Oil Change Frequency

[Hoyt Clagwell]

The Bentley manual says that BMW recommends oil change intervals of 15,000 miles, give or take depending on driving conditions/habits. (in Maintenance chapter 20; verse 3) Does anyone do this? I changed oil last spring (Penzoil Euro Platinum 5W40) at the start of the season and put 15,000 kms on the car (9,300 miles) I feel guilty enough about that and plan to change oil before the start of this season. (soon, I hope.)

[rboehl]

I change the oil every 3 thousand miles or so or if I didn’t get that many miles on it then every year. I have 5 cars so it I have to split driving the cars that are fun to drive. My daily is a Honda CRV but I have a Mini Cooper JCW R 53 a Z4 coupe as well as the M roadster. Also a Lexus RX 350. All get the same treatment except the CRV as it is still under warranty.

[TexaZ3]

3-5K or once a year, whatever is sooner. Oil is cheap, why would you risk engine health over a $100.

[Hoyt Clagwell]

In the past I've always changed oil every 5,000 miles (8,000 kms) The 15,000 mile figure recommended by BMW does sound fantastical but what do I know about engineering. I do feel that it's better to be on the safe side and change oil more often than what Mr. Bentley says.

[z3forlife]

The recommendation for conventional oil has generally been 3K miles. Since we use full synthetic oil 8K should be no problem depending on use. Yearly otherwise if seldom driven but I pity the fool who doesn’t drive enough to merit a change based on miles.

[Hoyt Clagwell]

Yearly otherwise if seldom driven but I pity the fool who doesn’t drive enough to merit a change based on miles.

I know eh. How can I not drive it?

[panasonic]

I always did 5,000 miles.

[BimmerBreaker]

I dont know why the Bentley book makes the claim that BMW's oil change interval was 15,000 kilometers. It does not state that anywhere in the owner's manual

It doesn't give a specific mileage - but says this:
"Determining the maintenance intervals according to the actual loads on the vehicle covers every kind of operating situation. However, since oil deteriorates over time regardless of use, even those who only drive short distances - significantly less than 6,200 miles (10,000 km) should have the engine oil changed regularly."

It seems to imply 6,200 mile (10,000 km) intervals are the more the "norm"

My S54's get new oil every 5,000. The rest of them every 7,500

[z3forlife]

My “service interval “ light bar is usually on the last green light when I change oil. 7.5-8K.

[bk94si]

5000 miles or once per year, whichever comes first.

[bluptgm3]

Is it possible that the BMW oil change recommendation is was written for a chassis/engine series that was developed during a period of time when BMW was specifying grades and weights of conventional oils?


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[Hoyt Clagwell]

I dont know why the Bentley book makes the claim that BMW's oil change interval was 15,000 kilometers. It does not state that anywhere in the owner's manual

It doesn't give a specific mileage - but says this:
"Determining the maintenance intervals according to the actual loads on the vehicle covers every kind of operating situation. However, since oil deteriorates over time regardless of use, even those who only drive short distances - significantly less than 6,200 miles (10,000 km) should have the engine oil changed regularly."

It seems to imply 6,200 mile (10,000 km) intervals are the more the "norm"

My S54's get new oil every 5,000. The rest of them every 7,500

The Bentley actually says 15,000. miles (24,000 kms). It's right there in the book of Maintenance, chapter 20, verse 3. It does qualify that by saying to take heed of the Service Interval Calculator which taketh into account, engine temps, speed, number of starts fuel consumed and length of trip.

I intuitively think that 5,000 miles (8,000 kms) sounds more reasonable but that's just based on a gut feeling, not science or scientology.

[CoconutPete]

Every spring.

I've managed 4,000 miles in the 3 yeas or so I have had it...

[DaveW3009]

My “service interval “ light bar is usually on the last green light when I change oil. 7.5-8K.

I change the oil in my E46's every 7000 mi or so. I just got the Z3 and there are 2 green bars on the countdown display. I'm changing this weekend to start a new baseline. On my '96 328i that I leased new, I had to follow the service guidelines and the dealer did the service and woiuld not change oil unless the orange segment was lit. In 3 years (36,000 mi) it got to orange only twice , both times +/- 15,000 mi interval. It was my daily driver and had a good mixture of short and highway miles. If bmw based the sales values of the lease return cars on this technique, its hard to believe they did not have confidence in it. Anyone know what they abandoned the oil service monitor in the E46?

Dave

- - - Updated - - -

My “service interval “ light bar is usually on the last green light when I change oil. 7.5-8K.

<br>

<br><br>I change the oil in my E46's every 7000 mi or so.&nbsp; I just got the Z3 and there are 2 green bars on the countdown display.&nbsp; I'm changing this weekend to start a new baseline.&nbsp; On my '96 328i that I leased new, I had to follow the service guidelines and the dealer did the service and woiuld not change oil unless the orange segment was lit.&nbsp; In 3 years (36,000 mi)&nbsp; it got to orange only twice , both times +/- 15,000 mi interval.&nbsp; It was my daily driver and had a good mixture of short and highway miles. If bmw&nbsp; based the sales values of the lease return cars on this technique, its hard to believe they did not have confidence in it.&nbsp; Anyone know what they abandoned the oil service monitor in the E46?<br><br>Dave

[cyberman]

I do less than 4000 miles each year on my Z3, but probably 30% of that is in 1-3 mile errands around town. I think that's very severe service, dozens and dozens of short trips - perhaps 3-4/week. So, I change the oil and filter yearly.

[ZGator]

For my 2.3, I recently decided that 2 years or 15-18k miles on synthetic is fine - typically I was changing at 2 green lights about 10-12k, now I am actually going on 3 years due to lack of driving enough - yes I know oil breaks down over time but without at least 8-10k I really don't want to. As far as I can tell my green light indicators usually take over 20k to get to orange. Maybe if I had an S52/4 I would think different - but with my car I don't burn a drop, oil stays clean 163k miles, the valve body was perfectly clean after changing valve cover gasket at 100k+- with such intervals.

[melville]

Once a year or 6000 miles, whichever comes first. Usually once a year now that I work from home.

[saneesh8]

On my 2000 2.3, once a year or about 5-6k miles. Now with WFH most of the time, it is <3k.

[Mr Bingley]

On my '98 supercharged M Roadster I'm lucky if I put 1,500, maybe 2,000 miles a year. On my stock '99 M Roadster I don't even put 200 (I was going to sell the '99 this year but never got around to actually posting the listing--although I at least wrote it this year). I run Mobil One 0W40 full synthetic and change the oil in both every other year.

[nevan]

Once a year along with SC gear oil (V3). Last year, I only put about 2000 miles. I don't get to take her out often as I used to.

[Lago86]

Just an amusing side track... My dad was an Italian immigrant. Every summer for my 1st 16 years of life, we would go to his house in Italy. He had an old Fiat 124(?) that his brother would use the 11 months we were not there. One year my dad checks the oil and it's black. He asked my Uncle when he last changed the oil. Uncle said, "oil change? I just add some once in a while". My dad just about lost his mind! I don't know how many miles it had, but for at least 10 years that little car never had fresh oil or a new filter, and it ran like a top. So, I guess what I'm getting at is, you may be able to stretch the interval a bit without repercussions. I jest, don't flame me ��.

[saneesh8]

I think our cars can tolerate much better than new ones. New cars, to get max mpg, everything is different. Saw a video about Toyota engines. 10k oil changes can cause sticky Rings. Watch this video -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJhFAwFv-O0