Oil Mileage Light??

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Amyf650

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I have a 2002 325xi sport wagon. When I bought it, it had approx. 31k miles. I now have almost 37k miles on it. On my display panel above the steering wheel, there is an oil service light along with a 10k count down indicator. It stays on only for a couple of second after I start my car and I'm not sure when the number display came on, but it is now at 9,125.

I called the dealership assuming it's time for an oil change and was told that, indeed, I have 9,125 miles left before I really need one. Now, I'm old school with changing my oil every 3-4,000 miles. How many miles do I get with synthetic oil? If I've put over 6k miles on my car, why isn't it displaying a number closer to 4,000? The manual explains nothing except use BMW synthetic oil. Thanks!
 
///M SPEED

///M SPEED

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Amyf650, welcome to the board. The number you are seeing is the countdown meter for when your next oil/service is due. The new model BMW's require their oil to be changed every 15,000 miles with synthetic oil (that is the reason for the long elapse time between oil changes). This is the factory recommendation. This is the time BMW, if still under maintenance warrantee will change your oil for free. Most here on this board never wait that long to change the oil. Most will change the oil between 4000-7500 miles, while the counter is still counting down. Then have the oil changed again once the counter has gone to 0 or below.
 
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AIO

AIO

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///M SPEED said:
Most here on this board never wait that long to change the oil. Most will change the oil between 4000-7500 miles, while the counter is still counting down.
Click to expand...
And why is that???

The dealer told me to stick to what the computer displays says. What would go wrong if I listen to him and have the oil changed when the counter hits zero?

Guys, you scare me now. I've always had 100% confidence in German engineering and if they tell me to follow the counter I'm more than willing to do so. But now that the BMW-enthusiasts do otherwise, I really don't know what to do. [:(]

Did anyone loyal to the counter have engine problems before?
 
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haysdb

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It's called paranoia.

I too would like some substantiation of the FUD concerning BMW's reccomended oil change interval. I suspect is just "old school" thinking, that oil should be changed every 3000 miles.

Now, having said that, I like the idea of doing an oil change in between the recommended interval. I love my car, and 15000 miles seems like a very long time.
 
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