BMW OCI - Not okay

[TomYoung]

I have acquired a new BMW 3. BMW will pay for all oil changes until the car has 50,000 miles, but their recommendation is for 14,000 mile oil changes. The OLM seems to be operating in sync with this time.

I would be a heck of a lot more comfortable with a 10,000 mile interval. I note that my car is a 2013, but BMW has changed the identical 2014's to 10,000 miles.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to negotiate with the dealer to get the 10,000 mile service. I am certainly willing to forgo the last oil change if that will do the trick.

 

[gomes512]

What is the sump capacity on that engine?

 

[Johnny248]

Pay for the oil change yourself If you are not comfortable with their maintence schedule.

 

[supton]

How long do you plan to own the car for?

If in 2014 BMW shortened the OCI... can you ask the dealer to clarify just why it is?

50k/14k is 3.6, so the dealer is on the hook for 3 oil changes. Push come to shove you could state that you're willing to pay for oil changes after 30k.

 

[SatinSilver]

Just come in early at 10k for the oil change and see how they handle it. Then keep coming in at 10k intervals till the number 3 mark.

 

[dparm]

You need to go in when the oil life meter says to, not just every 15k. Depending on your driving that might work out to a shorter period or a longer one. I actually just asked a question about it: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3316757/How_do_the_BMW_OLMs_work?

Most owners opt to do an intermediate change on their own at the halfway point (around 7,500 in your case).

Which particular 3-series do you have?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Maybe BMW spec real synthetic instead of the phoney stuff

Just pay for the OCI your comfortable with. Is this the turbo 4?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: TomYoung
I would be a heck of a lot more comfortable with a 10,000 mile interval. I note that my car is a 2013, but BMW has changed the identical 2014's to 10,000 miles.

How many miles a year do you drive? BMW will change your oil once a year, even if you don't get to 14K miles.

Alternatively, just do your own in-between changes, like many BMW owners do.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Maybe BMW spec real synthetic instead of the phoney stuff

BMW requires the oil to carry the LL-01 spec. You don't need a "real synthetic" (whatever that means to you) to meet this spec.

 

[TomYoung]

Answering questions:

The sump capacity is a little over 7 quarts.

The car is a 320i xdrive but will be as fast as your M3 once I install Asian stickers and coffee can exhaust tip.

I will drive this car at least 200,000 miles if at all possible. I have driven a number of cars this distance and more.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: TomYoung
The sump capacity is a little over 7 quarts.

Are you sure? I believe it's closer to 5.5 quarts.

 

[ecotourist]

I have a 2000 528i. I agree that the recommended oil change interval is a concern. Will get you through the warranty period no doubt but maybe not a long life.

My dealer suggested that if I intended to keep the car for a long time, an oil change at half the recommended interval (at about 12,000 km - or 7500 miles) would better protect the top end. I don't reset the oil life monitor at that half interval change so the maintenance minder doesn't get off schedule. That has worked well. I'm now not putting many miles on it so I just change it once a year.

You probably wouldn't need to change the filter at the half way change though as the OEM ones are very good quality and they stay pretty clean even for the full interval. I replace mine every second change.

It's easy enough to do changes on mine in the driveway using ramps. My 528i has the M-Sport package with aero effects, meaning it's low enough I need extensions to get onto the ramps

 

[rich mds]

If you plan on keeping the car for longer than 3-4 years I would recommend you change the oil earlier than the maintenance reminder. Also check your oil every 1-3K miles. Some models burn a quart per thousand miles, which is within BMW specs, models vary I have seen it with M3, 328, 335, but its not consistent one M3 may burn a quart per 1K another M3 does not have the issue.
For people that lease it for 2-3 years it doesnt matter it becomes someone else's problem. For people that want to keep the car longer perform maintenance on a shorter schedule than BMW recommends.

 

[ecotourist]

I use GC (German Castrol 0W-30) which is readily available and meets the BMW LL-01 standard. It appears as good as and maybe better than the oil used by BMW dealers (Castrol 5W-30 I believe).

 

[SatinSilver]

Over the course of 100k miles it's an extra 3 oil changes going from 15k to 10k oci's. Do the extra 3 oil changes = cheap insurance. An omimous number came about when dividing 100k by 15k = 6.66 oil changes.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: TomYoung
Answering questions:

The sump capacity is a little over 7 quarts.

The car is a 320i xdrive but will be as fast as your M3 once I install Asian stickers and coffee can exhaust tip.

I will drive this car at least 200,000 miles if at all possible. I have driven a number of cars this distance and more.



I'll be at the track this summer, so feel free to join my run groups.

My advice is to let BMW change it whenever the car's OLM says, and do an intermediate change yourself with an off-the-shelf LL01 oil:

Mobil 1 0w40
Castrol Edge 0w40
Valvoline SynPower 5w40
Castrol Edge 5w40
Castrol Edge 0w30

The intermediate change should only set you back about $40 for the oil and another $15 or so for the filter.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Valvoline SynPower 5w40

The MST version of this product that's sold at retail does not meet LL-01 spec.

 

[Solarent]

Originally Posted By: TomYoung
I have acquired a new BMW 3. BMW will pay for all oil changes until the car has 50,000 miles, but their recommendation is for 14,000 mile oil changes. The OLM seems to be operating in sync with this time.

I would be a heck of a lot more comfortable with a 10,000 mile interval. I note that my car is a 2013, but BMW has changed the identical 2014's to 10,000 miles.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to negotiate with the dealer to get the 10,000 mile service. I am certainly willing to forgo the last oil change if that will do the trick.


I've never had any issues with early changes on my wife's 3 Series. They even keep my oil samples for me when they do the change. We do just over 10,000 miles and that has worked well. When we first got it the samples on the first 2 changes showed oxidative thickening, which is why we dropped it down.

I just scheduled the maintenance appointment and told the service writer when they plugged in my key that I knew it might say it was early but I wanted it done anyway.

 

[jigen]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: TomYoung
I would be a heck of a lot more comfortable with a 10,000 mile interval. I note that my car is a 2013, but BMW has changed the identical 2014's to 10,000 miles.

How many miles a year do you drive? BMW will change your oil once a year, even if you don't get to 14K miles.

Alternatively, just do your own in-between changes, like many BMW owners do.


This is what I would do.

 

[Kuato]

Why not just change it yourself at 7k, 21k, 35k etc and let them do their thing at 14, 28, and 42?