15k mile oil change intervals on BMW's are not enough - see pics

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quote:

Originally posted by 99 GASE2:


from: http://www.justracing.com/bmw/viewtopic.php?t=12

Any comments ?


I noticed this post at the bottom of the page you linked to:

quote:

PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 3:43 am Post subject: Reply with quote
How about the lifetime fuel filters, no diff oil change it goes on and on.
It is not a coincidence that BMW stopped servicing cars properly at the same time they started giving away "Free Service" or "scheduled maintenance"
_________________
Ramon

Is this another case where "Follow the money" explains the problem?
 
One more reason I'd never buy a high-end European car coming off lease. If this is an example of Green Party eco-philosophy in action, guess what they can blow...
 
Couple of Comments:

1) My BMW mechanic (an independent) uses the Factory BMW 5w-30 synthetic (they get it for $4.00 a quart). He said they recommend to their customers to change the oil once between the factory recomended OCI (approx 7000 miles). He said in those cars they are still running well at 100,000 miles. In the cars that have followed the factory OCI, he said they have very noisy valvetrains by the time they reach 100,000 miles and sound like they are falling apart.

2) The BMW oil change monitor is nothing more than a fuel consumption device. After the car has consumed a certain number of liters of fuel, it says it is time to change the oil.

Cary
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ray H:
One more reason I'd never buy a high-end European car coming off lease. If this is an example of Green Party eco-philosophy in action, guess what they can blow...

This has nothing to do with Green Party politics. This has to do with BMW NA wanting to lower the "maintence costs" to improve their rankings in JD powers. How enviromentally friendly is it to have to junk a car that is worn out at 100k miles instead of 200k miles? Not very.

As a long time BMW owner, I feel that BMW should be ashamed of themselves for the destroying what were the best sport sedans on the planet. They used to reliable vehicles that lasted for 250,000 miles or more. Now they are about as reliable as a Jaguar and last just about as long. The traditional BMW customers are slowly but surely dissapearing.
 
Point being...Germans have figured out that it no longer makes sense to make 1 vehicle design for 10 years without changes and to make it last forever. Instead, they are moving towards built-in disposability of their designs, materials and build quality. They're still better than anything else on wheels though...just use better oil.
 
quote:

2) The BMW oil change monitor is nothing more than a fuel consumption device. After the car has consumed a certain number of liters of fuel, it says it is time to change the oil.

That should be a fair indicator of oil fatigue. This is allegedly how engineers figure the life of an engine ..by how much fuel passes through it. It's fairly blind to whether the use is highway or bumper to bumper ..but the consumption should be the equalizer. Even fuel system anomalies should be covered.
 
Where's the oil analysis at ?

That would stop the speculating over the "show me the pictures" crowd. yuk.

Of course if the owner had used oil analysis he may not have ended up with the gelatinous soup.
 
Thanks Cary, I remember that now that BMW used a fuel consumption based indicator.

Actually I think that is more crude than the GM calculator, but it doesn't matter either way. Both assume that everything else is in top working order and it often is not. It's just a matter of philosophy, but both assume the engine has no other issues.

I lean more towards an ocassional uoa rather than huge sumps and over extended drains. The expenses work out and used oil does get recycled.

I don't understand BMW and other manufacturer's recommending some of these oci's. It's a stretch at best.

[ December 02, 2004, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: haley10 ]
 
On Car & Driver's long-term-test Mini they said the service indicator went off at 12k, and the next time was at 30k. 18k on oil? Oooookayyy....
dunno.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by Cary:
This has nothing to do with Green Party politics.

It has everything to do with the Greens' eco-agenda by their legislating policy in Europe that's resulted in effectively tossing a common-sense approach to engine care - routine oil changes at sensible time/mileage intervals. Sure you can reliably go 15,000 miles - even 30,000 miles - between oil and filter changes, providing you can manage to drive at steady autobahn speeds with the engine fully warmed and use a first rate synthetic. Driving in the real world is another matter. Extreme weather - hot or cold, insufficiently warmed engines, and stop-and-go gridlock take an inevitable toll on any oil. Fifteen grand for general running around in the above conditions is just flat out excessive on highly tuned motors already running near the limit for available oils.
 
One technical phrase immediately comes to mind here: POOPIE DIAPERS!

If a fraction of 1% of newer Toyota engines (that's the estimate I've heard) develop excessive sludge, then all of these engines somehow collectively become known as "sludge monsters." If some tiny number of BMW engines turn poopie diaper like the one above (please provide evidence if the numbers are higher than this) with 15K oil changes, then this means that BMW oil change recommendations and extended oil changes in general are an abomination???

I won't defend 15K oil changes (I'd personally never go that long, and wouldn't be surprised if doing so could eventually lead to problems), but will say that conclusions should be based on trends, not isolated cases. "Green" drives automotive design to some extent, but marketing and competition plays a much bigger role. Hence, "lifetime" fluids, which are evidently refined by fairies using pixie dust from unicorn horns -- a marketing driven fiction. No need to demonize the Greens for decisions made in the Marketing Dept.

[ December 02, 2004, 07:43 PM: Message edited by: TC ]
 
God, I can see my wife's Saturn motor looking like that. Poopie diapers? Looks like someone made fudge in the oil pan and then it got hot....and then emptied a poopie diaper in there!

Bummer for the Bimmer.

-JamesW
 
quote:

I'd like to know what actual symptoms led to the opening of this engine. Massive failure? Generating smoke? What? I mean you don't usually get up in the morning and suddenly say to yourself, "hey, I think I'll drop my oil pan today to check for sludge. . ."

...exactly what I was thinking.
There is more to this story. Something went wrong with the oil or oci.
7500 is a better interval for that A3/HC oil. twice a year....assuming it is even actually HC or A3-rated oil???.
 
This to me doesnt look very accurate, perhaps its Dino oil put in by accident, and changed accordingly to the OCI in the book, which is for synthetic.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Bobert:
I wonder if this car is in Europe? I know there was a thread in here talking about counterfeit oils that were sold in Europe that were supposedly premium synthetic (there was a picture too and it was a sludge monster).

Bobert, I think you hit the nail on the head here...the oil wasn't what the owner thought it was. I can't see any PAO crudding up like this if he changed the oil every 15K. Dino was in the bottle of SLX or M1. He got taken.
 
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