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      10-29-2013, 06:41 PM   #1
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First Oil Change?

So, I'm a bit "old school" when it comes to a new car break-in. I have always changed the oil and filter after the first 1,000 miles or so, then followed a regular schedule that is a bit more aggressive than the recommended scheduled maintenance. What do you guys think? Is it a good idea to do the initial oil change for a new BMW right after the break-in period? Reading posts here and on the E92 forum, it looks most owners prefer to change their oil well ahead of recommended schedules, but an early 1,000 mile oil change is debatable. Thoughts?
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      10-29-2013, 07:21 PM   #2
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I'm old school as well. It's cheap insurance or at least not harmful. Where I work we have a tribology (lube engineers) department. The chief changes his oil in his car when it begins to discolor (not synthetic) That's overdoing it but I think the 10,000 mile limit is extreme as well.
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      10-29-2013, 08:50 PM   #3
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There are two arguments against changing it early
1) A special oil is used to fill the engine at the factory. If you change it early you lose the properties that help the break-in. Some people claim it is a "Fuchs" special oil.
2) Recent evidence seems to be accumulating that the most wear (other than normal startups, etc.) happens in the first 1,000-2,000 miles after an oil change, as the protections (ZDDP, etc.) bonded to the moving parts from the previous oil are flushed by the new oil, and that there is essentially no wear from 2,000 or so on until the next change.

YMMV. Lots of coverage of this on bobistheoilguy.com forums (which is quite an interesting place).
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      10-30-2013, 07:12 AM   #4
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We have 2 N55 equipped motors in the house and I changed them both at 7500 miles then after that I continue to do changes between BMWs free changes. Piece of mind probably but I enjoy tinkering and spending quality time with the machines so it makes me happy!
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      10-30-2013, 08:49 AM   #5
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I have 10,500 miles, but it's also over one year old. Shouldn't they change the oil due to age at this point?
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      10-30-2013, 09:09 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamesons Viggen View Post
I have 10,500 miles, but it's also over one year old. Shouldn't they change the oil due to age at this point?
Yes, it's one year or mileage.
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      10-30-2013, 09:47 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by floydarogers View Post
There are two arguments against changing it early
1) A special oil is used to fill the engine at the factory. If you change it early you lose the properties that help the break-in. Some people claim it is a "Fuchs" special oil.
2) Recent evidence seems to be accumulating that the most wear (other than normal startups, etc.) happens in the first 1,000-2,000 miles after an oil change, as the protections (ZDDP, etc.) bonded to the moving parts from the previous oil are flushed by the new oil, and that there is essentially no wear from 2,000 or so on until the next change.

YMMV. Lots of coverage of this on bobistheoilguy.com forums (which is quite an interesting place).
+1

Over on the bmw diesel forum, there is a guy who decided to do his own test or study to confirm what many industry studies have shown. He drew a sample from his 335d thru the dip stick tube at 1k, 3k, 5k, 9k, etc and sent them off for used oil analyses. Using the ppm iron as the most important wear metric, he found that 40% of the iron wear metals in his oil at the 9k mark occurred in the first 1000 mi.

You've got to change the oil at some point (why not the drain interval spec'd by the mfr?) but strange as it sounds, fresh oil is a mess. It takes a while (approx 3k mi) before it gets its chemical s**t together in one bag.

By the way, the accumulation of wear metals in a new engine is nowhere near the "condemnation limits" that would require dumping the oil early. Modern mfring and machining methods + modern synthetics = old school oil change at 1k is completely out of date.
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Last edited by m6pwr; 10-30-2013 at 09:56 AM..
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      11-13-2013, 01:36 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BSM F30 View Post
So, I'm a bit "old school" when it comes to a new car break-in. I have always changed the oil and filter after the first 1,000 miles or so, then followed a regular schedule that is a bit more aggressive than the recommended scheduled maintenance. What do you guys think? Is it a good idea to do the initial oil change for a new BMW right after the break-in period? Reading posts here and on the E92 forum, it looks most owners prefer to change their oil well ahead of recommended schedules, but an early 1,000 mile oil change is debatable. Thoughts?
I have had several 'high end' cars, particularly, Porsche. Every Porsche I had regardless of manufacturer's recommended intervals, I halved that. IOW's I doubled the oil changes...never an issue or a problem. Honest statement: In more than 600,000 miles on three Porsches (combined) never a major engine problem and on tear downs clean cylinders, valves and pistons.

