BMW 335 Factory Fill Test with 19k miles..Not good

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and also they do NOT want the engine to last 100000 miles past its warranty period, or they would not sell as many cars.


...snip

No offense, but I've never really believed the conspiracy that car manufacturers intend their vehicles to blow up once the warranty expires so they can sell new cars. I don't think it takes a marketing wiz to figure out that someone is not going to buy a new BMW if their last one just blew up at 100K. They are going to switch brands really quick. Also BMW depends on their vehicles to hold their resale value in order to keep lease rates low. If I remember correctly something like 60% of BMWs are leased. If the cars didn't hold their resale they wouldn't be able to keep the residual so high. And would not be as competitive with brands like Acura that don't cost as much but don't hold their value as well. If a consumer can buy a car that has a MSRP that is $4K higher but can get the same monthly payment because the residual is higher, they might just buy it because it has more perceived value for the money.

So I don't agree that BMW doesn't care about the longevity of their vehicles.

I think this is a case of break in oil that looks like...break in oil. I probably would have dumped it earlier, but after that the OLM would have been just fine. I don't think this engine is toast.
 
i said 100000 miles PAST the warranty period, which is quite a long time. i got my 530 for $6000, down from its original price of $60000 in a 10 year period, and i that was at the dealer!

luckily the engine block and pistons were replaced under warranty (yes the engine did blow up at 100K) so my engine basically has 50K miles on it and has seen shorter OCIs. the old sludge buildup is still in the oil canister and timing case, even after 50K miles, although the block and pistons and rods are spotless, look like they were just installed.
 
and that even being the case, there is no way in #@$%! i would switch to an acura with better reliability, because i love the car that much.

most of the japanese cars just dont have the same soul that a german car has. like the new Lexus LS for example, which feels more like you are playing a video game in an uncomfortable chair than driving a car.
 
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anybody know what the BMW factory fill oil is?
thanks




What could it be at best, synthetic oil. But synthetic oil till 20K is ridiculous, I bet the filter went into bypass long before this. There are a lot of id.ots out there trying to charm young women with their little BMW toys, they must be sucking their wounds with these reports
shocked.gif
. Good for BMW owners..
 
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I bet the filter went into bypass long before this.




FWIW when I open up the filter on my "low end" Ecotec 4 banger after 6000 miles on dino, the paper pretty much looks like new paper soaked in oil. So I'm not really convinced a Bimmer on syn would be much of a problem at 20,000. I think Honda says your OCI can be 10,000 with a filter change every other time and their filter is thimble sized. I'm assuming a Bimmer has a big sump & filter?
 
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i said 100000 miles PAST the warranty period, which is quite a long time.




Sorry I misread your post. But those conspiracy theorists exist - apparently you are not one of them.
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and that even being the case, there is no way in #@$%! i would switch to an acura with better reliability, because i love the car that much.




I agree with you there, and my point was that BMW can still compete with Acura even though they cost more. Imagine if you could have a more expensive BMW over an Acura but pay the same monthly lease payment. If someone is on the fence, they might opt for the BMW because it has a better perceived value.

And, believe it or not, the BMW maintenance is another check in their column. Whether people here agree or not with the maintenance guidelines, a lot of people are going to feel good about buying a used BMW because they know that it was taken care of by the dealer. Also, since the service was free it would most likely be done on time and have service records.
 
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I bet the filter went into bypass long before this.




FWIW when I open up the filter on my "low end" Ecotec 4 banger after 6000 miles on dino, the paper pretty much looks like new paper soaked in oil. So I'm not really convinced a Bimmer on syn would be much of a problem at 20,000. I think Honda says your OCI can be 10,000 with a filter change every other time and their filter is thimble sized. I'm assuming a Bimmer has a big sump & filter?




I, too, have cut open many oil filters, and have never found anything in them but oil. I used Mobil 1 for one year or 18,000-20,000 mile OCI's from the time it came out back in the 70's until I retired in 2001,with nary a problem with any of the engines in my various cars.

