[ftally]

Hi guys,

Just to give you some information and ask a question to fellow 420d owners.

I am at 15,550 miles (27/07/18) and i am already due a 2nd service (oil change, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter and.....BMW said they have a campaign for my model vehicle, which they have identified an issue with our cars. The person on the phone from BMW didn't have much information to give me but said that it's something to do with a software update that reads the service requirements and it maybe reading incorrectly. I actually believe this to be true because the lady on the phone was surprised when she saw my mileage at the time of booking (14,890) and said usually they need servicing at 18,000 (They can see you car computer service history/requirements just with your reg number!) She said it's just a software update for the issue that BMW are going to fix on their part, no cost to me.

When i first called BMW to book the service, the lady didn't want to book me in yet, instead she said to go to any BMW dealer and have my car key read by the reader they have so they can get the latest data from the car. After i did that, the technician said that it's an update to the software that is needed plus the usual service requirements. I got the quote their and then from BMW Kentish Town, then called BMW Chigwell.



Total cost for service no.2 with BMW dealer is £520 inc VAT - BMW Chigwell. I first got a quote from BMW Barons - Kentish Town for £570 inc VAT. Phoned other dealers and got this price, also included is a courtesy car for the day with Chigwell.

Service no.1 (Oil change, oil filter, air filter) £365 inc VAT - BMW Barons Kentish Town

My service is booked for mid August, so I will let you guys know what this campaign thing is all about and what the problem was.

So my questions is, have any 420dGC owners had this campaign fix for your car? Do you know more details about the issue?

BMW servicing is requirement based, not fixed date/mileage based. I drive to work 5days a week, stop start traffic in eco-pro mode, with a round trip mileage of approx 12miles. I only put it in sport mode when a usually an old modded up car wants to show off and i leave him for dust. The acceleration is plenty for most UK roads and most cannot keep. I even stuck right in the ass of a Maserati Ghibli, although i wasn't expecting to, he must have felt like
a shit driver after i overtook him, when it was safe to!

So that's my driving pattern 95% eco pro 5% fun. I am wondering now if constant stop start commuting traffic is the reason i am due servicing so early??

Any thoughts would be appreciated. What modes do you drive in?

One last thing, i only use Shell V-Power since i go the car brand new. What do you guys use?


*********UPDATE********

Sorry I forgot to mention my car age and first mileage.

I got it brand new in Nov 2016 (66 plate).
First service carried out at 7,678 miles.
Current mileage (Correction to what I wrote further up) 15,632 and according to the on board computer I am overdue by 190 miles. Again just to mention, the earliest convenient booking is mid August, BMW said its fine to go -1000 miles.

[Sasquartch]

What mileage was the first service ?
15k seems very low for the second unless it's a time based thing. How old is the car ?
Maybe a diesel is not suitable for that type of use and it's because of frequent dog regens ??

[Jeff123]

I seem to remember that my 2nd service was at about 34k miles. The first, although I wasn’t the owner was around 18k. Some aspects are time based and others, such as oil, condition based. If your car is 2 years old then maybe the age plus the stop/start driving has resulted in this.

[TouringPleb]

I'm surprised you are due a second service at 15,500 miles.

When I had my 320d Touring I went 19,000 miles to first service and second was 38,000 miles. And I drive enthusiastically shall we say.

[speedski]

First oil change due on my 420d X GC in 1,300 miles - 18,350 it'll be on then... 1yr 3 months old.

[Hugrov]

Originally Posted by speedski

First oil change due on my 420d X GC in 1,300 miles - 18,350 it'll be on then... 1yr 3 months old.

I just can't bring myself to wait that long for my first oil service, irrespective of what the car is telling me. My car will probably only have approx 5000 miles on it at the 1 year old point but will be getting an interim oil change anyway, I'll just make sure the service counter doesn't get reset when it's done.

[speedski]

Originally Posted by Hugrov

I just can't bring myself to wait that long for my first oil service, irrespective of what the car is telling me. My car will probably only have approx 5000 miles on it at the 1 year old point but will be getting an interim oil change anyway, I'll just make sure the service counter doesn't get reset when it's done.

Is what it is - I wont keep it for ages, so as long as it has a dealer service history and the idrive is accurate for the 5 or so years I have it that will do me...

[Hugrov]

Originally Posted by speedski

Is what it is - I wont keep it for ages, so as long as it has a dealer service history and the idrive is accurate for the 5 or so years I have it that will do me...

