[dronell19]

I bought my car new last June... and as you know the first service isn't due until 25000kms or 15000miles (or whatever it is in miles) later...

For the past month my car has sounded rather funny under heavy acceleration and WOT.. there's like a rattling sound that comes from the driver's side (passenger side for you US people), but ONLY under heavy acceleration and WOT... and it normally goes away after 4000rpm.

So I changed my oil last Saturday (not because of that, but because my car has done 6000 miles). And now that sound is gone, car feels and sounds a lot better! What's with that? What's with the 25000km first service? I never believed in that, even when I still had my 323Ci. And this just proves it.

 

[SteelBlueXI]

The oil isn't the real issue here. The problem is that the filter gets bogged after 5k or so. The oil, with frequent topping off and filter changes, should be able to make it to 15k.

But either way, yeah, 15k between oil/filter changes is pure stupidity.

 

[djsunkim]

DAMN! bmw gets o/c changed at 15k? :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

 

[coolguy660]

So you guys recommened on changing your oil every 6k miles? Would that be the wise choice, I'm just asking so I can start changing my oil more often.

 

[rearviewmirror]

BMW give you a free oil change every 15k miles.. does't mean you should go that long between oil changes.

 

[SteelBlueXI]

BMW give you a free oil change every 15k miles.. does't mean you should go that long between oil changes.

According to my service advisor, the free 15k oil changes are all you need. Do I believe him? Hell no.

 

[rearviewmirror]

According to my service advisor, the free 15k oil changes are all you need. Do I believe him? Hell no.

And the fact of the matter is that most of us will sell our cars long before any long term damage is done. Because I can guarantee most if not all the E46's that are driven by people who aren't fanatics of the car but just own it just follow the dash board tells them. So a good percentage of E46's in the furture will have had about 6-9 oil changes @ 100,000 miles.

 

[96TL]

I think 15K for an oil change is ridiculous. My car is leased so I just go by what the dash tells me but if it was financed/bought I would do it every 5K.

 

[CynicalWry]

at my old dealer, they had a something on the wall for customers to read about service... it said take it to the dealer for a oil change and service every 15k, and that would include a look over of most of the car's wear/tear items, but to schedule a "standard oil change" inbetween your 15k checkup.

 

[96TL]

This thread just reminded me that I need an oil change so I just scheduled my first appointment for 6/11. I told them to change the oil, wipers and to re-program the climate control. Thanks for the reminder Dronell19.

 

[rearviewmirror]

at my old dealer, they had a something on the wall for customers to read about service... it said take it to the dealer for a oil change and service every 15k, and that would include a look over of most of the car's wear/tear items, but to schedule a "standard oil change" inbetween your 15k checkup.

Were you the one that did the write up on the NAV system in the picture? Can you PM me that thread again?

 

[K-DOG]

I have been changing my oil every 3k miles since I got the car. And every 3k miles it looks like SLUDGE....your engines must be crying. For god's sake, get an 80$ extractor and DIY for 30dollars every 3k-5k miles.

 

[krs71]

So what type of oil are you supposed to use? I have 2000 328Ci, and was wondering about the whole oil change...........

 

[bradleyg]

I do my oil changes at 5000 miles. I use Castrol syntec (full synthetic) 5w30. I bought some OEM Mann filters off ebay for $5 each. Cheaper than the dealer would sell them to me.


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[detz]

OK, My car only has 3500 on it but I will probably change it around 5k since it's new and its good to. What tools, special filters, oil will I need? Are the locations of everything pretty easy to access?

 

[bradleyg]

OK, My car only has 3500 on it but I will probably change it around 5k since it's new and its good to. What tools, special filters, oil will I need? Are the locations of everything pretty easy to access?

http://bmw330ci.com/DIY_Oil_Change.htm


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[tanium325]

Not to interject any intellegence or fact into this argument but here is a web site that actually tested the life of oil in a piece of crap camaro. Changing your oil early is foolish, a waste of money and waste of resources. I have 31k on my car it has gone in 2x for oil changes 0 problems o oil consumption. Why get a luxury/sport car that offers free maintence and spend extra money on unnecessary maintenance.

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

 

[bradleyg]

Because I live in a hot climate (south Texas), I do lots of stop and go driving, and I care about my car. It's cheap insurance. That's why.

 

[SteelBlueXI]

Not to interject any intellegence or fact into this argument but here is a web site that actually tested the life of oil in a piece of crap camaro. Changing your oil early is foolish, a waste of money and waste of resources. I have 31k on my car it has gone in 2x for oil changes 0 problems o oil consumption. Why get a luxury/sport car that offers free maintence and spend extra money on unnecessary maintenance.

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

Before you go bashing everyone, why don't you try reading the article you posted? Clearly you did not. The article states that the oil makes it to 18,000 miles because they changed the filter when it got dirty, and because they topped off the oil with fresh oil when it got low. That's is -EXACTLY- what I said.

:read:

The oil isn't the real issue here. The problem is that the filter gets bogged after 5k or so. The oil, with frequent topping off and filter changes, should be able to make it to 15k.

Now, let me ask you... have you changed your filter between your 15k oil changes? If you have, bravo, but you neglected to mention than when calling this thread foolish. If you have not, then you clearly did not read that article in enough detail.

 

[mperfct]

<Tip of the Day>

if you guys want inexpensive, great synthetic oil, go to your dealership. They have great stuff for about $4 a quart, and it's every bit as good as Mobil 1. It's kind of counterintuitive, but dealers can be useful.