Oil pics after 1200 miles

[Templedogg]

There is definitely some break-in metallic flake in the oil. Not near as much as previous cars I have owned, but I would still recommend everyone do a post break-in oil change.

These pics are with a brand new black plastic oil pan.

[shawshank772]

Good pics. Def. a reason to do the post break in oil change!

[jraymond]

I take it that will not be covered by BMW service?

[sndprssr]

^^ The couple dealerships I talked to said no, only on their intervals not mine...

[DTLoughlin]

When I was signing the paper work for my 135, I questioned the sales manager as to the "free" oil changes. He said the car's computer would indicate when the oil needed changing. I asked him how long (miles) this averaged. He replied "about every 25,000 miles". I'm not about to go that long on break-in oil (or ever). Interestingly enough, I've heard that prior to the 4 year, free maintenance program, BMW recommended oil be changed every 3,500 miles. I have run Mobil1 in all my cars (350z, Z28, Altima 3.5, Camery) and changed it approximately every 3,500 to 4,000 miles. I'm certainly not waiting 25,000 miles just to get it free.

[asv]

I'm glad I had my oil changed before hitting the track this past weekend.

[Crowley]

This is why I always do a break in oil change .. I can also tell you that my next oil change won't be when the car hits 15k miles .. LOL

Crowley

[mtla4]

Bmw recommends every year or 25K(km) because most of the people lease these cars and dont maintain them properly. If Bmw would have not offered the maintenance plan most people would ever go to the garage for service. 3 years lease=warranty end. Thats why I would never buy a used Bmw. Often people buy them to brag and dont maintain them(true to any luxury car). I dont get why Bmw does not have a different schedule for turbo cars. These N54 cars will be a disaster once warranty is up. People also beat the crap out of the car and park them without cool down time.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by mtla4

These N54 cars will be a disaster once warranty is up. People also beat the crap out of the car and park them without cool down time.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but BMW increased the oil capacity on the turbo motor, and it doesn't need cool down time because they use an after-run pump that moves the oil after you shut down the engine.

BMW knows what they're doing, and they're not about to sell an engine that's dead as soon as the warranty is up.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by DTLoughlin

When I was signing the paper work for my 135, I questioned the sales manager as to the "free" oil changes. He said the car's computer would indicate when the oil needed changing. I asked him how long (miles) this averaged. He replied "about every 25,000 miles". I'm not about to go that long on break-in oil (or ever). Interestingly enough, I've heard that prior to the 4 year, free maintenance program, BMW recommended oil be changed every 3,500 miles. I have run Mobil1 in all my cars (350z, Z28, Altima 3.5, Camery) and changed it approximately every 3,500 to 4,000 miles. I'm certainly not waiting 25,000 miles just to get it free.

My last BMW was a '97 (before the free oil changes), and it monitored it's own oil status. If I drove mostly around town it would go about 6-7k miles between oil changes, and if I was doing a lot of highway driving it would go as much as 12k miles. It's an adaptive system based more on fuel consumption than mileage. That car had 140k miles on it when I sold it and would still go the entire interval without using a single drop of oil, and the gas mileage was exactly the same as when I bought it with 60k miles.

The only people who think you still need to change your oil every 3k miles these days are the oil companies, and that's because they're more interested in the money than actual oil service life.

This is one of those situations where I trust the engineers who designed, built, and tested the engine over anyone else.

[mtla4]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but BMW increased the oil capacity on the turbo motor, and it doesn't need cool down time because they use an after-run pump that moves the oil after you shut down the engine.

BMW knows what they're doing, and they're not about to sell an engine that's dead as soon as the warranty is up.

I understand but Audi had sludge issues with the 1.8T. Mine had none used to change every 5K. Audi Recommended 10K. Too high IMO. Lot of things can cause sludge but changing the oil once a year doesnt help. It gets cold over here in the winter -40 to 0 to 40 in summer(celcius) in summer. It would be foolish to think that oil can handle that.

[40-n-8]

Wow...I did an oil change at 1500 miles. I sat in the SA's office and asked him if I was wasting my money. He said, in his opinion, yes. I did it anyway and decided to call it $140 worth of piece of mind. Sure glad I did.

[Crowley]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

The only people who think you still need to change your oil every 3k miles these days are the oil companies, and that's because they're more interested in the money than actual oil service life.

I think with the synthetics you could go 5k miles .. however I love my car and will baby it .. 3k for me ... Look at your oil after 3 - 5k and tell me what you think ... cheap insurance !!

Crowley

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by mtla4

I understand but Audi had sludge issues with the 1.8T. Mine had none used to change every 5K. Audi Recommended 10K. Too high IMO. Lot of things can cause sludge but changing the oil once a year doesnt help. It gets cold over here in the winter -40 to 0 to 40 in summer(celcius) in summer. It would be foolish to think that oil can handle that.

The car takes ambient air temps into account when calculating the oil change interval. It shocks me that people think they know more about when this engine needs an oil change than the experienced engineers who designed and tested the engine. They did cold weather testing you know.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by Crowley

I think with the synthetics you could go 5k miles .. however I love my car and will baby it .. 3k for me ... Look at your oil after 3 - 5k and tell me what you think ... cheap insurance !!

Crowley

Looking at oil is a waste of time. There's nothing that goes bad in oil that you can see. If you want to convince me, ship it off to Blackstone and have it tested.

[Crowley]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

The car takes ambient air temps into account when calculating the oil change interval. It shocks me that people think they know more about when this engine needs an oil change than the experienced engineers who designed and tested the engine. They did cold weather testing you know.

Please list your past cars for me .. just want to make sure that I don't get one of them if I am ever in the market for a used car .. :biggrin:

Crowley

[Crowley]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

Looking at oil is a waste of time. There's nothing that goes bad in oil that you can see. If you want to convince me, ship it off to Blackstone and have it tested.

You need to convince your self .. use your dime to ship it off not mine

Crowley

[asv]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

The car takes ambient air temps into account when calculating the oil change interval. It shocks me that people think they know more about when this engine needs an oil change than the experienced engineers who designed and tested the engine. They did cold weather testing you know.

As someone who works with software, engineering is only one stakeholder in the development of any product. Marketing, business, and accounting concerns affect something like recommended service intervals. I highly doubt the 15,000 mile number was BMW engineering's first suggestion.

[Brandon26pdx]

Originally Posted by Crowley

Please list your past cars for me .. just want to make sure that I don't get one of them if I am ever in the market for a used car .. :biggrin:

Crowley

Yeah, no kidding. People still buy hype I guess.

[Brandon26pdx]

Diamonds to dougnuts Blackstone would say that oil is chock full of wear material.

[john970]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

The car takes ambient air temps into account when calculating the oil change interval. It shocks me that people think they know more about when this engine needs an oil change than the experienced engineers who designed and tested the engine. They did cold weather testing you know.

I will sort of second this. People are relying on experience with a few cars they have owned plus a few cars their friends or people they know have had with oil experiences. I have yet to see any actual data using a sample size large enough to draw anything but guesses from.

[Brandon26pdx]

Originally Posted by john970

I will sort of second this. People are relying on experience with a few cars they have owned plus a few cars their friends or people they know have had with oil experiences. I have yet to see any actual data using a sample size large enough to draw anything but guesses from.

Check out the "N54 Twin Turbo" thread on Bitog.org. There's plenty of guys who've done lab analysis on oil used in their 335i's