Just hit 30k miles . . .

[Talk2meg00se]

Taking the car in soon for an oil / filter change. Is there anything else that I should have done at the 30k mark? I can't seem to find any indication of maintenance that needs to be peformed at this milestone in the manual.

At tips or recommendations would be appreciated (esp. of the prophylactic nature . . . transmission fluid?)

[Stronghammer]

Judging from the post above maybe you should get in line for a new battery now

[bimdo]

i would do trans and diff fluid,and probably engine and cabin air filters,every 30k miles.i would also do the coolant if it's original.i plan to do that at least every 4 years.

you're also getting close to time for spark plugs.the manual says 37k miles for them,not under cbs,but mine were changed for the previous owner at 30k.

you're right,there isn't much guidance for reasonable maintenance from bmw,i've worked up a schedule on my own taking advice from mike miller's lifetime maintenance schedule,and a friend who is a bmw master tech.i hope to keep my car a long time,and plan to maintain it accordingly.

[Talk2meg00se]

Originally Posted by robbiedawg

i would do trans and diff fluid,and probably engine and cabin air filters,every 30k miles.i would also do the coolant if it's original.i plan to do that at least every 4 years.

you're also getting close to time for spark plugs.the manual says 37k miles for them,not under cbs,but mine were changed for the previous owner at 30k.

you're right,there isn't much guidance for reasonable maintenance from bmw,i've worked up a schedule on my own taking advice from mike miller's lifetime maintenance schedule,and a friend who is a bmw master tech.i hope to keep my car a long time,and plan to maintain it accordingly.

Thanks Robbie. This is really helpful.

[bimdo]

you're welcome.i was thinking that now that a lot of our cars are coming off free maintenance,we should put our heads together with a thread in the maintenance section containing a maintenance schedule.the one i referred to doesn't have too much specific to our car,since most have been on factory maintenance.bavauto also has schedules,but for regular 3 series only,not specific to m3's.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by Talk2meg00se

Taking the car in soon for an oil / filter change. Is there anything else that I should have done at the 30k mark? I can't seem to find any indication of maintenance that needs to be peformed at this milestone in the manual.

At tips or recommendations would be appreciated (esp. of the prophylactic nature . . . transmission fluid?)

For your car (being a 2008) you should refer to pages 66 and 67 of your owners manual, it will guide you as to the condition and requirements. Your service manual should be your first point of reference (some dealer service guys have no clue so you should be informed before you take your car in for service).

Case in point ... when I took my previous M3 with MT in for the break-in service I had to point out to the dealership service supervisor that an oil change of the transmission was also to be done. He insisted only the engine oil and differential oil requires to be changed. Until I showed him the manual.

Bottom line don't trust others too much inform yourself!

[Munit]

I just took mine in at 31k miles for this and they read the key and I saw the printout and it tells them what needs to be done. The printout showed
for a DCT

-diff fluid
-oil
-Spark plugs
-100 point inspection

That is the 30k mile service plus the spark plugs which sometimes seem to show up at 30k and sometimes at 36k but your key fob will give them the stuff to deal with. I was skeptical and even started to explain how the plugs were not in the computero n the car etc but sure enough the fob printout had them to be changed

[Talk2meg00se]

Yeah, though I'm not overly comfortable relying on the key data in the preemptive sense. Namely, the car is modded, and I drive it pretty hard - I'm looking to undertake basic maintenance (maybe prematurely) so as to potentially prevent an issue arising later down the road.

I could be wrong, but at least in my mind, it makes sense to undertake maintenance at 30k that might otherwise occur at 40k when the car is modded / routinely pushed hard.

Still, I'm not going to do anything major: oil / filter / trans fluid / diff fluid / coolant (if necessary, which I'm not sure that it is) and maybe a couple of filters. I know that I had the brake fluid done in March, etc.

[Talk2meg00se]

Originally Posted by robbiedawg

you're welcome.i was thinking that now that a lot of our cars are coming off free maintenance,we should put our heads together with a thread in the maintenance section containing a maintenance schedule.the one i referred to doesn't have too much specific to our car,since most have been on factory maintenance.bavauto also has schedules,but for regular 3 series only,not specific to m3's.

Robbie - I think that this is a great idea (and infinitely more constructive than another income / age-type thread). Unfortuantely, I don't have the know-how to pull something like this together, though with all the shop guys on the forum, I'm sure that there are a decent number that do.

[e1000]

If they change your plugs you're going to LOVE your car when you get it back.