European OCI's & Engine Longevity

[number_41]

Besides an occasional post with pictures of BMW engines sludged because of 15K mile OCI's (and most suspect it was because of NO OCI's) is there any info on engines going 100K, 200K, or 300K miles following their manufacturers recommendations of OCI's of 10k, 12K, 15K or 20K, of course utilizing a properly spec'd European oil?

I know that oil brands, change intervals and UOA interpretations are endless on this board and have read a lot of enjoyable, interesting posts. But my question kind've cuts to the bottom line, doesn't it?

Opinions (to make for interesting reading) and facts (to make for good information upon which I can make a judgement), please?

 

[Quattro Pete]

The only tidbit of info I can offer is from one of European BMW forums... I see a lot of members there with engines upwards of 200K km, running rather typical 15k km intervals using either synthetic or semi-synthetic oils. Their engines are still alive.

Some of them may actually have a lot more than 200K km because the practice of rolling back odometers on second hand cars is very common in some parts of Europe. And those cars aren't babied by any stretch of imagination. They're driven fairly hard.

 

[chubbs1]

They are well built engines and many have double the oil capacity of their Japanese and US competitors. When you have quality oil and that much of it to use up (TBN) then you can have longer change intervals.

This is a basic straight forward answer I am sure more elaboration will be done.

Matt

 

[buickman50401]

Wife has 2.slow '06 Golf. 10k/1yr OCI on 502 approved oil.

I never go that long based on her driving habits. She drives mostly in town short trips with about once a month out of town round trips of about 150mi. I choose to go with a 6mo interval regardless of mileage (which is usually less than 5k in that period).

My reasoning is a concern over a lack of a "severe service" schedule in the owners manual. I have no idea what they are basing their 1yr/10k mi OCI on. Is it mixed highway city? Its it mostly highway? Does it include lots of short in town trips.

For less than $40/more a year I keep her car from driving around with heavy fuel dilution. I don't even bother to run a 502 approved oil since I'm not going for the 10k/1yr long haul which from my understanding of the specs is primarily the purpose of the 502 spec. Summer is usually Rotella T6 and winter a 5w30 syn (PP, Syntec, or Mobil1).

 

[williar]

After following the Audi boards for the last 10 years, I have not read of any engine failures due to oil when the car was maintained to factory-recommended OCIs with a factory-recommended grade of oil. Many of these cars have gone well beyond 200K miles.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Yeah, I think the Germans' 10-15k mile OCIs, with typical 6, 7, 8 quart sumps, aren't as demanding on oil as, say, GM's and Toyota's and Honda's 10k mile OCIs with 4-5 quart sumps. There are a few US and Japanese large-sump engines, but as I understand, they're not as common as those from Europe. When you have double the oil volume, it's probably safe to assume you have more oil cooling capacity and more contaminant capacity as well.

And most US/Japan "long" OCIs are done specifying generic SL/SM/SN oils without manufacturer-specific requirements. I think it'll be more interesting to see how these US/Japanese engines do, with the smaller sumps and similarly long OCIs.

 

[Artem]

I noticed most people who are members on a car forum for the model they own, tend to change the oil more frequently then the manual calls for, so their engines will be cleaner then the granny who has been taking her car to the dealer every 15k for the last 10 years and knows diddly squat about oil and maintenance to begin with.

 

[Artem]

This is actually a very good situation where a UOA can help determine if the factory recommended interval is right for you or not.

Take my 07 Honda Civic EX. The Factory OLM comes on at about 6-7k based on my driving style/conditions.

With the UOA report i've determined that the mostly highway driving the car sees is rather easy on the oil and i'm now up to 10-12k OCIs with the car which has a 4 quart sump. (1.8L engine)

Since the Euro's don't have a severe service interval in their manual and just slap the 15k rule on every car regardless of driving style/conditions, i'd be a little hesitant to go the distance if say my driving style was a little on the harsh side.

 

[steve20]

^^^^^^^

"""My reasoning is a concern over a lack of a "severe service" schedule in the owners manual. I have no idea what they are basing their 1yr/10k mi OCI on. Is it mixed highway city? Its it mostly highway? Does it include lots of short in town trips."""

I think that's what he said in his original post