[GBMW6612]

I am a new BMW X3 owner and I am concerned about not changing the oil until 15000 miles. Every previous vehicle that I have ever owned I would change the oil every 3000 miles and never had any problems with any major motor issues. My wife has a 2010 335 and when it is in for inspection they will always due a under mileage oil change due that we don\'t drive it in the winter. I would like to see everyone\'s experience and suggestions on this issue.

Thanks!

[bren]

The "free" oil change interval from BMW is now 15k miles or 15 months.

No one in their right mind goes that long on a car they own, but on a lease......

[Earlofessex]

Originally Posted by bren

The "free" oil change interval from BMW is now 15k miles or 15 months.

No one in their right mind goes that long on a car they own, but on a lease......

I owned my 2002 330Cic. Drove it for 126,000 miles, changed the oil every 15-16k miles (whenever the dash said oil service), and had no engine problems. Same thing with my 325i, 132,000 miles, oil changes when the car said "change my oil", no problems.

I assume that you really meant "right brain" when you said "right mind". You're correct. The analytical side of my brain says "listen to BMW because they know more about your car than the people on this forum". I'll change my oil when BMW says change it.

[jk]

Originally Posted by Earlofessex

I owned my 2002 330Cic. Drove it for 126,000 miles, changed the oil every 15-16k miles (whenever the dash said oil service), and had no engine problems. Same thing with my 325i, 132,000 miles, oil changes when the car said "change my oil", no problems.

I assume that you really meant "right brain" when you said "right mind". You're correct. The analytical side of my brain says "listen to BMW because they know more about your car than the people on this forum". I'll change my oil when BMW says change it.

what happened at 126k and 132k? did you sell the vehicles or did they meet some other fate?

[welkerbrads]

I am like you I am old school. I have the 2011 28i and I change my oil every 7500 miles

[02420X3]

My driving pattern has apparently convinced CBS that 7500 mile oil changes are what my 35i needs, and I'm OK with that. Perhaps not if it were fossil oil, but I'm OK with the synthetic oil.

[jk]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

This thread seems to come up on XBimmers over and over again...

1. First of all the 15K mile/1year interval is a maximum. The actual interval (on a X3 F25) is a computed value based on what BMW calls "Condition Based Service" (CBS) which is often much less than 15K miles. A number of factors are used in the algorithm that calculates when the oil should be changed including the number of cold starts, the number of miles driven when cold, the amount of driving at high engine rpms, as well as total miles driven. On X3s that are mainly city driven with few long trips, the oil change interval can often be at about 7K miles.

2. The 28i and 35i engines use (7) quarts of oil which is quite a lot for a 3L engine.

3. BMW specifies a very high specification synthetic oil for these engines. It's not just any synthetic, but one that has an additive package that is formulated for very long service life.

4. Certainly, changing oil at shorter intervals may increase the life of your engine, but it's highly questionable if it will make any significant difference during the first 100K miles which is probably much longer than most new vehicle owners will keep the car.

5. Do whatever you want, change the oil ever 1000 miles if it lets you sleep better. After all, the earth has an unlimited supply of cheap oil and there's plenty for everyone.

BMW's have traditionally used high quality bearings and piston rings, so those tend to last a very long time (often 200K miles). The weak point in the newer BMW Double VANOS engines has been the seals in the camshaft advance system who's failure has nothing to do with how often the oil is changed, and some people even speculate that some of the high oil additive concentrations contribute to the early seal failure so changing oil too soon actually has an adverse effect on the seals.

I'd suggest that anyone who is interested in starting a debate of the factory recommended service intervals, at least search the entire XBimmers Forum. You will find hundreds of opinions about when to change your oil.

Been there-Done that!

what is your own protocol, lotus7?

[jk]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

In Illinois, the dealers will happily change your oil (free) when the CBS indicator signals an oil change is indicated. I know of (2) 28is and one 35i that indicated that oil changes were indicated at about 7K and about 8K, and all (3) had free changes that the dealership. I doubt that you could get the CBS change interval up to 15K unless you did all long-distance highway driving with very few cold starts and never let the engine exceed 4K revs.

so are you just going to follow the cbs indicator signals?

