Changing Oil *Or* Oil Filter

[JimFitzpatrick]

Just bought a new BMW diesel.Its free maintenence plan provides a free oil change every 12 months/15K miles.I'm planning to halve that (at my expense) to 6 months/6-7K miles.Unlike my previous cars this BMW's filter is right up in the engine compartment within easy reach.So...my question is...if I should decide,at intermediate intervals,to change the oil without changing the filter or to do the opposite which would benefit the car more? And I do realize that changing both would be best,but....TIA!

Also,does anyone know if the '09 BMW diesels come with a special "break-in" oil from the factory? I've read that VW diesels do.

 

[bepperb]

I would change the oil like you are doing. I dobut changing the filter would matter much. 15,000 miles on a filter isn't really a problem even on cars not designed for long OCI. The only reason I would is that is probably doesn't cost much, and at least for the first bonus OCI the filter will probably have a lot of breakin material.

 

[Familyguy]

That seems fine. The print on the Mann filters I used to buy for my Audis said to change them every 30,000km, but I changed them every oil change anyway.

I guess if BMW is ok with 15K OCIs then they're not overly concerned about their synthetic fill cutting the mustard.

 

[Burt]

From what I have read on this board and elsewhere, the changing the filter is a more critical factor than the oil. Oil does its job if the filter does its job, but if the filter is not filtering properly, doesn't really matter how good the oil is. People have run 30,000 miles without an oil change, but only if they change the filter every 6,000 miles and top it off.

 

[m37charlie]

My urea light came on at ~9300 miles ( What kind of oil is the dealer using?
Mine uses Castrol SLX Professional 5W-30. The bottle says A3/B4/C3, MB229.51, but it doesn't say LL-04.
Also what mpg do you get in what kind of driving? In the X5d we get 21.5 city, >30 hwy (I think).

Charlie

 

[JimFitzpatrick]

Originally Posted By: m37charlie
My urea light came on at ~9300 miles ( What kind of oil is the dealer using?
Mine uses Castrol SLX Professional 5W-30. The bottle says A3/B4/C3, MB229.51, but it doesn't say LL-04.
Also what mpg do you get in what kind of driving? In the X5d we get 21.5 city, >30 hwy (I think).

Charlie


Thanks for the tips.Regarding the type of oil the dealer uses,I've seen a large pallet of BMW brand oil at the dealership.I wasn't able to check to see if it was "LL-04" approved but I'll get the details before my first change.For the interval changes I've bought 24 litres of Mobil 1 ESP (at Pep Boys..$7/litre) which is specifically "LL-04" approved as stated on Mobil's website and the bottles themselves.Regarding my mileage....I don't do a lot of city driving but I'm averaging about 31 MPG in mixed suburban/highway driving.And on the Interstate my trip computer is indicating about 42 MPG at a steady 65 MPH (which is fast enough for me).I'll soon be doing a 300 mile Interstate trip so I'll fill up just before and just after the trip and get a good calculation then.I'll be interested to see how accurate the car's computer is in that calculation.I've read,however,that the 335's is very accurate.

 

[JimFitzpatrick]

Originally Posted By: Burt
From what I have read on this board and elsewhere, the changing the filter is a more critical factor than the oil. Oil does its job if the filter does its job, but if the filter is not filtering properly, doesn't really matter how good the oil is. People have run 30,000 miles without an oil change, but only if they change the filter every 6,000 miles and top it off.


Interesting.I've read that,in Europe,diesel manufacturers recommend OCIs of 20K miles (or more) for their most recent models but I've read that the BMW "computer" won't let you go more than about 15K here.

 

[Familyguy]

Originally Posted By: Burt
From what I have read on this board and elsewhere, the changing the filter is a more critical factor than the oil. Oil does its job if the filter does its job, but if the filter is not filtering properly, doesn't really matter how good the oil is. People have run 30,000 miles without an oil change, but only if they change the filter every 6,000 miles and top it off.


No. There are a lot of chemical baddies in the oil that happily pass right through the filter media. Your oil has additives to do things like neutralize acids (and other stuff) and those additives diminish/vanish over time. In a well maintained engine with quality motor oil, I'd be pretty shocked if someone managed to clog a quality oil filter in 15k miles.

 

[Burt]

Read this link where this fellow goes 18,000 before an oil change, while testing the oil every 1,000 miles.

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

The TBN is 6 so no problem with acidity. He found that topping off the oil replenished the additives.

Here's the same test on Amsoil.

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/amsoil.html

Great study. I thought he ended up going to 30k, but I could not find it.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Don't worry about the urea supply.

We can all have beers at my place and help you with that one!

 

[Malo83]

If you change the oil change the filter.