We are so lucky

[Kiwi Peter]

I think we all must be so lucky to own a BMW.
well thats what Mr BMW thinks they say that the oil will last for ever WOW what a crock of crap. It will last for three years yes, but then what $$$$$ this is fixed to most BMW diff covers.

[Drawn05]

I think you can blame BMW North America for that.

Apparently in the 90s/00s in the US, customers complained too much about the servicing costs (which required much more frequent oil changes etc.). So as the USA is BMWs biggest market, it made servicing free or at below cost price. To subsidise this, they procured 'Long Life' fluids etc.

I think it also corresponds with the whole "efficiency" thing that they are obsessed with of late. The Europeans are quite into low emissions and reduced consumption of fluids.

Does it say it on the M3 diff?

[kaitan]

If thats the case? what about those cars that has premium selection for extra 3 years after first 3 years of owner ship? Would this be covered under warranty?

[bmw1mc]

Originally Posted by kaitan

If thats the case? what about those cars that has premium selection for extra 3 years after first 3 years of owner ship? Would this be covered under warranty?

probably not, may get classified as wear'n'tear! then they will slug $$$$

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

Originally Posted by kaitan

If thats the case? what about those cars that has premium selection for extra 3 years after first 3 years of owner ship? Would this be covered under warranty?

I highly doubt the diff or tranny will fail in those 6 years, even the first 10 years.

BMWs arent the only ones to use lifetime fluids, Mercedes do too.

[MickyD]

Given the litigious nature of the US market, I doubt BMW would put 'lifetime' on there if they didn't think it was the case....

Knowledge of BMW Engineers & Lawyers beats Forum opinions anyday in my books....

[John_01]

Its only for the life time of the warranty!

[Dr Stig 2]

The car's lifetime or the owner's lifetime?

At some point it gets cheaper for them to take out a contract on the owner than it is to pay out on the warranty.

[Ninjaoz]

What is the definition of lifetime?

Does it mean the duration of the warranty period or the ownership of your vehicle or until the odometer turns 999,999?

[John_01]

When the diff gets noisy, it Mr BMW's way of telling you that you're a cheap-ass for not trading in earlier.

[Kiwi Peter]

Originally Posted by Ninja333

What is the definition of lifetime?

Does it mean the duration of the warranty period or the ownership of your vehicle or until the odometer turns 999,999?

Why dont you ask BMW Australia that awkward question and we all can have a laugh. I wonder what the answer would be.

[Eddie135]

I asked BMW last time as of my first service why transmission & diff oil is not included in the corporate service plan.

Here is the answer:

We use lifetime oil, it will last for the lifespan of your car

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Eddie135

I asked BMW last time as of my first service why transmission & diff oil is not included in the corporate service plan.

Here is the answer:

We use lifetime oil, it will last for the lifespan of your car

You should have asked the people who made your transmission for BMW... ZF. ZF says to change the A/T trans fluids every ~73K kms. And they use ZF lifetime fluids as well!

I think changing a manual trans fluid every 50K kms is a good idea. Along with the diff fluid. The best oil is fresh oil.


Dack

[Blauweisser]

Although slightly off-topic, I am starting to think that perhaps under normal (not track) conditions that long-life full synthetic engine oils don't need changing that often. My day job is developing methods for chemical analysis, and I have been working on improved procedures for TAN (Total Acid Number) and TBN (Total Base Number) in engine oils. I changed my oil last after 12,500 km, half the recommended interval, and I asked the mechanic to take a sample of the drained oil and give me a sample of the same brand of new oil. I've only done the TAN analysis so far, but the results are:
- new oil TAN = 1.1
- used oil TAN = 1.3
(units are mg potassium hydroxide/g oil)

The method is very precise, so the difference is real, but I'd have to say I was surprised how small the difference is. I'll post the TBN results later.

[John_01]

The TAN/TBN is only one aspect. Did you measure other impurities in the oil? I'd expect to find a fair amount of metals in the oil due to wear and degradation.

[Eddie135]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

On my BMW motorcycle, same oil specs for transmission etc, but service intervals 20k.... hmmm.

Lifetime is BS... heat cycles and time degrade oils

agreed.

Especially if ur car is driven through frequent start-stop journey and traffic jam, you will notice ur CBS oil interval will drop very quick.