Previous owner exceeded oil change. How bad is it?

a5634 · 05-16-2021, 02:25 AM

Dealer just told me previous owner went over oil change on my 2013 328iX by 4,000 miles/280 days at least for dealer records and is what showed on key-in.

Had no idea prior to purchase and comes as a shock, considering TC problems on N20s. The TC is fine as confirmed by the Dealer. The car does seem to drive fine, although I think the turbo might be making some sounds.
How bad is this and what should I do? Need some wiser people to chime in on this, but I'm certainly worried.

Am I screwed? What would you do in my situation?

Went for inspection at dealer and SA didn't say anything bad other than for possibly the turbo. He brought up the oil change because he said Goodwill would never get past that.

Car is at 50k miles and otherwise, oil changes were within interval given by BMW.

Jimmert · 05-16-2021, 04:07 AM

Don’t worry about it. In Europa, we have oil intervals for the N20 of 19k(miles) or 2 years. This is actually too long, but the negative effects are long term related. Apart from chain issue, with these long intervals you should still be able to reach 125k(miles).

In your case, if you stick to frequent oil changes in the future, you should not see any negative effects at all.

Billfitz · 05-16-2021, 08:10 AM

I'd drive the car. You can't go back in time to tell the previous owner to change the oil. If it was a cold weather car the extra 280 days might be a problem, as cold weather cars should always have the oil changed in the spring to get rid of the crud that accumulates due to condensation, but that's not a concern in Florida. BTW, this should have been checked out by the dealer before selling the car, not after.

05-16-2021, 02:25 AM	#1
a5634 Registered 0 Rep 3 Posts Drives: 328i Join Date: May 2021 Location: FL iTrader: (0)	Previous owner exceeded oil change. How bad is it? Dealer just told me previous owner went over oil change on my 2013 328iX by 4,000 miles/280 days at least for dealer records and is what showed on key-in. Had no idea prior to purchase and comes as a shock, considering TC problems on N20s. The TC is fine as confirmed by the Dealer. The car does seem to drive fine, although I think the turbo might be making some sounds. How bad is this and what should I do? Need some wiser people to chime in on this, but I'm certainly worried. Am I screwed? What would you do in my situation? Went for inspection at dealer and SA didn't say anything bad other than for possibly the turbo. He brought up the oil change because he said Goodwill would never get past that. Car is at 50k miles and otherwise, oil changes were within interval given by BMW. Last edited by a5634; 05-16-2021 at 02:49 AM..
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05-16-2021, 04:07 AM	#2
Jimmert Private First Class 66 Rep 160 Posts Drives: BMW 420i F36 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: The Netherlands iTrader: (0)	Don’t worry about it. In Europa, we have oil intervals for the N20 of 19k(miles) or 2 years. This is actually too long, but the negative effects are long term related. Apart from chain issue, with these long intervals you should still be able to reach 125k(miles). In your case, if you stick to frequent oil changes in the future, you should not see any negative effects at all.
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05-16-2021, 08:10 AM	#3
Billfitz Lieutenant General 8243 Rep 16,082 Posts Drives: '15 328iX GT Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: New Hampshire iTrader: (0)	I'd drive the car. You can't go back in time to tell the previous owner to change the oil. If it was a cold weather car the extra 280 days might be a problem, as cold weather cars should always have the oil changed in the spring to get rid of the crud that accumulates due to condensation, but that's not a concern in Florida. BTW, this should have been checked out by the dealer before selling the car, not after.
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