Yeah, I know where you're coming from. I'm planning on keeping my car long term so want to do an annual oil change irrelevant of what the car is telling me, 18k miles just seems like a hell of a long time to be running on the same oil but I fully appreciate it's condition based.

[Sasquartch]

I don't think there's any way extra oil changes can be a bad thing so that's what I'm doing

[teaston]

Definitely something wrong, that’s early for a first service on a 320d, let alone the second service!

By the way they’re ripping you off with that price too, I got my fourth service (same as second service plus fuel filter is also changed) for £400 from Cooper Norwich after they originally quoted me £560!

[robbiep]

Whilst servicing is normally condition-based, it does also depend on time.
For example, normally the first service will come at 18k. If you only do (for example) 5k a year, then the service will come due at 2 years old.

You don't say the age of the car or the annual mileage - both of which are rather important pieces of information.

[Scottiedog]

6 miles each way the car will never get up to temp so that's why it wants fresh oil. It does seem very early to be fair but diesels need a run to operate efficiently and if it very rarely get that then it explains why.

[Jeff123]

Originally Posted by Scottiedog

6 miles each way the car will never get up to temp so that's why it wants fresh oil. It does seem very early to be fair but diesels need a run to operate efficiently and if it very rarely get that then it explains why.

That's true, they take 15 minutes in winter to warm up. Nor much quicker in summer either.

[pmgreenwood]

Originally Posted by Jeff123

That's true, they take 15 minutes in winter to warm up. Nor much quicker in summer either.

320D do warmer sooner than 330D's but within 6 miles they are only just getting warm. Short commuting use needs an EV or petrol will ultimately cause problems with a diesel.

I do a mix of 30 miles days and 2000 to 300 mile long trips and like others here 1st service was 18k 2nd 36K

[ftally]

Originally Posted by speedski

First oil change due on my 420d X GC in 1,300 miles - 18,350 it'll be on then... 1yr 3 months old.

Hey,

What kind of driving do you do? I mean do you drive to work, and for how many miles, what top speed do you reach?

[ftally]

Originally Posted by Scottiedog

6 miles each way the car will never get up to temp so that's why it wants fresh oil. It does seem very early to be fair but diesels need a run to operate efficiently and if it very rarely get that then it explains why.

Yes you're right Scottie, by the time I reach work, with road limits of 30mph all the way to work, the engine hasn't reached 100°c yet! Probably around 80°c as the needle isn't halfway by the time I park the car.

[speedski]

Originally Posted by ftally

Hey,

What kind of driving do you do? I mean do you drive to work, and for how many miles, what top speed do you reach?

Commute is 15 miles each way - 12 of that is motorway.

I slowly accelerate in comfort on the motorway until 60ish - when up to temp will got to 70ish - at the moment 4 miles of my commute is 50 mile average speed.

I do the commute at 0630 in the morning, so take it easy and wack the HK audio up loud to wake up

[ftally]

Originally Posted by speedski

Commute is 15 miles each way - 12 of that is motorway.

I slowly accelerate in comfort on the motorway until 60ish - when up to temp will got to 70ish - at the moment 4 miles of my commute is 50 mile average speed.

I do the commute at 0630 in the morning, so take it easy and wack the HK audio up loud to wake up

Oh Yeah, that was my first concern when I built the car, the sound system!

I would never settle for anything less than HK audio! The sound is amazing, 2 subwoofers under the seat vibrate your heart!

Financially the B&O sound system was more than the deposit for the car if i chose that option! Overpriced??? I've never heard the sound system, but that would be a dream come true one day...

I've had the opportunity to drive another 4GC Sport model, which had the standard BMW sound system. Utter shitness! Sound was flat, bass shit, mid and high tones sounded muffled. If I had this in my car, the driving experience would be completely ruined. I'm so happy I opted for the M-Sport plus pack. I would recommend this to anyone unless you don't like listening to music.


Yeah you can warm up the engine good with those speeds. I am stuck to just 30mph roads going to work and it's start stop with the engine stopping everytime time I stop. BMW says in the manual, to just start the car and drive instead of idling the car to warm up. Idling doesn't warm up the car quickly. They say instead the car when it's cold, holds the gear changes a bit longer in order to warm up the engine as you drive. So it will keep you in the lower gears and higher rev count before changing up.

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by ftally

Hi guys,

Just to give you some information and ask a question to fellow 420d owners.



Service no.1 (Oil change, oil filter, air filter) £365 inc VAT - BMW Barons Kentish Town

My service is booked for mid August, so I will let you guys know what this campaign thing is all about and what the problem was.

