Cost of an oil change

[RealSanaii]

I just called 2 dealers and found 2 different prices for an oil change.

First one quoted $240 includ. tax with $180 on parts alone!?!?!?!

I've read on other threads that oil costs $11/ quart and about 20 bucks for oil filter. Where are they getting the other $50 from?

Second one quoted $120 and I made sure that this is not a regular 3 series...

What did u guys pay?

[KiokenM3]

nothing, mines free

[leeor]

lol ur getting scummed. I hope you know its free maintaince on these bimmers 4 years or 50k miles i believe it is... unless its an un scheduled oil change

[gobuffs]

Originally Posted by leeor

lol ur getting scummed. I hope you know its free maintaince on these bimmers 4 years or 50k miles i believe it is... unless its an un scheduled oil change

if you wait 15k miles to do an oil change I hoping you are leasing....

[Finnegan]

Which actual components are being replaced in the "oil change" (which I assume is supplemental to the "Ultimate Service" interval oil change/filter which is free)?

• Oil only?
• Oil + Oil Filter?
• Oil + Oil Filter + Micro Filter (ventilation filter for the cabin)?

On top of those items (and I can't tell from the post which items the
dealer is actually including) there is labor, tax, hazardous waste disposal fees, etc.

Can you offer more specifics on just what is being done in the proposed service by each dealer? If the components are the same then the difference is simply dealer pricing....

[fpblue]

I just paid $168 which included tax.

[midlifecrisis]

I think the "liquid gold" Castrol alone goes for 12 bucks a quart or more at retail. The car takes 9 quarts.

I paid about $180 all in. I knew it was going to be expensive but that surprised me. (I've also replaced the PS2's already - thankfully I only had to shell out for the 18's - a little over $1,200 at TireRack.)

Not a cheap car to own - but I agree that I'd never let it go 15,000 miles between oil changes. I want the thing to last, so I'm paying for at least one change between each scheduled one.

[Robo Squirrel]

last time i did an oil change for my e36 it was like 60 bucks for everything. i got the parts at the dealer and did it myself

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by RealSanaii

I just called 2 dealers and found 2 different prices for an oil change.

First one quoted $240 includ. tax with $180 on parts alone!?!?!?!

I've read on other threads that oil costs $11/ quart and about 20 bucks for oil filter. Where are there getting the other $50 from?

Second one quoted $120 and I made sure that this is not a reqular 3 series...

What did u guys pay?

Oil & filter is about $110 at my dealer and probably takes 1/2 hour, so $160-180 range is not bad. $240 is ridiculuous.

[skim]

why not do it yourself?
i had a dealer who i HIGHLY suspect didn't do an oil change on my z4 before.
the reason i suspect this is that
1. they didn't reset the "miles to next oil change" counter - i understand you can sometimes forget but this leads to all other reasons below
2. at the time i brought the car in, the comp was showing 1/2 from max oil level, that didn't change when i picked up the car (it should have been at "full" or even "overfill") - thanks to BMW, that (N54 i think?) didn't have dipstick either
3. it was supposed to be the first oil change and the engine bay was pretty clean, no signs of oil anywhere like around the filter

so i'd just for my own peace of mind, would do 1 oil change in between myself JUST IN CASE they don't change at 15k miles

[Nawaaz]

So it looks like $160-180 may be the reasonable price for an oil change on the M3.

Btw, I'm planning on getting an oil change done every 5k miles.....For sure.

[niqui]

i got mine done today for 220 tax in. (included track inspection, but i dont know if i was charged for this indirectly or not)
castrol wasnt used but lubrioil 10w60 was.

[Bikerjoy]

And here we go again.....

Everyone knows better than the engineers that actually designed, built and tested the car.

Changing oil every 5000 miles is very much an american thing. I lived my entire life in Sweden up until 4 years ago, and european brands now either have a dynamic service interval with the first oil change made after about 15-18k (exception on M3 and alike that have a break in service at 1.2k), or they have a static interval around 18k (30000km).

Do you really think BMW or any european manufacturer would state 18k if it was harmful for your car? BMW has incentive in doing so as service is free, but Porsche (just bought a Cayman S), has the first service at 20k (no break in service). Porsche actually has incentive to make you change oil more often since it is not free, but still they call for 20k (or 12 months), why? Because the car will be just fine doing so.

If you sleep better at night changing oil every 5k, go right ahead, but you are throwing your money away in my opinion (and BMW engineers might agree).

[isugoo]

Originally Posted by Bikerjoy

And here we go again.....

Everyone knows better than the engineers that actually designed, built and tested the car.

Changing oil every 5000 miles is very much an american thing. I lived my entire life in Sweden up until 4 years ago, and european brands now either have a dynamic service interval with the first oil change made after about 15-18k (exception on M3 and alike that have a break in service at 1.2k), or they have a static interval around 18k (30000km).

Do you really think BMW or any european manufacturer would state 18k if it was harmful for your car? BMW has incentive in doing so as service is free, but Porsche (just bought a Cayman S), has the first service at 20k (no break in service). Porsche actually has incentive to make you change oil more often since it is not free, but still they call for 20k (or 12 months), why? Because the car will be just fine doing so.

