BMW oil changes

[CAP-E-TAN]

so bmw gives free everything (almost everything ) for the first what is it 40,000 miles or 48,000 or something which is really a great selling point.....
my question is bmw requires oil changes every 15,000 miles? and it is synthetic but wont the oil still get dirty in 3 to 5k?
iam sure bmw's will be fine changing the the oil every 15k for the first 48k......but what about 200k what will happen
i dont have bmw but if i did i would change the oil every 3k and filter with synthetic, i mean most people dont even drive 15k a year, not changing the oil in a year would bother me?
has any one changed there oil and fliter every 15k and have over a 150k on there car? any problems, i just dont believe a car can go that long with out an oil change

[downsbs]

I change mine every 5K.

[ILiveToRide]

Originally Posted by CAP-E-TAN

so bmw gives free everything (almost everything ) for the first what is it 40,000 miles or 48,000 or something which is really a great selling point.....
my question is bmw requires oil changes every 15,000 miles? and it is synthetic but wont the oil still get dirty in 3 to 5k?
iam sure bmw's will be fine changing the the oil every 15k for the first 48k......but what about 200k what will happen
i dont have bmw but if i did i would change the oil every 3k and filter with synthetic, i mean most people dont even drive 15k a year, not changing the oil in a year would bother me?
has any one changed there oil and fliter every 15k and have over a 150k on there car? any problems, i just dont believe a car can go that long with out an oil change

This is for E46's an later, only with BMW long life classed oils. Not all BMW have those intervals, not even all new ones.

3k is waste of money with synthetic oils. 5k too.
And no the oil doesn't get dirty.

[dangerranger21]

well i do mine every 4-5k using synthetic ofcourse, but be careful there are some synthetics that will rip u off not promising all the detergants that you would think it would have...

[big_sur]

I actually asked a BMW rep that question in spartanburg when I picked up the e90 since I've always been sort of suspicious about not changing the oil over 5k. their response, which I thought was logical enough although I'm not a chemist and I've never really confirmed it with another source (although it still gets changed every 5k) is: engines only use a certain size or shape molecule or something to that effect and that particular molecule is only 30% of dino oil whereas it is 100% of synthetic. so since there's much more of that particular molecule in synthetic it lasts much longer and doesn't warrant an oil change as often. so that's BMWs response greatly simplified, take it or leave it.

[Rick'sm3]

i use the 15w40 from bmw, i dont know if that is synthetic but i was told to use it in my m3 e36, i dont know if i should change

[Dendeii]

I change every 2,500-3,000 Mainly because i worry a lot and also i get free oil from my father. I could never see my self going over 4,000 though. I don't know it just worries me, I've spent to much money on the car not to take the 10-15 mins to change the oil and the 4-5 dollars for a filter. Just My humble opinion.

[Ideotique]

5000 miles is oil change time for me. Has been with both cars I have owned.

Seen one of them (97 Subaru) get to 180000 miles without a hitch so see no reason to change

[Mark_In_PA]

i use mobil 1 5w-30 in my M, change it every 3500 miles. I say if you are too cheap to spend $40 on an oil change a BMW isnt for you.

[delatlanta1281]

um, every 3000. If you wanna argue that interval is too soon bring it on! You are wrong at least in my case.

[BluBmr1]

i change mine every 7,000 miles with fully synthetic oil. i was told that it's not reasonable to wait for the 15,000 mile mark to change the oil. no matter the brand, all synthetic oils including the new long-life ones, will break down before 15,000 miles. remember, BMW is in the business of selling cars... not maintaining them!