[lux.sh]

My car currently has 9500 miles. The car now flashes the 'service due soon' light everytime I start up the car and indicates that I should get an oil change @ 10,000 miles.

so I called my dealership and they told me they won't do it unless I had my car for a year.
Since I bought my car in october 2005, they said they'll do it on October 10th of 2006. Thats friggin' month and a half left. I know I will be well over 10,000 miles by that time.

this is totally ridiculous. so if I drove 15000miles in 8 months and my car is just dying from contaminated oil, they still wouldn't give a crap? Not that Im saying I would do that, I'll probably go to local shop to get an oil change.. but I really don't want to bring my BMW into a damn jiffy lube and let them mess everything up. I prefer not to do it at home.

I knew this whole 5yr-free maintenance by BMW is nearly a marketing gimmick. why would company with bad reliability offer such great maintenance plans... or maybe I just didn't read the "disclaimer" carefully enough in the paperwork. eitherway, im pissed they advertised like how they will cover anything during those 5 yrs.

[jojogargoles]

maybe you read it wrong that it means you still have 10k miles left to drive.

as far as i know BMW service car at least once a year.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

My car currently has 9500 miles. The car now flashes the 'service due soon' light everytime I start up the car and indicates that I should get an oil change @ 10,000 miles.

Just to clarify, where does it flash "service due soon" and how do you know that the change should be at 10,000 miles? Since the system doesn´t tell you at what mileage to get the service, I just wanted to clarify.

[NaTuReB0Y]

my service light came on after well over 20,000 miles...........

just do oil changes in between.............i did

[xdrive]

I have 8,000 miles on my car right now. Tried getting an oil change at my local dealership and they would not do it. Said I should not change the oil that soon, b/c the engine is magnesium and the oil they have in it lubricates it. It would not be good for the engine if I change it before the 15k required mile. Is that a bunch of B.S.?

[ward]

"service engine soon" has nothing to do with oil change


it's got to do with emmisions related repairs usually

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by ward

"service engine soon" has nothing to do with oil change


it's got to do with emmisions related repairs usually

Really? because my dealership's service representatives told me service engine soon light will usually flash/on longer when its due for any kind of maintenance including oil change. My girlfriend's service light started flashing too when it was about time for oil change(10k). I first freaked out and asked, they told me its due to its maintenance schedule(which was the oil change at the time). it won't flash anymore after the oil change.

[Ghunger]

Hey lux, you might try looking up one of the independent shops that sponsors the BMWCCA if you want to get the work done. Seems like I saw at least 1 that was listed on the Puget Sound Region website that in the Portland area. They offer discounts to club members as well.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by xdrive

I have 8,000 miles on my car right now. Tried getting an oil change at my local dealership and they would not do it. Said I should not change the oil that soon, b/c the engine is magnesium and the oil they have in it lubricates it. It would not be good for the engine if I change it before the 15k required mile. Is that a bunch of B.S.?

bullshit. do a search on oil in E90POST. several e90post members have done their oil examined, and came out with unhappy results.

[ward]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

Really? because my dealership's service representatives told me service engine soon light will usually flash/on longer when its due for any kind of maintenance including oil change.

there's 2 different lights

one says "service engine soon" and is emmisions related, and there's another one (who knows what that one says, you only see it every 15-20K miles )


I know the "service engine soon" was emmisions related as it's the one that lights up if you leave the gas cap too loose or whatnot

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by Ghunger

Hey lux, you might try looking up one of the independent shops that sponsors the BMWCCA if you want to get the work done. Seems like I saw at least 1 that was listed on the Puget Sound Region website that in the Portland area. They offer discounts to club members as well.

Didn't know about that. I'll start my research. Thanks!

[HappyG]

Originally Posted by xdrive

I have 8,000 miles on my car right now. Tried getting an oil change at my local dealership and they would not do it. Said I should not change the oil that soon, b/c the engine is magnesium and the oil they have in it lubricates it. It would not be good for the engine if I change it before the 15k required mile. Is that a bunch of B.S.?

I assume you were willing to pay for it? And they still suggested or rather denied you an oil change? Wow. I've never heard of that before...I've heard contrasting theories on the type of oil the e90's come with from the factory. Some say leave it in because it has special additives and such to properly break it in, and other change their oil right out of the gate at around 1200-1500 miles. Anyone have SOLID, factual info on this topic about not changing out the oil from the factory?
________
Mexico hotels

[scubajag]

My dealership will change oil at one year no matter what the mileage. My SA said 1 year of driving, even if 8,000 miles, can break down the factory oil. This is especially true in a hot climate where I live.

[lux.sh]

so conclusion is, one oil change per year, correct?

I shouldn't be mad at my dealership about this right? I mean afterall, I do like my dealership. they've been doing great for me.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

so conclusion is, one oil change per year, correct?

I shouldn't be mad at my dealership about this right? I mean afterall, I do like my dealership. they've been doing great for me.

Well, no, it´s one oil change whenever your car says it´s time.

