[idrift4wd]

Just need a quick responce. on a some what safe amount of time AFTER your oil change light come on.

my car has had its oil light / service light on for about a week now. and i mad an appointment for the 19th of this month. i should be ok right? synthetic should last much longer then the recommended life time right?

[Express]

assuming youve already dont 12-15k, 0

[Kolyan2k]

Well, there are different sides here.....

1st of all syn oil is usually good for 5-8k miles, not what BMW says. Will anything bad happen if you change per BMW 12-15k miles intervals, most likely no.....My father almost never changes oil or filter on his truck and the car has 165k miles (something that my 335 will never see with 7k oil changes).......if low oil light comes up, he just adds more oil.....

Usually car enthusiasts change oil once in between BMW recommended intervals, or every 7-8k

So to answer your question, yes, you will be ok for long time after oil change is needed.

[dtc100]

You are fine my friend, do what BMW says when it suits your needs, you will be fine, but if you don't like what BMW tells you, do whatever you want, you will be just as fine, as long as you read E90post and know what you are doing.

[ENINTY]

You'll be fine. I can't see why you need to wait till the 19th, it's just an oil change. Your car will run for an extremely long time if you follow the CBS oil change interval.

[ctuna]

If you don't have so much money that this is a disposable car.
You should google Mike Miller BMW for the old school maintenance schedule.

[hipnotic]

change it every 8000 miles

[Tortfeasor 335xi]

Oil doesn't magically go bad like an over ripe peach. Viscosity breaks down as the oil is used. As you drive an engine with inadequate oil, you simply have higher wear than if it had fresh oil. There is little difference in your oil 2 weeks ago when the service light was off than it is now with it on. So its not like your engine is going to go past its freshness date and catapult out of your engine bay because you put an extra week or two of driving on it.

That said, it would be better if you changed your oil more often than every 15,000 miles. The few used oil analysis I have seen posted on here seem to indicate that 7,500-10,000 miles is about the time it takes to use up your synthetic oil depending on your driving habits. So it makes sense, if you care about the longevity of your engine, to change the oil yourself between services.

[ctuna]

There is a build up of combustion by products and metal . The filter will collect big particles up to the point its clogged then the engine will bypass the filter thats called blowby . The oil becomes burnt and all the additives are depleted, So the engine gets sanded in and acidic bath.
Then there is also sludge buildup from oil thats badly burnt and depleted.

[Elie335]

lol... I change oil every 3K miles " to keep it fresh " as I have a heavy modded car, but for stock one 6 - 7k is enough.

[dtc100]

And of course when BMW says change oil every 15k miles, it just wants to make sure your engine will not last more than 50k miles

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by ctuna

There is a build up of combustion by products and metal . The filter will collect big particles up to the point its clogged then the engine will bypass the filter thats called blowby . The oil becomes burnt and all the additives are depleted, So the engine gets sanded in and acidic bath.
Then there is also sludge buildup from oil thats badly burnt and depleted.

There is just so much wrong with this gibberish...

[HighlandPete]

I presume you guys are using the 'Longlife' (LL-04) synthetic oils in the US?

We are seeing service intervals around 20K miles/2-years in Europe, even in diesels. Not uncommon for the CBS to allow over 20k miles.

Whether it is prudent to change earlier, is wide open to debate, but BMW will warranty engines, if we keep to that regime.

HighlandPete

[John 070]

Forgetting about the light, I think 7500 (the ownership camp--the leasing camp no need to worry about oil, it's not your car, whenever it's convenient to bring it in). But the light (CBS) is often totally off when you have low mileage oil changes thrown in the mix. I got a free oil change at 6200 back in Aug., and then in Nov., the light went on and the dealership changed it again for free after less than 1500 miles. They really don't seem to care, as if BMW is paying and they're profiting.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by ctuna

If you don't have so much money that this is a disposable car.
You should google Mike Miller BMW for the old school maintenance schedule.

Actually my original service manager said about the same thing. He said probably much of our maintenance ideas are old school and unneeded, such as changing the oil at 1200 miles when new. But it's required for M cars, so if you own a 335, why not do it? Then he qualified, if you lease the car, who cares, just bring it in whenever you have a service warning, nothing more.

[Saintor]

Originally Posted by dtc100

And of course when BMW says change oil every 15k miles, it just wants to make sure your engine will not last more than 50k miles

You must be joking of course, but 15K oil changes have been around for about 12 years (BMW and Porsche) and engines continue to be more and more lasting. There is no objective reason to change every 3K - complete waste unless you go to the track.

[xG35c]

When Mobil 1 was first introduced, they bragged about 25k mile oil change intervals, I think a midway filter change was recommended. These synthetics are basically "lifetime" oils unless they get contaminated. I wouldn't sweat a couple of weeks but I wouldn't go to much further either.

[ctuna]

http://www.carjunky.com/news/motor_oil/mom4.shtml

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

Amen

[M340i Pride]

Originally Posted by dtc100

And of course when BMW says change oil every 15k miles, it just wants to make sure your engine will not last more than 50k miles

lol!

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by ctuna

http://www.carjunky.com/news/motor_oil/mom4.shtml

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

Amen

As written by AMSOIL...

Pic of my engine valve train @ 106,000 miles w/ oil changes approximately every 17,000 miles...

[bobbettafish]

This is going to take some getting used to... I think Ill settle for waiting until 7k, but I'll get anxious after that point!

[ceb]

Originally Posted by ctuna

There is a build up of combustion by products and metal . The filter will collect big particles up to the point its clogged then the engine will bypass the filter thats called blowby . The oil becomes burnt and all the additives are depleted, So the engine gets sanded in and acidic bath.
Then there is also sludge buildup from oil thats badly burnt and depleted.

Huh?

Oh, here is the definition of "blowby." Most everything else is wrong too.

blow´by` (blō´bī`)
n. 1. the leakage of gases from the combustion cylinder of an internal combustion engine between the piston and cylinder wall into the crankcase.