New Bimmers - 29k OCIs?

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ScottB

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My colleague purchased a 2006 3-series and told me today that they do 20k OCIs and won't even LET him change it before that.
It seems insane to me - especially if HE wants to do it before then.

Does anyone know the scoop on this???
 
They do oil changes for free for the first 4years/50k miles, as well as almost every other maintainence item including brakes and clutches. so since they are free, they can set when they do them. if he wants to do them inbetween he can go to another shop and have them do it and pay for them.

a coworker has a 04 M3. when he took it in for the oil change they flushed his brake fluid for him at the same time. they said that they automatically do it on the oil changes.
 
I know, but not even the hard core here (that I've seen) do 20k OCIs?
They refused to let him do it even if he paid.
That just seems freakin' odd to me.
 
I don’t see how they can refuse to let him do oil changes on his own car. Like …huh????

I would unlikely go past 10-12k miles on a OCI even with good synthetics. I would just change the oil out myself and forget what the dealer says.
 
I had no problems changing the oil on my new 530i at 1500mi, way before the scheduled 15k interval. The service advisor told me it is not necessary (he said they are required to warn me), but I insisted politely and there was no problem. I bet if your colleage is a little more aggressive they'll do it, or try another dealer. 20k is way too long, changing it halfway is a good idea... and the way I look at it, at least every other oil change will be free.
 
There has to be a time line along with that 20k OCI. Suppose he only drives 5k a year
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I doubt 4 years is the service interval.
 
20K seems very unreasonable considering that BMW has for sometime used onboard oil analyzers that will "according to BMW" determine the proper time to change oil. Most current bmw's see about 15K on that meter before they generally reach the last bar on the meter.

In addition, you are allowed upto one oil change per oil change interval that you can have completed. I changed my own oil on both Mseries cars and would have the complimentary ones done as well.
 
^They don't use the meter setup anymore.

You get one oil change a year or when the OBC tells you, it averages off fuel mileage but he must be doing a lot of freeway driving to get a 20k+ reading. However it's easy to have that thing change as some hard driving will start to bring it down much quicker.

They use Castrol TXT 5w30 which has proven to be a good oil but not something I would run past 7-8k miles myself. However, most people lease new BMW's and could care less about dealing with upkeep.
 
BMW's business model for NA is predicated on the vehicle, while under warrenty, having the hood openned as few times as possible.

They have a different business model for their vehicles once outside of warrenty
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Very true. Their post-warranty business model is Bring Money With you. And lots of it. I very briefly considered buying an '03 M5 last year, but just couldn't wrap my arms around their post-warranty world. I'd rather spend that much money on the kids or sack it away. Took what I would have spent on the M5 and bought a new S60R with a very long extended warranty.
 
Almost all highway miles and purchased, not leased.
I have never even considered a BMW, and I honestly thought that that sort of "recommendation" was a setup for costly post-warranty work.
No thanks - I don't even like BMWs so that's an easy "NO"
 
ScottB,

It's very hard to drive around SoCal without spending LOTS of time stuck in traffic, in other words severe service conditions. However since BMW fits large oil sumps to their engines, fairly long OCI's are still possible.

I'd recommend a fixed, 10,000 mile/1 year OCI in this particular application with a PAO/Ester synthetic that meets or exceeds the BMW LL-01 specifications,or the new low SAPS, BMW LL-04 spec.

TD
 
TD, thanks - I'll pass that on to my friend.
That's about as long as I'd go - I'm still mentally challenged going 4500 on M1/GC.
 
I think BMW is being "Penny wise and Pound Foolish", with this OCI, business. If I wanted to buy a BMW off of lease, for whatever reason, I would not. These cars will have been "abused", to my way of thinking, and will not have the lonegevity, that BMW, is noted for. I have a 1979 733i, with over 206,000 miles, that I have owned for over 25 years and used it as my everyday driver, for over two decades. If this car car was coming off lease, I would not buy it, because of it's OCI history. Something to think about BMW.
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German Car you know...
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Why buy a very expensive automobile and then cheap out on oil changes? Makes NO sense to me at all. I'd be doing 5k OCI's and running that car for 300,000 miles. The long OCI's will cost you 150,000 miles of use. Very foolish.
 
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Why buy a very expensive automobile and then cheap out on oil changes? Makes NO sense to me at all. I'd be doing 5k OCI's and running that car for 300,000 miles. The long OCI's will cost you 150,000 miles of use. Very foolish.

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Most people are leasing for 4 years or less. They could care less about changing the oil, less time at the dealer is better in their mind. It makes it tougher for people like me who buy BMW's used but I've yet to have any mechanical issues with them.
 
Also I don't what it's like in Ohio but BMW's are the Chevy out here so they are not considered unique or special. It's great for people like me, cheap parts and lots of salvage yards full of them when I take on projects.
 
Oil Extractor. I have a friend w/ this car and what I recommended was dealer synth OC in fall and DIY oil extraction in late spring (after 7-8 months) using a plain old 15w40.
 
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