If after one year the car doesn´t decide it´s time, you can still get a free ,,low mileage`` oil change anyway.

But you still haven´t clarified, you said that your car display indicated you should have it changed at 10,000 miles - were you at 10,000 miles and the countdown hit zero?

[epiphone3]

To answer the questions in this thread:

-BMW does not put a special break-in oil in their cars. Just regular BMW High Performance Synthetic.

-Changing your oil early does not hurt the engine. That is rediculous. To whomever was told that it had to do with the engine being magnesium... that is such crap. The engine is a composite magnesium-aluminum block... the EXTERIOR portions of the engine are done in magnesium, the interior, friction surfaces are made of aluminum including the cylinder sleeves. The cylinder sleeves also have a low-wear coating on them. Magnesium has nothing to do with this situation.

-You get your oil changed for free if your oil service interal indicator reads out zero miles left to service and the car tells you to get an oil change OR once a year... whichever comes first.

-If your dealer refuses you service, report them to BMW NA or BMW Canada or wherever you are. That's bullshit... if it is an early oil change, for example, they can still do it for you and have you pay if neither of the BMW recommended service intervals are yet tripped.

[ga-bmwdrvr]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

To answer the questions in this thread:

-BMW does not put a special break-in oil in their cars. Just regular BMW High Performance Synthetic.

-Changing your oil early does not hurt the engine. That is rediculous. To whomever was told that it had to do with the engine being magnesium... that is such crap. The engine is a composite magnesium-aluminum block... the EXTERIOR portions of the engine are done in magnesium, the interior, friction surfaces are made of aluminum including the cylinder sleeves. The cylinder sleeves also have a low-wear coating on them. Magnesium has nothing to do with this situation.

-You get your oil changed for free if your oil service interal indicator reads out zero miles left to service and the car tells you to get an oil change OR once a year... whichever comes first.

-If your dealer refuses you service, report them to BMW NA or BMW Canada or wherever you are. That's bullshit... if it is an early oil change, for example, they can still do it for you and have you pay if neither of the BMW recommended service intervals are yet tripped.

All this information is correct. I just had mine changed at the one year mark with 9500 miles on the car. The service indicator indicated 13000 until oil change which is ridiculous, specialy since the reading after the oil change is...you guessed it: 13000 'till next oil change! I swear the indicator never changes. (Well, it did say 16000 when new, but to count down only 3k in one year really makes you think whether this system works at all)

[epiphone3]

Mine indicator seems to count down correctly. Basically when I cover 1000km on the road, the inicator goes down a 1000 kilometers. However, last time I got my oil change, the dealer reset the oil service indicator even though it was an early oil change:mad: and it reset to 30000km. I was told that it should never reset to higher than 25000km, so I having it checked out next week.

On another note, call me old fashioned, but I changed my oil at 2200 km, 7500km, 12500 km, and will now get it changed at 21000 km. My E90 323i runs amazingly well, gets almost honda civic-like gas mileage and feels strong and smooth. I am not saying this because of the frequent oil changes, but I know for sure that the frequent oil changes definately did not hurt. Not one single problem other than the reset to 30000km... a computer thing.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

-You get your oil changed for free if your oil service interal indicator reads out zero miles left to service and the car tells you to get an oil change OR once a year... whichever comes first.

-If your dealer refuses you service, report them to BMW NA or BMW Canada or wherever you are. That's bullshit... if it is an early oil change, for example, they can still do it for you and have you pay if neither of the BMW recommended service intervals are yet tripped.

Oil interval indicator reads out zero miles? That is impossible.
My oil interval indicator didn't change since I got the car. It might've changed from 15k to 10k, but I can't recall correctly. There is no way that this car's oil is running perfectly fine 10,000 miles from now on(thats roughly 20k miles on the motor with same oil). There is no oil in current world that can last that long in a car and still look clean. Considering our oil analysis usually reads high maganesium readings and few other chemicals above average, iam not going to drive this car with this oil for another 10,000 miles.

Are you guys sure you guys are getting this right? I remember my dealership telling me if the indicator reads "10,000", that means get your oil changed when your car reaches that mileage. Thats how my girl's mini cooper received oil change(for free of course). Oil Indicator said 10,000 miles, so she came in when the car reached 10,000 miles. they said she came in just right on time for the oil change schedule.


damn. now im confused. wheres e90fleet.

[nine4surfah]

I have 15,200 miles on the odometer and the "service engine" indicator hasn't lit yet. I took my vehicle to the local BMW for an oil change and they refused to do it. I was told that I should wait for the "light" to flash.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by nine4surfah

I have 15,200 miles on the odometer and the "service engine" indicator hasn't lit yet. I took my vehicle to the local BMW for an oil change and they refused to do it. I was told that I should wait for the "light" to flash.

Really?? Mine is flashing!!!!!!!!!

[NaTuReB0Y]

Yes.....once it gets to zero........it will begin to go NEGATIVE.....

mine was at -450 miles before i got my first free oil change at the dealer.....

but DIY oil change at 5k, 10k, and 15k.........