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Ok smart guys, 15,000 mile oil changes.....

P

PJ the Comic

Official Illusione Whore
Joined
Apr 11, 2009
Messages
1,168
I recently got a 2008 BMW 528i. The car does not come with a dip stick or a maintenance interval schedule. It is all computer controlled and the interval is 15,000 miles or more with highway driving. I realize this is high quality synthetic oil, and of course the engine is fed a diet of premium fuel, but come on! Is the manufacture just trying to save money in the first few years on maintenance because they are footing the bill? Or are synthetic oils really holding up over 15,000 miles? Are we pissing money away on 3000 mile oil changes in our other cars?

I changed my oil on all my cars at 3000 miles for the life of the vehicles. Most of these are/were all city drivers. I have not had major engine problems with any of them. I have not had a car over about 180,000 miles or so though.

I am switching to 5000 mile oil changes on my 2005 Dodge Magnum though. I use regular oil in this car and I feel like if it's broke in at 100,000 miles and will be just fine at this interval.

The BMW is getting a lot of highway driving with the 12k I just put on in the past 6 months 1000, 4500, and 1500 mile trips were part of it and that should qualify as highway type miles i would think.

I want to know what you guys think. I am not a mechanic but I do try to care for my things. Pissing away money at this time just to be safe ain't my thing so if I could and probably should get longer intervals I want to know!

Thanks in advance boys, I 'm betting this may get fun.


PJ
 
Oil changes? Shit, who does that anymore? When the car stops running, buy another one, like the rest of us do!
 
I have a 2011 Camaro and I have changed my oil every 5000 miles with -0- issue. I know a few people that own my car that have gone as far as 12,000 miles, had the oil tested, and it was still ok. We all used Mobil 1 Synthetic. Just my 2 cents.
 
Everything has changed. The new viscosities and the cylinder and filter technology is much better than years earlier. I do believe in redundant systems. Dip stick and dash lights are great.
 
And to think, we used to change points and plugs, set the timming and dwell every 3000 mi. I think I can manage the $30 to have my oil changed every 3000 mi or so.

Doc.
 
We just bought a 2012 Camry. Their service, while free is 10K miles and synthetic right on the engine. However, if you want to read something interesting, check out www.amsoil.com. On our previous car I changed Amsoil 1 quart per 5K miles just to refresh the additive package, and of course a new oil filter.

spell fix
 
PJ I here you loud and clear I really think some oil change ploys are alittle crazy. I am on the the other side of the oil chage spectrum. You know how they say you should change your oil every 3000 miles or 90 day. Well I fall under the 90 day catagory. I have a 2004 Chevy Silvarado that has 105,000 miles that I bought 4 years ago with 95,000 miles on it. Last year for example I put 2200 miles on it yep thats it. So I only do one yes ONE oil change a year. I am a firm beliver in the fact that the oil was dumped out of the jugs into the trunk I drove it home and parked it and it sat there for the winter. I have a company issued van that I put up to 40,000 miles on a year. and that gets changed every 3-5,000 miles. Regular oil in both!

In High School I had a 95 turbo charged civic that I tuned and worked on day in and day out which I ran Mobil 1 full Synthetic and changed it every 3000 miles. I just raced this car every week and it was taching out at 10,000 RPMs on every gear. But even still that oil was as clean as the oil I was putting in. I think even under those extreme conditions it could have gone another 3000 but it wasn't worth the financial risk.

Good Luck with the Car!

Paul
 
Oil change intervals have more to do with the type of motor, more specifically tolerances. This translates into how contaminated the oil gets over a specific period of time. Modern engines have extremely tight tolerances and run far more efficient than the old days which greatly reduce contamination of the oil. Thus no need to change the oil since it is not dirty. My 97 BMW is 10k, my bike is 5K and my boat is every 25 hrs.


Your BMW will be fine. Also my maintenance indicator on the dash will tell me to change it sooner if required, it's never exactly 10K.



Spelling...
 
Devil Doc said:
And to think, we used to change points and plugs, set the timming and dwell every 3000 mi. I think I can manage the $30 to have my oil changed every 3000 mi or so.

