6,000 mile oil change part of Free Maintenance?

[frankzlin79]

I got my 1,200 mile oil change right on time. I was thinking that the next free oil change for me would be at 15,000 miles. I look in my iDrive for the oil status (which was OK) and it says I should get one a 6,000 miles. My question is: Is the 6,000 mile oil change free?

Note, I have 10,000 miles right now, and have not gotten an oil change since 1,200 miles.

[isugoo]

BMW only covers oil change every 1 year or 15k miles (so after 1.2k miles service, it's going to be 16.2k miles for your next "free oil change" as part of inspection I).

Most of M owners do one more oil change every 6 months or 6-8k miles at own expense.

So the answer is NO, they'll not cover unless you hit 6k miles at exactly 12 months later.

[drvai]

Originally Posted by isugoo

BMW only covers oil change every 1 year or 15k miles (so after 1.2k miles service, it's going to be 16.2k miles for your next "free oil change" as part of inspection I).

Most of M owners do one more oil change every 6 months or 6-8k miles at own expense.

So the answer is NO, they'll not cover unless you hit 6k miles at exactly 12 months later.

But the 1 year free oil change is completely independent of the miles you have. In other words, if your car "turns 1" with 10,000 miles in the odometer, you do use your 1-year oil change you are entitled to the maintenance at 16000 (6k miles after)

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by isugoo

BMW only covers oil change every 1 year or 15k miles (so after 1.2k miles service, it's going to be 16.2k miles for your next "free oil change" as part of inspection I).

Where did you get the one-year thing? Have you had this documented or are you repeating what you have heard? AFAIK, oil changes included in the BMW Maintenance Plan are only at the discretion of the CBS system. It tracks maintenance by both time and miles. The default after the 1,200 service seems to be 16,000 miles, unless you drive the car under severe conditions. I and many others have seen this. I did do a change at ~7,500 miles on my own.

If you have iDrive set for automatic notification, your Center will be notified at 15k miles (you will also get an in-dash notice that service is approaching), and then notify you. You can get this service done anytime after that notification. I just had mine done at 15,100 miles.

I think the one year thing is misinformation, IMO, unless you have some documentation to prove me wrong.

Edit: Glad to be proven wrong by Awesome

[AwesomeM3]

BMW will change the oil free of charge once a year, or when the Condition Based Service system indicates to. I had mine changed one year from the date of the 1200 mile service, with less than 4000 miles on the odo.

Page 6 of the Service & Warranty book states "Change oil at least once a year."

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by AwesomeM3

BMW will change the oil free of charge once a year, or when the Condition Based Service system indicates to. I had mine changed one year from the date of the 1200 mile service, with less than 4000 miles on the odo.

Page 6 of the Service & Warranty book states "Change oil at least once a year."

Thanks -- missed that. So if you put on 10k a year you can get it changed every 10k miles.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Thanks -- missed that. So if you put on 10k a year you can get it changed every 10k miles.

The annual oil change is called a "Low Mileage Service" and its covered by your regular four year factory-paid maintenance. However, your "every year at 10k miles" conclusion is not correct: you'll get it changed a year after the last change if you haven't hit the CBS limit, and again whenever the CBS indicator says to. They do not reset the CBS when they do a low mileage service - it just keeps running because too much other stuff is tied to it - air filters, cabin filters, differential and trans fluids, and so on. It's an out-of-sequence oil change that they pretend never happened.

For instance, I do about 7500 miles a year, so mine was changed at 1200 miles in April 2008, at 8,000 miles in April 2009 (a year after the 1200 mile change) and it'll be done eight months later in December 2009 at around 13,000 miles when the CBS says it's due. The next change after that will be a year later in December 2010 at 21,000 miles or so. And so on.

[AwesomeM3]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Thanks -- missed that.

Originally Posted by JAJ

The annual oil change is called a "Low Mileage Service" and its covered by your regular four year factory-paid maintenance. However, your "every year at 10k miles" conclusion is not correct: you'll get it changed a year after the last change if you haven't hit the CBS limit, and again whenever the CBS indicator says to. They do not reset the CBS when they do a low mileage service - it just keeps running because too much other stuff is tied to it - air filters, cabin filters, differential and trans fluids, and so on. It's an out-of-sequence oil change that they pretend never happened.

For instance, I do about 7500 miles a year, so mine was changed at 1200 miles in April 2008, at 8,000 miles in April 2009 (a year after the 1200 mile change) and it'll be done eight months later in December 2009 at around 13,000 miles when the CBS says it's due. The next change after that will be a year later in December 2010 at 21,000 miles or so. And so on.

Good explanation, better than mine.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by JAJ

The annual oil change is called a "Low Mileage Service" and its covered by your regular four year factory-paid maintenance. However, your "every year at 10k miles" conclusion is not correct: you'll get it changed a year after the last change if you haven't hit the CBS limit, and again whenever the CBS indicator says to. They do not reset the CBS when they do a low mileage service - it just keeps running because too much other stuff is tied to it - air filters, cabin filters, differential and trans fluids, and so on. It's an out-of-sequence oil change that they pretend never happened.

For instance, I do about 7500 miles a year, so mine was changed at 1200 miles in April 2008, at 8,000 miles in April 2009 (a year after the 1200 mile change) and it'll be done eight months later in December 2009 at around 13,000 miles when the CBS says it's due. The next change after that will be a year later in December 2010 at 21,000 miles or so. And so on.

