[JayKay335i]

Whats the deal. Every time I start my car 14,000 comes up on the on the little screen where the cars miles usually are. I would assume that is the miles till service but its said 14,000 for the last 1k miles. Hasn't changed or anything. The car only has 7500 miles and I just bought it a few weeks ago CPO. I dont know if they changed the oil just prior to picking the car up. I'll have to ask. But WTF?

[jopa489]

BMW factory maintenance recommends service every 15k miles. They did some maintenance when it was CPO'd, and you've since driven 1k miles.

15k - 1k = 14k (until your next service).

RTFM.

[JayKay335i]

F not having a dipstick. The car was driven in 07 when it was new. It than sat on a lot for all of 08' and a few months of 09'. Only 7k were put on it in 07' and I highly doubt they actually have changed the oil between the car not being driven any more (it was a managers car) and me buying it. I'm assuming I can get a service history of the car at the dealer its been at?

Also, its said 14k even before I put 1k miles on it. So I dont have a clue what they did or when they changed the oil. I'm getting used to BMW. I didnt have any digital gauges on my car except for the odometer prior to this. Oil just got changed every 4k on synthetic. Thanks.

[jopa489]

Since the car is CPO they should have all service records, and they should be able to get those to you. I believe part of the CPO process is an oil change, so it's quite likely they did in fact do it (to start you "fresh" with 15k miles until next service). They may have changed the oil back in '07 when the manager stopped driving it, but it was probably moved around the lot and/or test driven a few times in the year+ it was on their lot. This is probably why it's saying 14k.

The maintenance system factors in all sorts of stuff beyond miles alone. It monitors engine revs and driving style too. If the car was driven more aggressively on a test drive or two, that contributes more toward the need for an oil change than say 100 highway miles. I posted in another thread on this, but I have around 4k miles on my car and it still says 14k until next maintenance. I drive 95% highway though.

BMW will only work on your car for free when the computer tells them to do so. If it doesn't think it's ready for an oil change, they won't do it under the free maintenance program. If you plan on keeping the car for a while, it might be a good idea to do "in between" synthetic oil changes at 7,500 mile intervals then bring it into the dealer for the scheduled service again at 15k. Doing a synthetic change every 4,000 is a little overkill, but that's up to you.

And also, you can see the oil level itself from either your iDrive (if equipped) or the on-board computer in your gauge cluster. No dipstick required.

[JayKay335i]

Thanks jopa. I'm hoping they changed it just prior to selling it. I'm pretty sure the car just sat in a lot and wasn't really moved or driven for that year. They still had the original sticker from when it was first put up for sale after the manager had it. The new sticker was 10k less then what it was on the old one. So it had been a while. I've been doing mostly city miles and a lot of WOT pulls and whatnot. I've only had the car for a few weeks and have been driving pretty aggressively. It does suck that I may spend the money and do the oil change on the car in between because I plan on owning it for at least 4 years. I wish it had a dipstick though. I rather see the oil than know the level. I will check that out and figure out how to see the level though.

[jzchen]

BMW says the oil should be changed at least once a year, so if you don't drive that much, they should do it for free yearly. (At least my dealer did it for me for free.) I tried to ask if they had to charge me, but the SA didn't really answer. I would have tried another dealer if he had said yes. It should fall under all factory recommended maintenance by my opinion.

[Dwill335i]

Scheduled maintenance is free. "Scheduled" means when car determines that maintenance is required. That's different in BMW's eyes from "recommended" maintenance.

[Spydeputy]

yep, oil change every 15K or 1 year, which ever comes first.

[thegeneral101]

just keep an eye on the milage readout. it will probably go down soon (or whenever the car thinks it needs to)

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Originally Posted by jopa489

BMW factory maintenance recommends service every 15k miles. They did some maintenance when it was CPO'd, and you've since driven 1k miles.

15k - 1k = 14k (until your next service).

RTFM.

He means....

[JayKay335i]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

He means....

I know what the manual says about sched. maintenance. Its almost not reading considering its stupid. Lifetime fluids? 15k miles on oil only rated for 15k miles? ftw.

[Bobble]

Your maintenance reminders also count down by time, you can see that in the display on the OBC or iDrive. It will have a date which will be on eyear and your BMW center should do that. If you're concerned about the age of the oil due to sitting have it changed, it's not that much for the piece of mind and then go with the computer for the free services.

[canucklion]

sell it and buy a new 335i.

[JayKay335i]

The only date I keep seeing for service stuff is 2/2011.