Even with today's synthetic oils -- oils do break down. As they break down so do the lubricating and the cleansing properties. The more frequent oil change minimizes that breakdown. I think its kind of simple. If you want to do it, do it...change it in half the recommended time. If not -- change oil never longer than the recommended time.
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      11-13-2013, 09:18 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BSM F30 View Post
So, I'm a bit "old school" when it comes to a new car break-in. I have always changed the oil and filter after the first 1,000 miles or so, then followed a regular schedule that is a bit more aggressive than the recommended scheduled maintenance. What do you guys think? Is it a good idea to do the initial oil change for a new BMW right after the break-in period? Reading posts here and on the E92 forum, it looks most owners prefer to change their oil well ahead of recommended schedules, but an early 1,000 mile oil change is debatable. Thoughts?
You've got a 2014 model. Factory oil change interval (oci) is every 10k. So your "more aggressive" oci will be . . . what? Every 5000 miles? My opinion: that would be a total waste and will achieve absolutely nothing as far as extending the life of your engine is concerned. I doubt it would even impress "old school" Mike Miller. But you never know. I wonder if Miller will now recommend halving BMW's new oci - - just to be safe.
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      11-13-2013, 12:44 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m6pwr View Post
You've got a 2014 model. Factory oil change interval (oci) is every 10k. So your "more aggressive" oci will be . . . what? Every 5000 miles? My opinion: that would be a total waste and will achieve absolutely nothing as far as extending the life of your engine is concerned. I doubt it would even impress "old school" Mike Miller. But you never know. I wonder if Miller will now recommend halving BMW's new oci - - just to be safe.
My car is a 2013 with only 1600 miles on it. Do you know if the intervals are changed to 10k on the 2012-13s retroactively? I'm going to do an interim at 5000 or so anyway.
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      11-13-2013, 05:42 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowghost View Post
My car is a 2013 with only 1600 miles on it. Do you know if the intervals are changed to 10k on the 2012-13s retroactively? I'm going to do an interim at 5000 or so anyway.
No. The intervals for pre-2014 models have not changed. I suspect it has to do with the factory programming of the CBS (condition based service) computer; I think the original intervals are hard-wired into the computer, but I'm not sure. As many have noted the hardware (engines, etc) have not changed.

There's some conjecture on the reason for the shortening of the oci's. Some think it's a sop to the ocd owners who think they have to change the oil/filter every time they change their underwear, lest the engine self-combusts. There may be some truth to that theory. Maybe BMW just said the hell with it - - give the cry babies a shorter oci - - it's Miller (Hofbrau) Time.
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      11-13-2013, 05:56 PM   #12
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For an insight into the difference in attitudes or "oci culture" check out this thread -
http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=894011. The title says it all - - "How Big is Yours?"
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      11-14-2013, 09:29 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowghost View Post
My car is a 2013 with only 1600 miles on it. Do you know if the intervals are changed to 10k on the 2012-13s retroactively? I'm going to do an interim at 5000 or so anyway.
Every time I start my car it shows on the dash when the next service is due in both miles and date, currently I have 2100 miles on my car and it shows my next service is at 4-15-2015, with the mileage showing at 10K.
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      01-26-2014, 08:49 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowghost View Post
My car is a 2013 with only 1600 miles on it. Do you know if the intervals are changed to 10k on the 2012-13s retroactively? I'm going to do an interim at 5000 or so anyway.
I'm also going to do intermediate oil changes between the 10k/12k intervals. I figure it can't hurt. Plus I found a local dealership who'll do the changes for $69 w/ full synthetic oil and orig. filters.
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      01-26-2014, 11:34 PM   #15
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It won't hurt, but it won't help either. You'll be dumping an oil that is just getting up to speed chemically speaking, the formation of the anti-wear films finally stabilizing and doing a good job. Moreover, industry studies have shown that as the oil ages in service, the lubricity actually increases substantially. Ford study: http://www.sae.org/search/?content-t...1-4133&x=0&y=0. So, you'll be replacing the 5k oil, that has a perfectly well-functioning additive pack, with a green oil that does none of the aforementioned nearly as well. It's a fact. Finally, there are apparently some data that shows that most of the formation of deposits in the engine occurs very early in the oil's use; again maybe a question of the oil's additive pack stabilizing, deposition lessening as the oil ages in use. This last info came from a lubricants engineer (Doug Hillary, well known on the BITOG oil forum) with decades of experience with both Castrol and Mobil in Europe (some of that time spent formulating oils used in BMWs).

Folks just can't seem to turn loose of the old conventional wisdom: it just common sense that fresh oil will do a better job of lubricating than aged oil. Well it was common sense for millennia that the sun revolved around the earth - - you could see it with your own eyes every day. Then science intervened.
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Last edited by m6pwr; 01-26-2014 at 11:44 PM..
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