BMW OCI's

[DAC17]

Recently bought a 2005 X5 3.0i for the wife. BMW, of course, provides "recommended service", which means an oil change when the dash lights turn yellow. I understand this can frequently take 10,000 miles. Any of you guys have experience about whether we should have an interim oil change at, say, 5,000 miles?

Thanks.

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

As long as you use the BMW Long Life synthetic oil you should be fine.

If you drive in dusty areas or tow then I would change at 5K.

 

[Hootbro]

Even if it has to be on your dime, change it at 5K with whatever oil spec your owners manual calls out. Seen to many reports of sludged BMW motors going by the extended drain intervals.

Hootbro

 

[shanneba]

The BMW oil life monitor will most likely call for about a 15,000 mile OCI in your 2005 X5. You can alos request an oil change at one year intervals if the service interval indicator still doesn't show a need for a change.

I would change it at a max of 7500 miles/ 6 months and use a BMW LL01 rated oil like the BMW 5w-30, Castrol 0w-30 or Mobil 1 0w-40.

I have been changing my 2003 330Ci every 5000 miles or so.

 

[Jim 5]

I would second Shanneba's thoughts. I've seen at least one UOA on bmw's that went 15k miles on the BMW longlife synth and they were not horrible.

However, I have done alot of looking on this subject and I've decided to go 7500 miles on my 2002 330ci. I would guess that is relatively conservative on a BMW LL01 ACEA A3 oil. The ones shanneba mentions all satisfy these requirements and would all be excellent choices.

Another person mentioned that the BMW's like 40wts. You will note that the Castrol 0w30 (German Castrol Only) and the as the BMW High Performance Sythetic all ring it at close to 12.2 cST at 100 (which puts them at the very high end of the 30 weight scale). I'm not sure where the M1 would be, but I'm guessing pretty close.

 

[vad]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jim 5:
You will note that the Castrol 0w30 (German Castrol Only)...

---

...readily available at your local AutoZone.

 

[JHZR2]

7500 miles is a good starting point. Depending upon your driving profile and style, you certainly may be able to take it out further - somnething that UOA can capture, and the car computer likely cannot.

All highway and a light foot: the computer suggestion is likely OK.

After breakin, start using LC. It will help the oil stay 'fresher' longer, aiding in whatever drain interval you choose.

JMH

 

[FowVay]

I agree with JHZR2, I have settled in to 7500 mile drain intervals with my car. The oil life monitor in my BMW starts the count down at 15,000 miles and will accelerate the count based upon certain conditions such as the number of cold starts, amount of fuel consumed, etc.

Over the past 6 years of ownership with my car I have witnessed BMW changing their oil recommendation from a 5W-40 viscosity to a 5W-30. I really liked BMW's 5W-40 but I have not been impressed with their 5W-30. The areas of disappointment with the 5W-30 have been the awful brown deposits left on the valve cover and large amounts of oil that are caused by vapors puddling in the vent piping.

These engines are prone to shearing oils quickly but if the drain interval isn't too excessive they don't seem to suffer from this phenomenon. Due to this I don't believe it is wise to run the drain interval out to the 15,000 miles recommended by BMW. Once the oil has sheared out of grade it is going to thicken back to its original viscosity and ultimately higher up the J300 scale until it's out of grade once again. This is the result of oxidation and nitration and the reason why oils need to be changed in the first place.

Your useage will dictate the best drain interval for your engine but my personal useage has shown 7500 miles to be a good compromise between a clean engine and reduced cost of ownership.

I do all of my own maintenance so it normally costs me $36 for a oil change on my 323i which includes 6 quarts of oil and a OEM BMW filter. I currently am using Amsoil 10W-40 and a Mann-Hummel filter.

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

I checked the X5 forums and so far I didn't find much info.

I'd think that 8 quarts of BMW approved long life synthetic 5W-40 or 5W-30 with a good sized canister oil filter and a 2005 model oil monitoring system would have some value.

Other than cost and time, you certainly can't go wrong with a 5K or 7.5K oil change.

An annual oil change seems prudent for low mileage drivers.

BMW had a 2001 TSB for annual oil changes if the vehicle wasn't driven much.

But the 2005 manual now says 2 years.

My thinking was that off road, towing, New York City bumper to bumper traffic might fool the oil monitoring system, or just be too hard on the oil.

But driving in CT would probably be a good mix of town, highway, and longer drives and the monitoring system would be accurate.

I could be wrong.

Supposedly, the manufacturers have put a lot of effort into getting these systems right for each engine and their specifics needs and problems, such as shear or blow by gasses.