[bren]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

...dealers will happily change your oil (free) when the CBS indicator signals.....

Right, I should have said 15 months, or "whenever the computer says so."

I've done some Blackstone test (as have friends), and seen the insides of too many s54's, and there is no way I'd go 15k miles based on those results. BMW doesn't care about my engine past 50k miles - I do.

[RxCritical]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

In Illinois, the dealers will happily change your oil (free) when the CBS indicator signals an oil change is indicated. I know of (2) 28is and one 35i that indicated that oil changes were indicated at about 7K and about 8K, and all (3) had free changes that the dealership. I doubt that you could get the CBS change interval up to 15K unless you did all long-distance highway driving with very few cold starts and never let the engine exceed 4K revs.

I do approximately 70% highway driving. 38 miles one way to work. Right now my car has 12,000 miles on it and the computer is saying it will need a change at 15,900 miles. I frequently exceed 4K rpm's.

I changed my own oil at 5000 and 10000 and will go to a 7500 after the 15K service. YMMV

[Earlofessex]

Originally Posted by jk

what happened at 126k and 132k? did you sell the vehicles or did they meet some other fate?

Sold both times so I could upgrade to a new Bimmer . Driving an X3 3.5 now, as I was wearing out my back climbing in and out of the convertible. Getting old sucks. Only 1200 miles on the X3, but so far it's great!

Sold the 325i to my brother-in-law, who put another 50k miles on it. That was my first BMW, and it went 185k miles with no major engine issues. Dealer serviced only when the old indicator lights said so. Quite impressive.

[mibmwx3]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

I doubt that you could get the CBS change interval up to 15K unless you did all long-distance highway driving with very few cold starts and never let the engine exceed 4K revs.

10,725 miles on the odometer with oil change registering due in 4,500 miles. Also about 70% highway driving. I love driving fast so my engine exceeds 4K revs several times most days.

[paul386]

As has been said this has been beaten to death. Some people prefer higher oil change frequencies with no real scientific backing to it. If it makes you happy, do it!

Originally Posted by Lotus7

In Illinois, the dealers will happily change your oil (free) when the CBS indicator signals an oil change is indicated. I know of (2) 28is and one 35i that indicated that oil changes were indicated at about 7K and about 8K, and all (3) had free changes at the dealership. I doubt that you could get the CBS change interval up to 15K unless you did all long-distance highway driving with very few cold starts and never let the engine exceed 4K revs.

My first change was done at 15,075 miles with a few hundred miles left (maybe 200 or so) on the service warning. My trip to work is 13 miles each way and there isn't much between where I live and work so my trips are almost always longer than that!

[RhoXS]

Originally Posted by Earlofessex

... "listen to BMW because they know more about your car than the people on this forum". I'll change my oil when BMW says change it.

I suggest a great deal of caution with this approach if you intend to keep the vehicle well beyond the time BMW has accountability for fixing it and well beyond when most first owners keep their vehicle.

An extended oil change interval provides a significant marketing advantage. As long as the consequences of an extended interval do not impact the original owner of the car, or consequentially increase BMW's liability for fixing the car, they do not care. In other words, I think its very naive to think the very extended oil change intervals are driven by the engineers.

I change my oil every 7500 to 8000 miles. Although I certainly do not know for sure, I perceive this interval errs a little on the conservative side but provides a reasonable balance between not wasting money on unnecessary oil changes and assuring longevity of the machinery.

I generally change the oil after the second green light goes out. This is typically around 7500 to 8000 miles. I could probably safely wait until the third light goes out but I am willing to possibly waste money by not waiting simply for the peace of mind it gives me. I am sure the kidney grill dimensions change slightly after every fresh clean Mobile 1 oil change and a perceptible smile appears if you look close enough.

[paul386]

Originally Posted by RhoXS

I suggest a great deal of caution with this approach if you intend to keep the vehicle well beyond the time BMW has accountability for fixing it and well beyond when most first owners keep their vehicle.

An extended oil change interval provides a significant marketing advantage. As long as the consequences of an extended interval do not impact the original owner of the car, or consequentially increase BMW's liability for fixing the car, they do not care. In other words, I think its very naive to think the very extended oil change intervals are driven by the engineers.

