it might just be ok, but who does that?

[Jeron]

I'm referring to several different posts above:

A $20 oil analysis is not enough for an oil change and you don't have to test every time just often enough to establish an oil change interval. Also, the oil analysis has other more important benefits.

An E36M3 synthetic oil change is about $40. 7x$5 + $8 Its not just about saving money its about conserving natural resources and filling landfills.

For a short time BMW had trouble with 15k filters. Filters can go 15k. Mine go 8k, come out fine and were still working based on an oil analysis.

Black oil color means nothing.

"Accepted limit", hogwash. And the $40,000 vs $50 argument is the same as the "$100 head" helmet argument.

I think 15k is too long for most drivers. The most important problem with the 15k interval is that most owners don't check their oil between changes. I change at about 7500mi and every analysis has proven that the oil did not need to come out. If you are changing at 3,4 or 5k because the other guy does it then you are most likely wasting...

[Daved]

I have around 7.5K on my current oil and I have no plains to change it now, maybe in a couple months. It's Castrol RS 10w60 and it's supposed to last more than 12K miles, as far as the guys at the oil shop told me.

[Jeron]

Why do you use 60 weight? (Don't take it the wrong way I'm just curious.)

Most of my trips are about 20 minutes and even with an ambient temp of 70-80f my oil takes 15 minutes to get warm, not hot. Since I spend so much time driving with cold oil I have finally settled in on 40 weight in the summer racing season and 30 weight in the winter off season.

[TXBDan]

5k filter, 10k oil is the plan. to be confirmed w/ oil testing.

[Perculator00]

5k filter, 10k oil is the plan. to be confirmed w/ oil testing.


i like this method....

[bmxcm]

at what point is a good time to do the first oil analysis(milage wise)?
middle, end, or multiple tests? or even better after how many miles put on that particluar oil should a test be done?

[Jeron]

Test it at your next oil change and when you get the results back decide how long to leave the oil in there. I would wait at least 6k on synthetic then change and test it.

[bmxcm]

cool thanks, how about filter? from what i gathered people do it halfway in between their oil change intervals, but at no specific milage...which would make more sense. i'm asking about bmw specific filters by the way(mahl for instance).

[eXpLiCiT]

Timewise what do you guys think is the limit for synthetic oil? I'm using m1 15W50 and its been about 6 months since I put it in. I only have about 2.8k miles on the oil. Don't drive the car much since Im at school. I got an auto-x coming up in 3 weeks. Should I change it or just check the level and change the filter?