:shakehead: Umm..Need Advice...VANOS job in progress after 40k on an oil change - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum longest i waited to change oil was 9k. and that was on amsoil. after sending it for analisys i they said oil was at 50% life
German cars are totally different animals when it comes to oil service...they change oil every 11k-15k miles, and use TWICE as much as domestic and Japanese cars...A buddy of mine used to have an older ('98 or something) Mercedes S600, and it takes 14 quarts of oil... German cars use fully synthetic oil (very similar to Mobil 1 Extended performance, or Castrol Edge) which designed to last that long...my wife's BMW get's an oil change every 15k miles, got 61k on the clock and it runs like a champ...Porsche changes oil every 11k, if I remember correctly, same goes for Mercedes AMG series, where benz gets it every 13-15k miles...Those oil changes cost $200+.
I drive an American car, so I change the oil every 3,000 miles. I don't do any other maintenance, because the only maintenance people care about is oil changes!!! "Nice truck, did you maintain it?" "Certainly, I changed the oil every 3,000 miles!" "Perfect, it sounds like you kept up with the maintenance!" "SOLD!!!"
yeah sure oil can last that long BUT your oil filter can only hold so much crap in it, after that, well it gets back into your engine. sure big rigs (18 wheelers) can go on same oil for like 100k or something, they just change oil filter more often. amsoil claims to get 15/25k out of their oil with fully synthetic oil filter that filters and holds more crap. i send oil after first change to get analized and guy on phone recomended to change it at around 7k (after i drove 9k with that oil). if you change your own oil then its not that expencive and you can do it more offten. i do my own oil changes but my car is not under warranty so its ok for me and not planning to sell it anytime soon. if your car under warranty you better change it at dealer so you have record of mainanace syntetic oil aperently not good for all cars. we had one guy who used it from day one on his accord and when he took it for engine upgrade, our guy said that he cant use his block to do bore couse walls were damaged from inadequate lubrication
I think filter for European cars are different too...but to be honest I never bothered checking one out...
My GTI has a cartridge filter, open style, so you can see what is being filtered. I have to change my oil around 7k (Using fully synthetic Group 4 oil) because of fuel dilution issues with direct injection in the GTI...kind of sucks but oh well I knew it was going to be expensive to maintain from the get go. End up paying around $90-100 for a oil change, I do it myself, but oil cost me $80ish and filter is $10-13. Through regular oil analysis I may get it to where I am comfortable to do it every 10k but right now I am changing it out well before that.
I think the difference is in the way they manage crankcase ventilation and emissions. I think they use a PCV-less system that doesn't allow exhaust emissions back into the crankcase like those with a PCV valve. By limiting the amount of soot, water, etc. that is introduced, the oil only gets dirty from heat and wear and lasts much longer.
WOW ... thanks for the information. I didn't know that. I was under the impression that their only difference was the oil filter media and the oil type requirements.
Wow, one impressive thread there. Makes me want to go change my BMW oil right now. The original owner stuck with the 15k OCI per BMW's guidance. I've cut it in half and doing 7.5k changes... Those were some scary pics!