I change my oil every 7500 to 8000 miles. Although I certainly do not know for sure, I perceive this interval errs a little on the conservative side but provides a reasonable balance between not wasting money on unnecessary oil changes and assuring longevity of the machinery.

I generally change the oil after the second green light goes out. This is typically around 7500 to 8000 miles. I could probably safely wait until the third light goes out but I am willing to possibly waste money by not waiting simply for the peace of mind it gives me. I am sure the kidney grill dimensions change slightly after every fresh clean Mobile 1 oil change and a perceptible smile appears if you look close enough.

Fear mongering. BMW's brand is the most valuable asset it has... reliability, even past 100k miles, is an important part of any car brand.

I'm certain they performed a cost-benefit analysis on the oil change frequency. There is a thing called "The Law of Diminishing Returns", Change your oil 2x as frequently and increase engine life by 1%... worth it? Probably not.

[02420X3]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

Since BMW is doing the X3 oil changes, I haven't had an opportunity (or any real reason) to get a sample of the oil to send to Blackstone, but it would be interesting to take a look at an analysis of it.

Being the curious person that I am, I asked BMW to take a sample at my CBS-recommended 7500 mile oil change. I didn't have a Blackstone kit available at the time, and borrowed a Caterpillar kit from work. My Blackstone kit has now arrived. I need to get off my butt, switch the sample bottles around, and send it in.

[jk]

Originally Posted by 02420X3

Being the curious person that I am, I asked BMW to take a sample at my CBS-recommended 7500 mile oil change. I didn't have a Blackstone kit available at the time, and borrowed a Caterpillar kit from work. My Blackstone kit has now arrived. I need to get off my butt, switch the sample bottles around, and send it in.

i think everyone here will be interested in your results.

[n55x3]

FWIW, I don't think the 15k MAX is accurate as others have mentioned. It is actually north of 16k at least that is what we experienced. Our first oil change was around 15,500. We hit 15,500 in about 8 months.

However I personally changed the oil at 2000 miles and will begin a 7500 OCI moving forward.

[Rodion]

Here we have oil change interval max 2 years or max 18750 miles (30 000km).

On my current car we changed after 2 years and no problems with the engine.

Climate is challenging (-40...+30 Celsius) and I have my car on the driveway at nights and in warm garage during (work) days.

It is interesting to see what BMW drive computer says when to change oil...

[Earlofessex]

Originally Posted by RhoXS

I suggest a great deal of caution with this approach if you intend to keep the vehicle well beyond the time BMW has accountability for fixing it and well beyond when most first owners keep their vehicle.

Done it twice, going over 120k miles on each car. Always waited until at least one yellow light came on. Never a problem. As I said, I trust BMW's guidance and intend to keep following it. They're trying to make me happy, and they've been successful for the last 20+ years.

[Le Chef]

The old fashioned way of changing oil every 3000 miles worked just fine when engine tolerances were poor and the oil companies offered a cheap reason to keep them in business.

But these days with tighter tolerances, smart engine diagnostics, and rising oil prices, most people are smart enough to let the sensors do the work and save them money. If you have a sports car (as opposed to a truck like an X3) then changing oil by the race hour makes equal sense.

As is always the case if you have money to burn keep changing your oil every 3000 miles - the oil companies will thank you.

[bren]

Originally Posted by Le Chef

The old fashioned way of changing oil every 3000 miles worked just fine when engine tolerances were poor and the oil companies offered a cheap reason to keep them in business.

But these days with tighter tolerances, smart engine diagnostics, and rising oil prices, most people are smart enough to let the sensors do the work and save them money. If you have a sports car (as opposed to a truck like an X3) then changing oil by the race hour makes equal sense.

As is always the case if you have money to burn keep changing your oil every 3000 miles - the oil companies will thank you.

I don't think anyone advocated for 3k mile oil changes. Unless they own a jiffy lube.

The only sensor in place is the one for oil level, and that hasn't exactly proven to be problem free. The only real way to tell is to send out a sample.

You are free to stick with the elaborate algorithm based purely on theory and the will of the accountants. I'll split the difference and keep the varnish and sludge out of my engine.