[David328M-Sport]

Originally Posted by djw007

Hi everyone,
Just had my first service done, 2 months overdue in fact and approx 14,800kms on the car. The car is 15 months old now.
To my amazement they did not do an oil change even though the car was overdue for it's first service and the display was telling me to take it in.
They said it wasn't ready for an oil change and BMW won't let them do it.
I had a quiet chat to the authorised BMW mechanic on the side and he freely admitted to me that BMW are cutting corners on the oil and that they have a vested interest in our engines not lasting forever..read in to that what you will.
He also assured me that his own BMW gets the oil changed every 6 months, and he would not leave oil in a new car for over a year and 15k and beyond as is my case.
I now have no idea when i am supposed to change my oil...

Wow!! Really? No oil change? Seriously?
Sorry, only joking. Fully synthetic oil is supposed to last at least 20k kms, maybe 25k. Nothing to fret about, nothing to get excited about and certainly nothing to concern yourself about what the mechanic had to say. Does his BMW use 100% fully synthetic oil?

I call it absolute rubbish about what the mechanic said, but which engine lasts 'forever'? Then again, when have your read about BMW engines failing because the oil wasn't changed often enough? If things like that were true, it would be common knowledge about BMW engines not lasting as one would reasonably expect. BMW's heritage is built on engines.

This issue has been discussed on pretty much every car forum for years. Some say change the oils every 5000kms, 7.5k kms, 10k kms etc. Others will leave the oil and change it when scheduled. The choice is yours and yours alone. Whatever makes you feel most comfortable about your car.

If BMW service won't change your oil, you can do it yourself (don't forget the filter) or ask an independent to do it. They will most certainly oblige.

Now if you do have the oil changed and they show you how black it is and you then post a photo on this thread to show us how black it is, being black does not mean anything as to the state of the oil. It would need to be analysed and even then the results may be inconclusive unless you tear down the engine to see if there was engine damaged caused by the oil.

In fact, I have read on this site that one owner had the oil analysed and very fine metallic particles were found in the original oil. Didn't cause engine damage. Maybe it might if left long enough, maybe not. No one knows.

I have let the SSI tell me when to change the oil in my cars. I've had BMWs since 1992 without engine oil related issues. My current car's just over 10k kms and I'm not anywhere close to having to change the oil over. My previous car, E90 325i had its first engine oil change at around 20k kms. Issue free.

You choose. No right or wrong in this instance.
Cheers