Doc.
Click to expand...

Doc I have thought the same thing for years and did just that. The oil change for the new car costs $100 plus. I don't need to throw that around just because "the man" says I should, hence the questions.

PJ
 
Well I change my synthetic oil on the ss every time I get it out of storage wich is about 1000 miles (yeah I know I'm just stoopid).

On the tacoma I change the oil every 5000 miles or so. I do sense a change on how the engine revs tough.

I know I could push every oil change to 7000-8000miles but I tend to change more often than not.
Now I know on a bm they are way apart than mine (for the reason vicster exposed)

Edited beacause of my fat thumbs on the little phone....
 
PJ the Comic said:
Devil Doc said:
And to think, we used to change points and plugs, set the timming and dwell every 3000 mi. I think I can manage the $30 to have my oil changed every 3000 mi or so.

Doc.
Click to expand...

Doc I have thought the same thing for years and did just that. The oil change for the new car costs $100 plus. I don't need to throw that around just because "the man" says I should, hence the questions.

PJ
Click to expand...

Status costs money.

Doc
 
Depends on useage, too. I change the oil in the truck every 3000-5000 miles. It does city driving as well as hauling loads for the local food bank plus pulling a trailer. I run 5W-30 in it. The Mustang hasn't had an oil change since 2010, but it's due. Light useage with only an 'occasional' :whistling: jackrabbit start. It only gets driven in the summer on very nice days.
 
My 2004 TDI VW diesel and the wife's 2005 BMW X3 both run full synthetic. The recommended change interval for the TDI is 10K, 15K for the wife's car.

They both go to my mechanic every 5000 miles for a change.... :thumbs:
 
Keep in mind it's not necessarily the oil, itself, that is degrading or getting dirty, but many filters are not designed for the higher mileage intervals that newer synthetic oils are claiming to stay serviceable for. If you are following your service recommendation and the dealer is doing the service with factory-approved parts, then (aside from paying a bit more than doing it yourself) you should be alright. For older vehicles/owners trying to get another few thousand miles out of their oil with high-mileage synthetic, they need to be aware of what kind of filter they are using, too, and not cheap out on a basic paper FRAM. New cars almost all have oil-life gauges and meters on them, and as much as I was opposed to them previously, I'm starting to be a believer. Just my resistance to change, I suppose. My 2005 Dodge truck does not have an oil change indicator, so I change oil and filter every 5,000 miles with Royal Purple 5w20 and RP filter. I can definitely tell the difference in the spent fluid from when I used to just drive around on flat ground all the time in Arkansas to the hills and mountains over here.
 
I change the oil in my BMW every 10,000 miles. I change the oil filter every 5,000 miles. I have my oil regularly tested at Blackstone Labs to make sure all is ok. I have found that usually the detergents in the oil are just about spent after 10,000 miles. I could go a bit longer, but I think 10,000 is a good number.

I use only Mobil 1 Sythetic European formula 0W-40 in my BMW though, and I only use OEM filters.

In my other vehicles I use the 5-7,000 rule. I don't use synthetic in those vehicles, and have had no issues. I also have those oils tested on a regular basis, and have had no problems. I use Mobil 1 High Mileage synthetic blend oil and Napa Gold filters on my other vehicles.
 
My wife drives a 2012 535i. We take it in once a year for an oil change. I hear you though, it was very strange getting used too, with her first BMW. My Truck in the other hand, gets synthetic every 5k.
 
My dad works the service department at a dealership, and they swear up and down with a good synthetic oil and filter, 10,000 is the number.
It scares me, but it seems to work for them.
 
I usually adhere to right around 8000 miles with the mobil 1 synthetic oil. In a previous car I had run amsoil up to 15000 once and 10000 another time. I never had any issues with the car however it's probably worth the piece of mind to change it a bit earlier. That said, if the changes were $300 apiece every time I went in(no idea what they charge for a BMW) then I might be forced to consider using their recommendation. But I don't have that problem lol.
 
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