So my questions is, have any 420dGC owners had this campaign fix for your car? Do you know more details about the issue?

BMW servicing is requirement based, not fixed date/mileage based. I drive to work 5days a week, stop start traffic in eco-pro mode, with a round trip mileage of approx 12miles. I only put it in sport mode when a usually an old modded up car wants to show off and i leave him for dust. The acceleration is plenty for most UK roads and most cannot keep. I even stuck right in the ass of a Maserati Ghibli, although i wasn't expecting to, he must have felt like
a shit driver after i overtook him, when it was safe to!

So that's my driving pattern 95% eco pro 5% fun. I am wondering now if constant stop start commuting traffic is the reason i am due servicing so early??

Any thoughts would be appreciated. What modes do you drive in?

One last thing, i only use Shell V-Power since i go the car brand new. What do you guys use?


*********UPDATE********

Sorry I forgot to mention my car age and first mileage.

I got it brand new in Nov 2016 (66 plate).
First service carried out at 7,678 miles.
Current mileage (Correction to what I wrote further up) 15,632 and according to the on board computer I am overdue by 190 miles. Again just to mention, the earliest convenient booking is mid August, BMW said its fine to go -1000 miles.

There's something wrong there for sure, your car shouldn't be asking for an oil change every 7 or 8k miles and in less than a year. Probably something wrong software relatated with the condition based servicing .. unless your engine oil is getting diluted down badly with Diesel

[speedski]

Originally Posted by ftally

Oh Yeah, that was my first concern when I built the car, the sound system!

I would never settle for anything less than HK audio! The sound is amazing, 2 subwoofers under the seat vibrate your heart!

Financially the B&O sound system was more than the deposit for the car if i chose that option! Overpriced??? I've never heard the sound system, but that would be a dream come true one day...

I've had the opportunity to drive another 4GC Sport model, which had the standard BMW sound system. Utter shitness! Sound was flat, bass shit, mid and high tones sounded muffled. If I had this in my car, the driving experience would be completely ruined. I'm so happy I opted for the M-Sport plus pack. I would recommend this to anyone unless you don't like listening to music.


Yeah you can warm up the engine good with those speeds. I am stuck to just 30mph roads going to work and it's start stop with the engine stopping everytime time I stop. BMW says in the manual, to just start the car and drive instead of idling the car to warm up. Idling doesn't warm up the car quickly. They say instead the car when it's cold, holds the gear changes a bit longer in order to warm up the engine as you drive. So it will keep you in the lower gears and higher rev count before changing up.

I also turn off start stop until the car is up to temp...

If you in 30's in start stop then im surprised its needs an oil change and not a whole new battery....

[ftally]

Originally Posted by Hooded

There's something wrong there for sure, your car shouldn't be asking for an oil change every 7 or 8k miles and in less than a year. Probably something wrong software relatated with the condition based servicing .. unless your engine oil is getting diluted down badly with Diesel

Yeah hence BMW said there is a campaign fix that they need to perform a software update because they themselves found it strange that it's asking for servicing.

However, when I got the car day 1 brand new with 6miles I think on the clock, everytime you turn on the engine a display comes up giving you a countdown of the next service. From day 1 it said service at 8,000 miles! After that, and the computer reset after first service, it then said next service due in 14,000, at this point I wasn't even at 8,000 miles yet when the first service was done. So I am thinking ok, I can drive for another 14,000 miles, which would take me to 22,000 before needing a second service. Mind you the computer also says, 14,000 or 09/2018 whichever comes first. But... And here is the big but...., I have noticed every two weeks-ish the amount of mileage remaining for the second service mysteriously comes down a lot more than my miles driven. However its hard to keep track of and make a mental calculation as each time I fill up I reset the odometer. I average about 30litres of Shell V-Power Diesel to approx 200 to 250 miles.

[ftally]

Originally Posted by teaston

Definitely something wrong, that's early for a first service on a 320d, let alone the second service!

By the way they're ripping you off with that price too, I got my fourth service (same as second service plus fuel filter is also changed) for £400 from Cooper Norwich after they originally quoted me £560!

I'm based in North London, Norwich is a bit out of my way, otherwise I wouldn't mind going there. The onky reason I am sticking with dealer servicing is because its a lease, and I need to have the computer reset with the correct service options. Plus the work is guaranteed so any issues I can take it back and they need to sort it. A private garage, you cannot guarantee original OEM parts or fake OEM parts even if they can reset the computer.