[nkcavs23]

OK so I have been searching high and low, on BMW website, in the owners manual, on here, Google, etc... I cannot for the life of me find a consistent answer about service intervals. I bought my 2014 X3 xDrive35i with 25k miles on it, and the dealership did an oil change at that point. It has been about 10 months since and I have put about 9500 miles on the car (approaching 35k).

I know at this point I have to be close to an oil change, if not by miles driven but rather by time. (It has always been my understanding that you change oil yearly regardless of how many miles are driven)

Anyway, the best answer I have found is to trust what the car's computer tells you, but I have also seen many posts stating that the sensors are notorious for being bad... How do I know that I can trust it?

[interlock]

I had same issue with my BMW 235. Most of the newer BMWs now base the service on more than just date. There is no yearly service now but rather when the car and system decide.

[Pinewood]

Regardless of what the car tells me, my plan is to give it an oil and oil filter change every year or 10,000 miles. As i plan to keep this car for many many years, it makes sense to me

[nkcavs23]

Originally Posted by Pinewood

Regardless of what the car tells me, my plan is to give it an oil and oil filter change every year or 10,000 miles. As i plan to keep this car for many many years, it makes sense to me

This is generally the same way I think as well, but I find it unbelievable that there is no suggested maintenance written anywhere. So frustrating!

[plymjack]

With hi tec synthetic oils and sensor monitoring then you can indeed leave it to the car to tell you when it is needed. -
If your a taxi doing stop start town driving all day then even 10,000 would be a lot - if you only do 500mile long motorway trips once a month then once a year may still be a lot?

[kevink1]

My 2015 displays a countdown when I turn on the car. Counts down in 1000 mile increments until < 5000. Then 100 mile increments. You may just have to look at the instrument panel for the short display.

[Pinewood]

I have done 3500 miles in mine and yet the notification at startup still says "service due in 11000 miles". Current mileage is 6900

[Takehold]

My new X3 now has 3000 miles on it and when I started the car today it said service due in 2800 miles so it would have 5800 on it for first oil change - BUT, it has slowly been going down as I drive so it may be closer to 2000(5000) total by the time it says I need an oil change. I have always changed my oil between 4500 and 5K with my previous Acura TL 09. That just must be due to my driving style/conditions here on Long Island since the Acura computer used to indicate service at the same milage. Just an fyi for anyone interested and I always use synthetic. So basically I change the oil about every 5-6 months since I average about 10K a year for the last 6+ years.

[nkcavs23]

So basically this thread has turned into everything else I have read and there is no answer, so here's what I'm going with:

Trust your computer's reading, but if you get to 15k miles or 1yr between oil changes get it done.

Objections?

[Pinewood]

That makes sense to me. I'm just not comfortable waiting 20k for an oil change. Call me old fashioned

[Takehold]

no objection. I have never and will never go past 6K. Ever. However, I do all my own work so I do what I want anyway.