How often do you change your oil?

[landshark]

I'm relatively new to BMWs. I just acquired my 325i late last year. I know the car tells me the number of miles before oil service.

How many of you follow the car's predetermined oil maintenance recommendation?

Or do you change at a specific mileage, say every 5,000 miles? (I was taught to do this by a few gearheads.)

I can understand having the technology to monitor the driving habits and oil, but 14,000 miles seems a really long time before changing oil.

Although I leased the car, I still want to keep it in good condition in the event I keep the car. It just seems a bit odd that auto manufacturers throw-in free maintenance but reduce the amount and frequency of maintenance.

 

[bahnstormer]

i do every 3000 miles OR every 3 months whichever comes first.
however on these new cars they say every 7k 10k sometimes even
15k. since u have a warranty, and the dealer does the changes for
u i'd say do what they tell ya

are u leasing or buying?

 

[aNoodle]

Hey, landshark, do a search for oil...there are a bunch of good threads discussing everybody's oil change preferences including brands, frequency, and all that.

 

[theBMWenthusiast]

5k miles

 

[rjp325i]

I do one or two oil changes between dealer changes. Whatever you prefer but make sure you continue with the synthetic. I did that with my previous BMW 325i and at 126K it did not use any oil between changes which were done at 6-9K intervals.

 

[codex57]

Will do it at approximately 7500 miles. That's halfway btw the recommended 15K miles. Since the 15K mile one is free and will be done at a dealer the traditional way, when I do it, I'll use an oil extractor.

With a 2003, only use synthetic motor oil. They last longer which is why they don't have to be changed as frequently. Still, the oil filter goes bad before the oil does which is why pretty much all of us here change the oil more frequently than the factory recommended intervals.

 

[vlad]

Ditto for me on what codex said!

 

[MrElussive]

Hey can one of you guys link me to an oil extractor? I'm very interested.

 

[codex57]

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=10122

Other websites have it cheaper. I think for like $50 or so. Same item. You want a quality one, otherwise there's more chance of it leaking oil everywhere which'll be a HUGE pain to clean up.

 

[HornyHornet]

What do you all say about changing it once the break-in period is up? When I bought my truck, someone told me that you need to change the oil (syn-blend) @ ~1500 to drain any possible metal shavings or things like that. Does this sound like a good idea for BMWs or should I just wait? My break-in period will be up tomorrow and was thinking about doing the lube change.

 

[MrElussive]

It's not a bad idea. At the very least, it won't hurt your car. I know a lot of G owners who changed their oil right when their break-in period was up. But don't switch from non-synthetic to synthetic or vice versa. Just use the proper oil.

codex, thanks for the link!!

 

[HornyHornet]

Right, I'm thinking about M1 5W-30 or 0W-40 (NO 5W-40). What about filter? Do I have to get one from the dealer? Thanks

 

[MrElussive]

You can use an aftmarket filter, but it is always best to use the factory filter. You can purchase a factory oil filter from your BMW dealership. But if you are looking at the aftermarket, Mobil 1 makes a fine oil filter. I used to have a link to this independant site where this guy reviewed a bunch of aftermarket oil filters and he talked about which ones were bad and which ones were good. Let me see if I can find it again...

 

[HornyHornet]

Thanks for your help Mr. E. I will make a trip tomorrow. Once I do the initial lube change, I think I will use 5K intervals.

 

[bmwrocks]

FYI, I just changed my oil about an hour ago @ 9000 miles. I bought Rhino Ramps, Castrol Syntec 5w30, Purolator filter kit, 36mm socket. Already had 17mm socket. The change was a breeze. Car went up fine on the Rinos. Car took 6 2/3 quarts. I love the filter design, no mess.

Torqued the filter cover and plug to 20 ft-lbs with my torque wrench.

Is there supposed to be a cover over the oil plug area of the big cover under there cause mine did not have one. It looked like a cover could go there but it was missing.

Someone please let me know if they have a cover there.

Thanks.

 

[codex57]

Didn't someone say the Purolator filters weren't very good. I know stock air filters tend to look much higher in quality than Purolator or any of the other ones you typically find in auto parts stores. I imagine the oil filters would be the same.

 

[aNoodle]

Didn't someone say the Purolator filters weren't very good. I know stock air filters tend to look much higher in quality than Purolator or any of the other ones you typically find in auto parts stores. I imagine the oil filters would be the same.

I've used Purolator before...they are fine. I wouldn't go the full 15,000 on them though. I have changed mine every 7,500 for 107,000 miles, except once I went nearly 12,000.

Never used a pump...can you really get everything out of the pan? What happens when the plug isn't removed and replaced on a regular basis.

bmwrocks, I don't have a cover on my '99.

 

[epj3]

I change the oil in my 88 325is every 3k miles, and will for as long as I own it. I know 3k miles is excessive (atleast, From what I hear it was a ploy to sell more oil) but I dont mind doing oil changes, and it costs me what, 16 bucks each time I do it? 16 bucks every 2 months to keep a car running isnt bad.

The car had STP oil filters used on it before I bought it, and I will use them from now on. I've heard fram and purlator are kind of crappy.

 

[MrElussive]

epj3, is your oil non-synthetic? Until recently, non-synthetic oil only lasted for 3,000 miles so your oil changes are right on the money. Even on my 2003 model year car, my non-synthetic oil needs to be changed every 3,750 miles.

 

[epj3]

epj3, is your oil non-synthetic? Until recently, non-synthetic oil only lasted for 3,000 miles so your oil changes are right on the money. Even on my 2003 model year car, my non-synthetic oil needs to be changed every 3,750 miles.

It is right now -- i've been told to try semi-synthetic but I dont want to deal with leaks -- it's almost at 171,000 miles and leaks would be bad. I've been using the high mileage (75,000 mile stuff -- even though i dont consider 75k miles high)