Oil changes and Oil sensors

Hello.

I bought my very first car, a BMW 6 Convertible. I love it.

Now, I've gotten about 3000 miles on it, and from what I've been
reading, I should change the oil in my car every 3000 miles. The car
manual says nothing about it.

And there's also an Oil sensor with iDrive that tells me if the car
needs new Oil. The oil sensor hasn't gone on.

So... do I change the oil in my car? Or do I wait til the sensor goes
on? It's not like I'm trying to save a few bucks on oil, I just want
to do what's right for my car. Thanks!

In article .com>,
DaLoverhino > wrote:
> I bought my very first car, a BMW 6 Convertible. I love it.

> Now, I've gotten about 3000 miles on it, and from what I've been
> reading, I should change the oil in my car every 3000 miles. The car
> manual says nothing about it.

Did they make 6 Series 50 years ago? 'Cause that when I last remember 3000
mile oil changes.

--
*Husbands should come with instructions

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

First of all, changing oil at 3000 mile intervals is rather outdated. Oil
has been changed dramatically since that old rule of thumb, and it lasts
much longer these days. This is due to in part to the fact that your car
carries 7 quarts of oil, whereas most cars carry only 5 quarts. You get an
extra 40%, and this translates into longer change intervals.

Second, doesn't BMW take care of that for you under the warranty program? I
thought that BMW did all of the routine maintenance under the warranty. The
idea being that BMW wouldn't take on costly maintenance if it didn't have
to, therefore they must know that there isn't any maintenance required.
Basically, they know that the oil lasts a long time and they don't need to
change it, so they offer to change it free every time it is needed.

Third, the car keeps track of your driving habits and what the car is asked
to do, and it uses this information to determine when to change the oil. The
system works pretty well, and it is safe to trust it. Don't worry, be happy.







"DaLoverhino" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello.
>
> I bought my very first car, a BMW 6 Convertible. I love it.
>
> Now, I've gotten about 3000 miles on it, and from what I've been
> reading, I should change the oil in my car every 3000 miles. The car
> manual says nothing about it.
>
> And there's also an Oil sensor with iDrive that tells me if the car
> needs new Oil. The oil sensor hasn't gone on.
>
> So... do I change the oil in my car? Or do I wait til the sensor goes
> on? It's not like I'm trying to save a few bucks on oil, I just want
> to do what's right for my car. Thanks!
>

You will find a wide range of opinions. I believe you'll see in your
maintenance manual that oil services are every 15,000 miles or one year,
whichever comes first. Since BMW pays, I personally feel the 15,000 mile may
be a stretch for financial reasons on BMW's part even using a good synthetic
oil but that's my personal choice. And I love sensors except when they don't
work. I do a change every 7,500 miles with BMW doing every other one free.
On a new car, I'd pay the $100 now and have your oil and filter (especially)
changed now but then that's a personal idiosyncrasy of mine regarding engine
break-in.

"DaLoverhino" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello.
>
> I bought my very first car, a BMW 6 Convertible. I love it.
>
> Now, I've gotten about 3000 miles on it, and from what I've been
> reading, I should change the oil in my car every 3000 miles. The car
> manual says nothing about it.
>
> And there's also an Oil sensor with iDrive that tells me if the car
> needs new Oil. The oil sensor hasn't gone on.
>
> So... do I change the oil in my car? Or do I wait til the sensor goes
> on? It's not like I'm trying to save a few bucks on oil, I just want
> to do what's right for my car. Thanks!
>

Uh-uh. He's probably in America and there they like to change oil every 3000
miles, irrespective of what any silly old manufacturer or trip computer
might say.. :-)

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Dave Plowman (News)" > wrote in message
...
[...]
>
> Did they make 6 Series 50 years ago? 'Cause that when I last remember 3000
> mile oil changes.
>
> --
> *Husbands should come with instructions
>
> Dave Plowman London SW
> To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dori A Schmetterling" wrote
> Uh-uh. He's probably in America and there they like to change oil every
> 3000 miles, irrespective of what any silly old manufacturer or trip
> computer might say.. :-)

Yeah, although just about the only places still touting the 3K mile oil
changes are the likes of Jiffy Lube. One would have to be out of their mind
to buy a $70-80K BMW and then take it to these good-for-nothing grease
monkeys at JL for oil changes.