The only thing that might make me want to change oil more frequently in that 335 BMW is the fact that has turbos, 2 of them if I'm not mistaken. If I were to be using them like they are designed to be used, and considering the price of the car, I might consider changing the oil every 10,000 miles.
 
Seriously, one extra free dealer oil change at 5000 or even 10,000 miles would go a long way in the goodwill and reputation departments.
 
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Maybe BMW recommends 15k~20k OCI but do they recommend that for the FIRST change?




Last BMW I had was like that, 2003 model year. I don't think it has changed. The manual tells you to follow the OLM. They could easily program them to go early on the first oil change if they wanted to. I went a little over 15K on the first oil change for the Z4.

That was pre-BITOG days. I would have sampled it earlier though and sent it to Terry.
 
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Maybe BMW recommends 15k~20k OCI but do they recommend that for the FIRST change?



The first change is ~15k miles or even 19k miles since it's based off your fuel mileage. So if your getting 30 mpg, the longer the interval compared to 20 mpg. They have been using this system for nearly a decade.

If you bought a new BMW back in the 80's at 1200 mi. they would change the engine/tranny/diff fluids (like they still do in M cars) and keep a very rigorus maintenance schedule.

AFAIK, BMW still builds very robust engines so any of us BITOG people could easily get a long lifetime out of them.
 
What a B.S. comment. Got any data to back that up?

Craig.


Plus Bimmers aren't half the cars they used to be .Bimmers and Mercedes are about the only cars mfgs. that quality has gone down instead of improving or staying somewhat the course.


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I have a 97 M3 and know a lot BMW owners, including track driven cars.

Anything over 7500 mi on synthetic is crazy. The oil system (surprisingly) is not that good in BMWs. They don't use oil galleys in the oil. Take one for a ride and corner hard. It will start valve clanging, because the oil is not reaching the hydraluic lifters. The oil also simply gets dirty.

BMW oil in the US is Valvoline SynPower. In Europe, it is rebranded Castrol Syntec.

These cars were intended to be driven hard and corner hard, but the engines are not suitable for this. You need an aftermarket oil pan and using the correct viscosity which is 5W-40 or 10W-60 in most engines for it to last.

Most owners don't get it and assume German engineering will take care of it. It won't.

Don't even waste your time on a used BMW with long dealer oil changes. 100,000 mi car and it's spent if you want to have any fun with it.
 
I have a 97 M3 and know a lot BMW owners, including track driven cars.

Anything over 7500 mi on synthetic is crazy. The oil system (surprisingly) is not that good in BMWs. They don't use oil galleys in the oil. Take one for a ride and corner hard. It will start valve clanging, because the oil is not reaching the hydraluic lifters. The oil also simply gets dirty.

BMW oil in the US is Valvoline SynPower. In Europe, it is rebranded Castrol Syntec.

These cars were intended to be driven hard and corner hard, but the engines are not suitable for this. You need an aftermarket oil pan and using the correct viscosity which is 5W-40 or 10W-60 in most engines for it to last.

Most owners don't get it and assume German engineering will take care of it. It won't.

Don't even waste your time on a used BMW with long dealer oil changes. 100,000 mi car and it's spent if you want to have any fun with it
 
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Alright, let me ask you this: if YOU were to go out and buy a new BMW today, how long would YOU keep the factory fill in for?

This whole thread is proof that higher education and common sense don't go hand in hand.



I'll leave it in until the service interval indicator requests a change, or one-year, whichever occurs first. As Turbodriven has stated, BMWs in other countries follow the service interval indicator exclusively and have no long-term durability issues.

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the recommended OCI for BMW brand oil is 7500 miles in a naturally aspirated engine seeing "Normal" driving habits.



Maybe by you, but BMW suggests follow the service indicator or one-year, whichever comes first.
 
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