Oil change interval / non-daily driver

[JRob23]

Background: I had my oil changed on 9/24/15 @ 16,950 miles

I store the car for winter here in NJ and last year this ranged from about mid-December to mid-March. The car sits on a trickle charger throughout this period and does not get started at all until the weather breaks in March/April.

The M now has 19,500 on the clock and I'm soon to be again preparing it for hibernation. Mind you, winter could easily pick up sooner and last longer than it previously did. It was an odd winter. 75 degrees on Christmas last year.

Question: So after only 3,000 miles on new oil, but with 3 to 3.5 months time period where that oil didn't circulate in 2015-2016, and now again in 2016-2017, would you change the oil in Spring 2017 (April-May)??

[M43S7RO]

I do once a year or 5k miles, whichever is first. I don't use her to commute so don't put 5k miles on it in a year.

On the forum, I've gathered and agree that the BMW recommened OCI is too long. Therefore when to actually change it is subjective.

[BPMSport]

Yes. Mine went 2k on last change due to time.

[mrmoua2u]

I do it.. Mine might get few hundreds miles within a 8-9 months period. I honestly dont go by manual book. Im just anal I guess.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by JRob23

Background: I had my oil changed on 9/24/15 @ 16,950 miles

I store the car for winter here in NJ and last year this ranged from about mid-December to mid-March. The car sits on a trickle charger throughout this period and does not get started at all until the weather breaks in March/April.

The M now has 19,500 on the clock and I'm soon to be again preparing it for hibernation. Mind you, winter could easily pick up sooner and last longer than it previously did. It was an odd winter. 75 degrees on Christmas last year.

Question: So after only 3,000 miles on new oil, but with 3 to 3.5 months time period where that oil didn't circulate in 2015-2016, and now again in 2016-2017, would you change the oil in Spring 2017 (April-May)??

BMW has a TSB that says you should do it once a year if the car isn't seeing year-round use.

So to answer your question, yes, I would change it in the spring once you take it out of storage.

[admranger]

Once a year, minimum. Do it right before you store it so there aren't as many contaminants in the oil during storage.

[mermar]

Same exact situation for me / though slightly longer storage interval being further north. My storage procedure is to have dealer change oil and inspect, I fill w non oxy fuel, over inflate tires, add trickle charger, detail , install cover. Set rodent traps around just in case. Much better to store car w fresh oil.

[JRob23]

Originally Posted by M43S7RO

I do once a year or 5k miles, whichever is first. I don't use her to commute so don't put 5k miles on it in a year.

On the forum, I've gathered and agree that the BMW recommened OCI is too long. Therefore when to actually change it is subjective.

I too agree BMW recommended services are too long. I was part of the 5k mile service group as well, but seeing as my next oil change was going to roll into the second year got me thinking about the same oil sitting over that period.

Thank you for your reply m43S7RO.

[JRob23]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Yes. Mine went 2k on last change due to time.

Thanks for the reply Mike. Given I now have an annual benchmark (just got the car 4/1/15), it looks as though I'm going to adhere to 'time' opposed to 'mileage' to dictate my service intervals.

[JRob23]

Originally Posted by mrmoua2u

I do it.. Mine might get few hundreds miles within a 8-9 months period. I honestly dont go by manual book. Im just anal I guess.

Hey mrmoua2u, I only use the manual book for an idea of what recommended service intervals are. From there I gather intel from resources such as my SA (solid guy) and this forum to better assist. It's as though BMW recommended service intervals were created around leases (minimal output cost) and not for those looking to keep their car long term.

[JRob23]

Originally Posted by dparm

BMW has a TSB that says you should do it once a year if the car isn't seeing year-round use.

So to answer your question, yes, I would change it in the spring once you take it out of storage.

dparm, thanks for the heads up on that. Do you have a link to this TSB?

[JRob23]

Originally Posted by admranger

Once a year, minimum. Do it right before you store it so there aren't as many contaminants in the oil during storage.

In a perfect world, this is what I was thinking. Brand new oil before storage, so this way when the car gets fired up, it minimizes the amount of contaminants that will begin circulating. That just seems like overkill to me? dparm noted a TSB that was released on 1/yr oil change if car isn't driven year round, so I look forward to seeing that. Thanks admranger.

[JJH]

Originally Posted by JRob23

That just seems like overkill to me?

For the cost of one oil fill, the peace of mind and fresh oil for your storage period is definitely worth it.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by JRob23

dparm, thanks for the heads up on that. Do you have a link to this TSB?

I don't, but if you Google around a bit you can find it as a PDF.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by JRob23

In a perfect world, this is what I was thinking. Brand new oil before storage, so this way when the car gets fired up, it minimizes the amount of contaminants that will begin circulating. That just seems like overkill to me? dparm noted a TSB that was released on 1/yr oil change if car isn't driven year round, so I look forward to seeing that. Thanks admranger.

I have a 2011 M3 w/35k miles on it. I had annual oil changes done at the dealer under warranty. If the dealer thinks it is a minimum requirement, I like to think of it as a maximum requirement. These are the folks that gave us 15k oil changes after all...

My wife's 2002 M3 got 3k miles on it last year. It got an annual oil/filter change.

It's worth it in my opinion, but I do all my own work.