[qroc]

I brought my 335i coupe with 1800 miles on it up to a Northern VA BMW dealership for an early oil change and to resolve a problem with the car tracking right.

I eventually hung out with the 3-4 of the guys as they performed an alignment with a Hunter. The guy doing the alignment was fairly seasoned and seemed pretty intelligent.

Couple things they discussed:
1) Oil -- They used 5w30 oil and yet at the same time seemed to be unsure why BMW didn't select the 10w60 oil used in M cars for the 335i. At least two said they'd never wait 15k for oil changes, more like 5k. When asked, they said the oil filter would last that long then but then mentioned they'd seen oil filters in pieces (after uknown length between oil changes). For what its worth...

2) The alignment -- I checked tire pressure multiple times and saw no significant enough disparity to explain the problem I was having.

After checking the tire pressure the tech and I test drove and I demonstrated the problem; he was properly persuaded.

They had to call BMW NA to get the suspension threshholds for a 335i. I've got what I think are the thresholds on a printout. The Hunter gave precise output but it all depends on if your steering wheel is properly centered; there is a feature in it which tests the centering but this still depends on the tech input. One tech mentioned that he'd done a whole painstaking alignment and then found he had to do it over again cuz the steering wheel wasn't centered properly.

I played around with the hunter output; it does have capability of giving you before and after; I got a printout of this. I was informed the cross camber is the important value in terms of whether you will pull or not to one way or another. We got mine into spec but with only 1/10th of a degree improvement. The camber adjustment seemed real crude in process; the toe in adjustment seemed straightforward.

My car was out of spec in many areas. The techs blamed on bad factory settings. I don't think a pothole caused all the things that were wrong. Despite this, my car tracks very slightly to the left now but feels better overall. It took all day to get this done so at this point I was satisfied with improvement over the signifcant track to the right issue so I went home. I may set up an appt for the track to left -- I refuse to accept half measures as the car cost 44k.

3) They recommended still idling the car to help cool the turbos down despite the electric water pump for what its worth.

[nyc3r]

15k and filter is in pieces? that doesn't sound good at all.

the 5w30 oil they talked about is probably the bmw brand and not mobile 1 which some people say it's not approved for complete oil change.

they should have added a turbo timer if it needs to be cooled down after each drive

[txusa03]

come on now, filter in pieces after 15K miles. I changed my on oil after 10K miles and that filter is still in tack. Maybe they knew you were listening so they made up the oil filter being in pieces. I hope no one believe this and start to freak out.

You must be really good friend with the shop foreman to be able to go back in the shop and play with Hunter. I mean I have been escorted to the shop by my SA but they don't let me touch nothing (well, I did not try but I know they would kick me out if i started touching their equipment)

[canucklion]

tx, you'll never find out if you don't try man

Originally Posted by txusa03

I mean I have been escorted to the shop by my SA but they don't let me touch nothing (well, I did not try but I know they would kick me out if i started touching their equipment)

[kevE90]

This is from an E46 FAQ. (by Kris Linquist, Sept. 2006)

Q: Should I really wait 15,000 miles before my first oil change like BMW recommends?
A: There has been much debate on this issue. Many believe that the 15,000 mile interval was more of a marketing move than an engineering move. Others have suggested that today's synthetic oil really can effectively lubricate the engine for 15,000 miles. All scheduled oil changes are free up to the 45,000 mile mark. If you decide to have your dealer perform a non-scheduled oil change (at the 7500 mile mark, for example), it will probably cost you $50-60. Make sure to tell your dealer NOT to reset the service indicator.

BMW has acknowledged that the present oil filter used in the E46 model vehicles (as well as other model and engines) will not necessarily last the desired 15,000 miles as required for extended oil service changes.

The filter's filtering media has been known to become brittle and break apart due to the heat and pressure generated over time. This allows pieces of the filter media to be passed throughout the engine's lubrication system as well as possibly clog the smaller oil passages and contaminate the engine oil itself. Also, it had been noted that quite often the engine's oil looked to be far less than desireable at 15,000 miles when the filter failed due to the continued passing of the media itself and because there was no filtering of the oil to remove the normal contaminates found in the engine's oil.

BMW mechanics have reported this information to the "Round Table" (a BMW information sharing team) that this is a commonly seen problem.

BMW has a new filter which replaces this previously used filter. This new BMW filter is designed to last the required 15,000 miles without failing thereby offering protection for the extended oil service schedule changes of 15,000 miles.

Next time you go in for your oil service, make sure your service department is aware of the new oil filter (part number 11-42-7-509-430).

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by canucklion

tx, you'll never find out if you don't try man

certain things are best left untouch After all, they have my car all spread out in the shop at their mercy, wouldn't want to piss any of them off cuz they can really abuse my girl...

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by kevE90zsp

This is from an E46 FAQ. (by Kris Linquist, Sept. 2006)

Q: Should I really wait 15,000 miles before my first oil change like BMW recommends?
A: There has been much debate on this issue. Many believe that the 15,000 mile interval was more of a marketing move than an engineering move. Others have suggested that today's synthetic oil really can effectively lubricate the engine for 15,000 miles. All scheduled oil changes are free up to the 45,000 mile mark. If you decide to have your dealer perform a non-scheduled oil change (at the 7500 mile mark, for example), it will probably cost you $50-60. Make sure to tell your dealer NOT to reset the service indicator.

BMW has acknowledged that the present oil filter used in the E46 model vehicles (as well as other model and engines) will not necessarily last the desired 15,000 miles as required for extended oil service changes.

The filter's filtering media has been known to become brittle and break apart due to the heat and pressure generated over time. This allows pieces of the filter media to be passed throughout the engine's lubrication system as well as possibly clog the smaller oil passages and contaminate the engine oil itself. Also, it had been noted that quite often the engine's oil looked to be far less than desireable at 15,000 miles when the filter failed due to the continued passing of the media itself and because there was no filtering of the oil to remove the normal contaminates found in the engine's oil.

BMW mechanics have reported this information to the "Round Table" (a BMW information sharing team) that this is a commonly seen problem.

BMW has a new filter which replaces this previously used filter. This new BMW filter is designed to last the required 15,000 miles without failing thereby offering protection for the extended oil service schedule changes of 15,000 miles.

Next time you go in for your oil service, make sure your service department is aware of the new oil filter (part number 11-42-7-509-430).

Now this is more informative and has some info I can use to research like the new filter part number. Thanks.

[qroc]

Originally Posted by nyc3r

15k and filter is in pieces? that doesn't sound good at all.

the 5w30 oil they talked about is probably the bmw brand and not mobile 1 which some people say it's not approved for complete oil change.

they should have added a turbo timer if it needs to be cooled down after each drive

I see how this may have been concluded given the way I wrote it but they did not say when the filter was taken out. For all I know, it was 30k miles. They affirmed that the filter would last as BMW specified it would.
They kinda did add a turbo timer in the form of the electric water pump which apparently will go on after the car is shut off in certain conditions. I think they were correct to still recommend some idling after aggressive driving.

re: getting allowed back in the service area: the service rep probably didn't want me to stew in the waiting room as the alignment was taking quite a while. They probably wanted the 5's. I don't think the tech minded but I really felt alot better watching the work. I did appreciate them letting me go back there.

I mainly posted the stuff about the hunter cuz I'd seen other people asking what features it had eg reporting before and after. If you yourself get in that situation you know you can ask for that info, etc etc.

I'm gonna take my car back in (not sure if same dealership) cuz its now tracking a bit to the left. It bugs me to no end, perhaps unreasonably so. But for 44k....