I'm thinking the once-a-year or every 15K mile OCI might be OK if good
quality synthetic oil is used, although a lot depends on one's driving
patterns. I'd probably go ahead and do it every 7.5K like John, but that's
just because I'm an oil freak. I change the oil on my A4 1.8TQ every 5K
miles, but that thing only has a 3.7qt oil sump and I tend to drive it
pretty hard.

Cheers,

Pete

Jeff Strickland wrote:
> First of all, changing oil at 3000 mile intervals is rather outdated. Oil
> has been changed dramatically since that old rule of thumb, and it lasts
> much longer these days. This is due to in part to the fact that your car
> carries 7 quarts of oil, whereas most cars carry only 5 quarts. You get an
> extra 40%, and this translates into longer change intervals.
>
> Second, doesn't BMW take care of that for you under the warranty program? I
> thought that BMW did all of the routine maintenance under the warranty. The
> idea being that BMW wouldn't take on costly maintenance if it didn't have
> to, therefore they must know that there isn't any maintenance required.
> Basically, they know that the oil lasts a long time and they don't need to
> change it, so they offer to change it free every time it is needed.
>
> Third, the car keeps track of your driving habits and what the car is asked
> to do, and it uses this information to determine when to change the oil. The
> system works pretty well, and it is safe to trust it. Don't worry, be happy.


Yeah, what Jeff said.

Except, if I just dropped the cash for a brand new 6 series, I'd change
the oil once (at my own expense) in between each of the on-board
computer's "recommended" intervals, (and don't reset the counter) which
usually work out to be somewhere around 15k miles.

Since you anticipate the service reminder coming on at 15k (and BMWNA
picking up the tab for that one), you do yours at 7.5k, 22.5k, 37.5k, etc.

Y Oil Changes MV,
-Fred W

Dori A Schmetterling wrote:
> Uh-uh. He's probably in America and there they like to change oil every 3000
> miles, irrespective of what any silly old manufacturer or trip computer
> might say.. :-)
>
> DAS

You know that is not true.
I guess American bashing is just too much fun to resist...

-Fred W

Though it's a bit of a tease (certainly not "bashing)" I am afraid that a
lot of the posts in this NG and the Chrysler one I follow do suggest there's
a lot of it (3000-mile changes) about.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Malt_Hound" > wrote in message
...
> Dori A Schmetterling wrote:
>> Uh-uh. He's probably in America and there they like to change oil every
>> 3000 miles, irrespective of what any silly old manufacturer or trip
>> computer might say.. :-)
>>
>> DAS
>
> You know that is not true.
> I guess American bashing is just too much fun to resist...
>
> -Fred W

"Pete" > writes:

> I'm thinking the once-a-year or every 15K mile OCI might be OK if good
> quality synthetic oil is used, although a lot depends on one's driving
> patterns. I'd probably go ahead and do it every 7.5K like John, but that's
> just because I'm an oil freak. I change the oil on my A4 1.8TQ every 5K

For an interesting read, see the "Synthetic Oil Life Study":

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/s.../oil-life.html

Granted, it's only one data point, but the highlights from this site
a

* A simple filter change and associated top-off oil goes a long way
towards extending oil life (it's the top-off oil that helps the most).

* Engine wear appears to decrease with oil age. There's some evidence
that frequent oil changes increases engine wear, although it's unclear
(to me) if the increased wear is actually significant.

--
Darryl Okahata


DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Agilent Technologies, or
of the little green men that have been following him all day.