If you sleep better at night changing oil every 5k, go right ahead, but you are throwing your money away in my opinion (and BMW engineers might agree).

You do have a good point.

[pilot_bro2003]

Originally Posted by Bikerjoy

And here we go again.....

Everyone knows better than the engineers that actually designed, built and tested the car.

Changing oil every 5000 miles is very much an american thing. I lived my entire life in Sweden up until 4 years ago, and european brands now either have a dynamic service interval with the first oil change made after about 15-18k (exception on M3 and alike that have a break in service at 1.2k), or they have a static interval around 18k (30000km).

Do you really think BMW or any european manufacturer would state 18k if it was harmful for your car? BMW has incentive in doing so as service is free, but Porsche (just bought a Cayman S), has the first service at 20k (no break in service). Porsche actually has incentive to make you change oil more often since it is not free, but still they call for 20k (or 12 months), why? Because the car will be just fine doing so.

If you sleep better at night changing oil every 5k, go right ahead, but you are throwing your money away in my opinion (and BMW engineers might agree).

[MysticBlue]

If I wasn't tracking the car, you might have a point, but
I'm not leasing and I plan on keeping the car longer than 4 years.
I occasionally track and autoX.
I just changed it myself at 7500 miles right after a track day. Don't think that's unreasonable. If I was concererned about wasting 100 bucks, well, I probably shouldn't be on the track then. Heck, if I was worried that much about 100 bucks, maybe I shouldn't even be driving this car.
Yes, it's only a car, but I still take pride in it and how I take care of it, and you must too, otherwise we'd all be driving corollas.
Waste of money? Sure. But the whole thing is nothing but a waste of money, so what's another 100 bucks.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Nawaaz

So it looks like $160-180 may be the reasonable price for an oil change on the M3.

Btw, I'm planning on getting an oil change done every 5k miles.....For sure.

I'm with you. And no, I don't think I know more than the engineers and yes I think it's probably not necessary. But I'll do it myself at 7,500 mile intervals or so for about 120 dollars.

I'll concede Bikerjoy's point that the service intervals are probably fine--but with 60K+ on this car it's a cheap prescription to let me snooze in comfort. Really. I'd worry. Silly, perhaps, but that's me on this topic. With most things I'm data-driven but on this one I'll concede it's an "emotional" decision. Oh well, I guess I'll have to give up my Spock Award.

In any case, in terms of cost, I've spent far more than I'll ever spend on "additional oil changes" on mods (tint, clearbra, matte black this and that, air filter swap, eventually exhaust). Compared to a few hundred dollars on this over the life of the car is nothing. I mean geez, have you looked at tire prices lately?

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by MysticBlue

Waste of money? Sure. But the whole thing is nothing but a waste of money, so what's another 100 bucks.

[URBAN LEGEND]

I called my dealer and they wouldn't do it for me. Dealer told the service is free and that it it not necessary. Dealer told me they would not take my money.

[garek]

Originally Posted by Nawaaz

Btw, I'm planning on getting an oil change done every 5k miles.....For sure.

I'm probably going to do something along those lines, maybe every 7,500.

I know there are those of you who think that changing the oil so frequently is a waste, citing BMW's policy of only recommending oil changes every 15000 miles. However, since they're paying for those oil changes, it's also in their interest to recommend as few as possible.

I've spoken to a mechanic who says he's been having to repair BMW engines because of the long intervals between oil changes.

And besides, the cost of an oil change is negligible compared to the cost of the car, so I'd say not changing the oil is being penny wise, pound foolish.

[URBAN LEGEND]

Originally Posted by garek

I've spoken to a mechanic who says he's been having to repair BMW engines because of the long intervals between oil changes.

I don't believe that for a second.

[Serious]

Originally Posted by Bikerjoy

And here we go again.....

Everyone knows better than the engineers that actually designed, built and tested the car.

Changing oil every 5000 miles is very much an american thing. I lived my entire life in Sweden up until 4 years ago, and european brands now either have a dynamic service interval with the first oil change made after about 15-18k (exception on M3 and alike that have a break in service at 1.2k), or they have a static interval around 18k (30000km).

Do you really think BMW or any european manufacturer would state 18k if it was harmful for your car? BMW has incentive in doing so as service is free, but Porsche (just bought a Cayman S), has the first service at 20k (no break in service). Porsche actually has incentive to make you change oil more often since it is not free, but still they call for 20k (or 12 months), why? Because the car will be just fine doing so.

If you sleep better at night changing oil every 5k, go right ahead, but you are throwing your money away in my opinion (and BMW engineers might agree).

Sorry but your 100% completely wrong here.

numerous oil analysis on M cars have shown that oil starts to break down after about 8000 miles.

BMW engineers didn't come up with the free maintenance idea... that was the marketing department.

BMW is only looking out for you until your warranty period is over. If you have a ton of sludge and other buildup its not going to accumulate enough to really cause a problem until your well past the 50,000 miles when the warranty runs out.

But hey if you wanna ignore the data and go against the grain for a measly few hundred bucks on a $60,000 car feel free.