What is optimum interval for oil change?

[jrcowboys]

Guys:

I know this question has been asked a lot, and there is no one answer but I am considering extenting my change interval. For example, is it really true that there is more wear during the first 1000 miles after an oil change? If that is true then maybe it's better to extend your oil changes a bit. Note: My daughter's BMW goes close to 20K miles before the oil change indicator light comes on.

Currently I'm going 6K intervals using synthetic oil (Mobil 1 EP), this equates to approx each 6 months. Note: I keep my cars a long time (Lexus 132K, Lincoln 127K) and hope to keep these cars a few more years.

Thoughts?

JR

 

[ZZman]

I assume you mean optimum for wear/use instead of a combo of wear/use/price.

I would say 3,000 miles for Dino and 5-6,000 miles for normal Syn oil.

 

[HighViscosity]

There isn't any more wear during the first 1k miles, the oil starts life in its best condition and degrades from there. UOA's can be misleading about that, since fresh oil may pick up more junk that the old oil left behind. This can be observed by looking at Fe counts, since it fairly accurately increases with miles/engine hours.

Instead of generalized guessing about oil life in your particular engines with your particular driving style, why don't you get a few UOA's done, observe a trend, and then pick the best interval based on science, not on internet guesses.

If you don't want to bother with that, then I'd agree with ZZman, as those are generally good intervals.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I would use good synthetic with 10k miles, half of BMW OCI, and do not reset the oil change light until second oil change. Since it use cartridge oil filter, you may/may not need to change oil filter at 10k miles, exam the filter to see if it still in good shape to be use for another 10k miles, if not then change the filter.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I always do a 3 month oci whether syn or dino.

 

[Ken2]

The UOAs are the only thing that makes sense. Anything else, other than a built-in oil life monitor, is just guessing.

The thinking behind GM's oil life monitor explains a lot. Their oil life is a bell shaped curve. One low end of the curve has short, cool trips. The other low end are heavy, hot trips. The high middle of the curve are easy runs long enough to get the oil fully warmed. The sensors on the engine deliver temperatures, throttle position, speed, etc., and GM's algorithm makes a very conservative calculation calling for an oil change well before that oil is actually depleted.

For my family's driving, 10,000 mile ODI with Schaeffer syn blend or full syn always produces UOAs where the lab says that the oil remains good and to test again in 2000 miles. I send in a sample for test at every 30,000 mile maintenance interval.

 

[2KBMW]

Originally Posted By: jrcowboys
Guys:

I know this question has been asked a lot, and there is no one answer but I am considering extenting my change interval. For example, is it really true that there is more wear during the first 1000 miles after an oil change? If that is true then maybe it's better to extend your oil changes a bit. Note: My daughter's BMW goes close to 20K miles before the oil change indicator light comes on.

Currently I'm going 6K intervals using synthetic oil (Mobil 1 EP), this equates to approx each 6 months. Note: I keep my cars a long time (Lexus 132K, Lincoln 127K) and hope to keep these cars a few more years.

Thoughts?

JR



JR. I myself wouldn't go more than 6000 miles (10000 km) without an oil change.
It's not the oil in question but the filters. I don't think they last for long
oci's. An oil engineer once told my brother that the filters are the weakest link
in an engine. Now one word of advise on your daughter's BMW. Tell her to change
it at 6-8000 miles max. You don't want to know how a BMW filter looks like after
15-20000 miles without changing. Plus that engine will be sludged up in no time.
I do my BMW and other cars at 7-8000 km or about 5000 miles.

 

[mechtech2]

This reminds me of a reporter who asked Abraham Lincoln, "How long should a man's legs be?", since Lincoln was very tall for the time.

Lincoln's response: "Long enough to reach the ground."

Many OCIs are correct.

 

[FrankN4]

Originally Posted By: jrcowboys
Guys:

I know this question has been asked a lot, and there is no one answer but I am considering extenting my change interval. For example, is it really true that there is more wear during the first 1000 miles after an oil change? If that is true then maybe it's better to extend your oil changes a bit. Note: My daughter's BMW goes close to 20K miles before the oil change indicator light comes on.

Currently I'm going 6K intervals using synthetic oil (Mobil 1 EP), this equates to approx each 6 months. Note: I keep my cars a long time (Lexus 132K, Lincoln 127K) and hope to keep these cars a few more years.

Thoughts?

JR

 

[Papa Bear]

Why would you change the oil before the OLM says to change it ?? Does BMW not know what they are doing ?? Your car is "special" ??...

 

[Loobed]

I say 5000+ for synthetic. 3000 for dino. Or 1 year, which ever comes first.

 

[FZ1]

Hey,Tex. 6K or 6 months,with syn,is perfect down here.

 

[Eddie]

When a plot of your UOAs demonstrates the best mileage vs cost vs wanted engine life.

 

[FZ1]

But when you add the cost of the UOA;It changes your plot.Lol.

 

[GhostFlame]

I do 6000-7500 miles (7500 miles for my 8 qt fill in the BMW, 6,000 in the 5 qt fills of the Ford, Honda and VW)) with the synthetic and 3500 with Dino, altough I haven;t used a dino in a long time.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I think a newer nicer car justifies a more ardent and costly oil change routine than does an old clunker.

 

[tig1]

For 31 years now I do 10,000 mile OCIs. Never had an engine problem.

 

[HighViscosity]

Originally Posted By: tig1
For 31 years now I do 10,000 mile OCIs. Never had an engine problem.


that explains why they dont go over 300,000 miles.

 

[typ901]

Actually from my experience everything else on the car breaks, rusts or self-destructs before an engine seizes. Ok, except for one's that are not maintained at all. I run 15k a year on my car, and change full syn at 6 months or 7.5k miles. Mobil 1 5w30 and K&N filter or Mobil filter

 

[cjhepburn]

For OCIs, why is there not a correlation to amount of gas used?
Wouldn't that make more sense than just saying every 5000 miles.
For me, it would be for every 200 gallons of gas, I need an oil change. If I want to drive like I stole it and only get 20MPG then it would be 4000 miles or if I baby it and get 40MPG, then 8000 miles.
I guess the downfall is that you need to keep track of the gas used.