The CBS system supposedly monitors oil quality as one parameter. Why wouldn't an early change extend the normal interval? Or, does the oil "condition" have to get pretty bad (e.g. lots of short trips) to change the default 25,000 km interval?

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

The CBS system supposedly monitors oil quality as one parameter. Why wouldn't an early change extend the normal interval? Or, does the oil "condition" have to get pretty bad (e.g. lots of short trips) to change the default 25,000 km interval?

Despite all the rhetoric, I think the oil CBS system still only monitors fuel consumption between oil changes, just like it always has.

I recently left Vancouver showing 4200km to the next service. I drove to Portland and back (1000km total) and did 200km at PIR. My 1200km trip translated into an 800km drop to 3400km to the next service. Low fuel consumption while sitting on I5 in cruise control is my explanation for why the CBS recorded 400km less than the actual trip distance.

[elp_jc]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

The CBS system supposedly monitors oil quality as one parameter.

That'd be great. If that was the case, it'd trigger an oil change a lot sooner than 15K miles . It's just an algorithm, like all other cars; that's why I never pay attention to those things . Take care.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

That'd be great. If that was the case, it'd trigger an oil change a lot sooner than 15K miles . It's just an algorithm, like all other cars; that's why I never pay attention to those things . Take care.

So the Aftersales Training document that says it has an "oil condition sensor" is wrong? Algorithms can obviously be applied to any data read.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

So the Aftersales Training document that says it has an "oil condition sensor" is wrong? Algorithms can obviously be applied to any data read.

Maybe it will sound an alarm if the oil has too much acid or something, but if it doesn't then mileage or fuel consumed prevails.

Or, maybe the "condition" it measures is "present" (read: good) or "absent" (read: not so good).

I've read on the various Bosch and other automotive OEM's about oil sensors that can distinguish condition, but they seemed pretty "prototype-ish". Wouldn't they have problems giving a valid report if the owner put a different oil in the crankcase, or if Castrol reformulated TWS for that matter?

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by JAJ

Maybe it will sound an alarm if the oil has too much acid or something, but if it doesn't then mileage or fuel consumed prevails.

Or, maybe the "condition" it measures is "present" (read: good) or "absent" (read: not so good).

I've read on the various Bosch and other automotive OEM's about oil sensors that can distinguish condition, but they seemed pretty "prototype-ish". Wouldn't they have problems giving a valid report if the owner put a different oil in the crankcase, or if Castrol reformulated TWS for that matter?

Here is a descriiption from BMW.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Here is a descriiption from BMW.

Fascinating reading, but not inconsistent with the notion that the system will detect a "bad" oil situation and recommend a change, at the same time as it allows other algorithms, like mileage or fuel consumed, to determine oil changes when the oil is in otherwise good condition.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by JAJ

Fascinating reading, but not inconsistent with the notion that the system will detect a "bad" oil situation and recommend a change, at the same time as it allows other algorithms, like mileage or fuel consumed, to determine oil changes when the oil is in otherwise good condition.

Correct.

[elp_jc]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

So the Aftersales Training document that says it has an "oil condition sensor" is wrong?

It's 'Condition Based SYSTEM' (CBS). There's no oil quality sensors anywhere man, or you wouldn't need anything else, nor you'd have to 'reset' anything. Makes sense???
The algorithm used relies on many inputs, like number of ignition cycles, engine rpms, etc., which is fine for somebody who doesn't keep track of maintenance (plus helps dealers make money), but those algorithms will never take into account if you live in a dusty place, or many other situations. There have been numerous oil analyses done by many owners showing additive package already depleted by 7.5K miles, which means your oil can't neutralize acids anymore, can't absorb any more contaminants, etc. THAT is my worry, not viscosity breakdown, especially with 10/60 oil. And no comercially available sensor can determine that... yet (only viscosity, which is used in some diesel big rigs, but it has many limitations).

Nothing wrong with following the manual (or CBS), but I won't. An oil change at 7.5K miles seems to be the perfect balance between environmental consciousness and engine longevity. Take care.

[aus]

Originally Posted by JAJ

Despite all the rhetoric, I think the oil CBS system still only monitors fuel consumption between oil changes, just like it always has.

This is pretty much the case. There have been guys on the E90 side who sent their oil at a different intervals. and it starts to break down around 8,000 miles but is still good for most. At 10,000 miles or so, the oil starts to get a little nasty with a lot of wear metals per Blackstone reports but the senor still say's 15,000 miles for an oil change.

[Leozap]

Originally Posted by JAJ

The annual oil change is called a "Low Mileage Service" and its covered by your regular four year factory-paid maintenance. However, your "every year at 10k miles" conclusion is not correct: you'll get it changed a year after the last change if you haven't hit the CBS limit, and again whenever the CBS indicator says to. They do not reset the CBS when they do a low mileage service - it just keeps running because too much other stuff is tied to it - air filters, cabin filters, differential and trans fluids, and so on. It's an out-of-sequence oil change that they pretend never happened.

For instance, I do about 7500 miles a year, so mine was changed at 1200 miles in April 2008, at 8,000 miles in April 2009 (a year after the 1200 mile change) and it'll be done eight months later in December 2009 at around 13,000 miles when the CBS says it's due. The next change after that will be a year later in December 2010 at 21,000 miles or so. And so on.

I must be stupid or something. I don't even get this. So where does the "free oil change" fit in? If i get this right, we get 1 free oil change per year no matter what? And if we pay for our own oil change before the 15k miles mark, they don't reset the cbs? In other words, we get 4 free oil change no matter what?