Maybe a good approach would be to use UOA and sample at 6K or 7.5K and see if the oil, your driving patterns, and the BMW Oil Life Monitor are compatible?

An oil sample could probably be taken from the middle of the oil sump through the dipstick tube with a hose.

If the UOA says the oil is fine at 7.5K and you ran until the monitoring system notified you that it was time to change, then you could sample again and share that info with other X5 owners and forum members.

Then you'd all have a better what worked.


Here's the owners' manual in .pdf form , [you may have to copy and paste the link]

http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/pdf/BMW X5 Owners Manual - 2005.pdf

 

[Dr. T]

I too had no problems running the BMW 5-40 (Valvoline synth.)for 10k mi. intervals. The 5-30 is a different story. However, I have a 1994 850.

Basically, keep on eye on the condition and consumption. If the oil is severely black (not medium or dark brown) it can't withstand 10k or if consumption is more than 1L/10k, you should switch to a synth. 5-40 or use LC or do an UOA to confirm.

 

[TooSlick]

The newer 3.0L engine holds 7.5 quarts of oil and gets decent fuel efficiency. I don't see any problem running 10k-15k change intervals, depending on the severity of operating conditions.

TS

 

[Jim 5]

Some very good points made here. Thanks for everyone's contributions.

I would fall into the category of a "recreational oil changer". Pushing my oil out to 7.5k is around 2.5 times longer than I was used to doing before I had heard of BITOG.

My Oil Change computer indicates that my appropriate OCI is 13k miles. Problem for me is that I drive that car about 7k miles (at the most) a year. I'm going to take the do a UOA at 1 year and see how the oil is surviving.

In a fit of insanity I went out and bought 38 L of green GC. Not to mention the 14L each of M1 0w40 and BMW High Performance synthetic 5w30 that was already sitting in the garage. I figure that in about 15 years or more I'll be able to report back to you all as to what the proper OCI is for each of these oils....at which point, they won't be available any more!

It's more likely that I'll get bored of this process, and a good portion of my inventory may be put into service in my 180k mile chev k1500.

At least I don't have to worry about the increased cost of motor oil for a while.

 

[shortyb]

Ah yes, the everpresent OCI debate with BMW engines and the service computer recommendations.

All good info in this post from some knowledgable folks. My take, from reading LOTS of info and from my own experiences and analysis:

7500 miles seems to be the mileage settled on for the most part. Obviously this could differ in your situation depending on all the usual factors (driving style, enviroment, time in service etc) but as mentioned, a good UOA (used oil analysis) should help point you in the best direction for YOUR particular application. When I bought my 330i used, uh, "previously owned", it had over 13K on BMW's HP synth and the UOA looked fine. I'm now on GC "green" and heading for my first analysis at the 7500 mark.

The M54 engine is relatively bomb-proof but does like a diet of "thick" 30wt. It holds 7.5 qts in the sump so the oil doesn't get too beat up like some smaller capacity engines will. BMW HP synth, GC, M1 0W-40, and Amsoil are popular but I've seen good results with some lesser known/popular oils and they seem fine too. Pick one that is convenient for you.

FowVay hit on the vicious cycle that can occur when the oil is sheared out of grade and then thickens back up. This happens to a lesser degree with the ACEA A3 oils as their resistance to shearing is pretty high (> 3.5 HTHS) in the first place, but given time and use it will happen.

Here is a site that can start your Teutonic Obsession juices flowing www.bimmerfest.com

Good luck and let us BITOGgers know how things go.

 

[LarryL]

With free maintenance, including oil changes on BMW's there are going to be a lot of owners doing these longer oci's. Many don't know one way or the other and don't care either. A friend just bought a 545 and has no intention of opening the hood or checking anything. When the I-drive says it's time for service, he's going to take it in. As for what they will do, he couldn't care less. He knows there is a hood release but not what's it's for.

 

[Audi Junkie]

The few newer BMWs that I have contact with ALL have sludge. This is at low miles, like 40k. I dunno the service histories, one has been reported as "normal" (15k w/BMW 5w-30 LL with limited top-offs, I suppose). Anyway, the guys above have it nailed, 7500mi is the best compramise. If it were me, I'd ask for the BMW 0w-40 or BYO Mobil 1 0w-40 or German Syntec 0w-30, especiually if there were any aggravating factors, like short trips, extreme cold, etc. As a a minimum. I'd do an early change for the first OC and then 10k MAX.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,

I recently sold my '98 Z3 2.8 (M52) and it was as clean as a whistle inside
It had a diet of M1 0w-40, and then Delvac 1 5w-40 for the last three years. OCI was annual or 15kkms whichever came first

Doug