BMW's "condition based servicing"...

[froop]

This is just a little word of warning to those you of you buying cars and thinking of just getting it serviced as per BMW's "condition based servicing"...

I have had my car for 3 years and it was serviced at BMW. Only in the past couple months did I start modding, reading up on forums etc etc.

According to BMW my car is due in for an oil change in another 700km. BMW recommends that engine oil only needs to be flushed every 25,000km. My car has 93,000km on it now. I rarely thrash my car and it has never been tracked yet.

Due to the various threads about oil changes I figured I would undertake my first ever oil change this weekend and start doing more regular and frequent oil changes myself. The below pics are what came out of my poor car .

Thanks to Ian//M for his DIY. I followed that DIY predominantly even though my car has an N54 engine.

Take it from me and everyone else on this forum, change your oil more frequently than BMW recommends.

[RadiuM]

what's up with it? it looks like regular used oil to me.

[DBE]

Try getting warranty work done by them
Engine hesitation? what hesitation?
Squeak whenever you hit a up bump? what squeak?

They should give the service managers clown suits. Will never buy another BMW.

[BMW86]

I know someone that changed their oil twice only 300km apart. The 300km was fairly spirited driving and the oil was still black and nasty. I'm not disputing regular oil changes but I wouldn't go off the colour of the oil.

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by RadiuM

what's up with it? it looks like regular used oil to me.

+1.

What did you expect the color of the oil to be?

[///M-pressed]

Originally Posted by froop

According to BMW my car is due in for an oil change in another 700km. BMW recommends that engine oil only needs to be flushed every 25,000km. My car has 93,000km on it now. I rarely thrash my car and it has never been tracked yet.

How many times has the oil been changed? The oil doesn't look that bad too be honest, but that 25,000km is only as a guide because everyone has different driving conditions and what not.

[MikeinAlexandria]

I change my oil at least once a year. BMW has been willing to do that for free regardless of the mileage. If the car has been driven in heavy traffic a lot, I go ahead with an extre oil change, about six months after the dealership one. Your oil looks ok for 25,000 km.

[pavo335]

Froop, was there any "bits" in the oil? Or sludge in and around the filter housing. They would be my main concern, as others have said colour isn't the best indicator. If you dropped the oil again next week it'll look black again.

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by Sword

Try getting warranty work done by them
Engine hesitation? what hesitation?
Squeak whenever you hit a up bump? what squeak?

They should give the service managers clown suits. Will never buy another BMW.

Don't let your dealer's incompetent service center stop you. You will get that from any make. They are other options in Brisbane and just outside Brisbane both dealers and non-dealers that do great work. It has been discussed before in the forum .

[Jeef Beef]

Looks pretty standard to me.

[Alpha Trion]

slighty off topic BUT.. after changing the exhaust on the car, i noticed the gearbox leaking oil!!

Now that its out of warranty (about 4 months) i wonder what kind of headache im gonna get tomorrow when i call up.

As if they had a end of warranty check up on the car.. as if....


-Elee

[510135]

Originally Posted by Springbokker

Seriously go change ur oil after 2000km. It'll be black.

Change your oil after 20,000km. It'll be black.

I feel comfortable to go every 5,000-10,000km and no period longer than 6 months.

+1 I ran my oil after a fresh change for 150kms as a flush. It looked like it did after 5000kms. Can't go by colour

[100thirtyfiveinjection]

Looks ok, unless it was lumpy or gloopy. Not sure if you were expecting the same golden coloured liquid to come out again?

[TWD]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

Can't judge oil quality by the colour. Change oil max every 9 months or 10,000km. Personally my car has had 4 changes and has only done 6,000km.... I am OCD though.

+ 1

I do mine every 6 months.
Only done 6,000km in 3 years, so their 25K/yr "guideline" is useless.

[froop]

Ah well that's a bit more comforting to know. I was expecting it to be a bit more brownish. First oil change ever =P

The oil itself wasn't clumpy but it was very thick. Kinda like crude oil.

On a related note, after resetting the service indicator, it is now saying that my next oil change is due in another 34,000km or at 09/2014...

[koastal]

Originally Posted by TWD

+ 1

I do mine every 6 months.
Only done 6,000km in 3 years, so their 25K/yr "guideline" is useless.

Omg - I drove that far in a week and half once. 6000 klms normally takes 6 weeks
Getting your oil analysed is very affordable these days. If you are concerned about BMW recommended intervals. I personally love condition based servicing.

[froop]

Here's a photo of the service indicator. Apparently it's not 25,000km all the time.

[kmli5]

Originally Posted by froop

Here's a photo of the service indicator. Apparently it's not 25,000km all the time.

That is ridiculous

[froop]

Originally Posted by kmli5

That is ridiculous

Hahaha I know. I thought people were saying that 25,000km between changes was bad. 2 years.....

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by koastal

Omg - I drove that far in a week and half once. 6000 klms normally takes 6 weeks
Getting your oil analysed is very affordable these days. If you are concerned about BMW recommended intervals. I personally love condition based servicing.

Who do you use for oil analysis?

[Nugget]

I change every 5-7000kms or 6 months whichever comes first. I do lots of short trips and enthusiastic driving though.

[RadiuM]

www.oilcheck.com.au