[Jarcoal]

For context, I have a F10 535i with currently around 118k miles. The car had its last oil change at 109k. Now onto my post. I know for full synthetic oil the main job is to last longer for cars with higher milage but I feel like on my F10 like 15000 miles or whatever the interval is to get it changed is a long time. To keep up with maintenance should I get it changed a lot less like around the normal 5000-7000 mile range or is the recommended BMW. Oil change interval fine for it?

[BLKF10]

Originally Posted by Jarcoal

For context, I have a F10 535i with currently around 118k miles. The car had its last oil change at 109k. Now onto my post. I know for full synthetic oil the main job is to last longer for cars with higher milage but I feel like on my F10 like 15000 miles or whatever the interval is to get it changed is a long time. To keep up with maintenance should I get it changed a lot less like around the normal 5000-7000 mile range or is the recommended BMW. Oil change interval fine for it?

I have a 2011 528i with the N52, I do my oil changes every 5,000 miles … the car currently has 210k miles and running strong (the engine at least).

[NikMN]

I do 5k or once a year. Oil is cheap engines are expensive

[bk_mike]

5,000 miles or annually unless you are leasing or selling in 1-3 years. BMW's maintenance schedule changes happened around the same time they introduced included maintenance. Add to that the fact that most BMW owners are leasing or buying new/CPO and that should tell you something.

Changing the oil too soon doesn't do anything except cost you money, BUT if you buy the oil from from a retailer that offers lifetime replacement you are only paying $20-30 per oil change. My annual oil change costs me $9-15 return shipping...

[ezaircon4jc]

This is just anecdotal, but I've been doing 10K-12K changes with full synthetic for over 20 years. I keep my cars a long time; the highest mile car so far had ~170K miles on the clock when I sold it. Since I retired, I go ~10K miles or one year between changes.

YMMV

[LivNowPayL8r]

I aim for 5,000 mile OCI but my last one stretched to 6,250 with a multi-state round trip.

Using Blackstone Labs with each change, there was no difference in wear metals or contaminants between my usual 5 K and the 6.25 K change.

If you want to know, have the oil tested… no heresay, no wives tales, no internet lore… just data.

[ctcarbonari]

Originally Posted by LivNowPayL8r

I aim for 5,000 mile OCI but my last one stretched to 6,250 with a multi-state round trip.

Using Blackstone Labs with each change, there was no difference in wear metals or contaminants between my usual 5 K and the 6.25 K change.

If you want to know, have the oil tested… no heresay, no wives tales, no internet lore… just data.

+1 to ^this^......the OA numbers don't lie...Plus their comments are fun to read

They'll do oil analysis on other fluids too.....like transmission & differential.

[NikMN]

What type of driving can make a difference. Mostly highway longer trips or mostly city shorter ones. I would increase intervals for first type and decrease for second. Sending oil out is a good idea to find out for sure

[bk_mike]

Originally Posted by ctcarbonari

+1 to ^this^......the OA numbers don't lie...Plus their comments are fun to read

They'll do oil analysis on other fluids too.....like transmission & differential.

Just to add on here the Blackstone test is a great idea. I have done them twice and they are super insightful.

[windowmaker]

All manufacturers do this so they can sell the "low cost to own" on a spreadsheet story. If you want the car to survive past the warranty mileage you will change it every 5k miles or sooner. I've been doing 4k.

[Thecastle]

Test your oil, is the only way to actually know. But reality is most people still buy into Pennzoil's old marketing scheme of every 3000, then 5000. The reality is that most synthetics can last a very long time, more than 20K miles before their additives are used up. These aren't air cooled splash lubrication engines with no oil filter.... The internal environment is well controlled, oil is filtered to keep it running a long time. Changing the oil more often hurts nothing except your wallet. I just follow the manufacturers recommendations. Some older cars have a sludging problem and those benefit from more frequent changes. But to my knowledge this isn't an issue on the F10.

[Thecastle]

P.S. the other rampant "conspiracy theory" you see in BMW forms is that somehow American fuel's are inferior to European fuels. Which is why we have problem xxxx... The reality is they're pretty much the same. People confuse European RON octane ratings with American (RON+MON)/2 octane ratings. Oh and in the US we have E85 which is way higher in octane than any standard pump gas you'll find in Europe, great for tuning!

[NikMN]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

P.S. the other rampant "conspiracy theory" you see in BMW forms is that somehow American fuel's are inferior to European fuels. Which is why we have problem xxxx... The reality is they're pretty much the same. People confuse European RON octane ratings with American (RON+MON)/2 octane ratings. Oh and in the US we have E85 which is way higher in octane than any standard pump gas you'll find in Europe, great for tuning!

Oil intervals topic. Not rant about corn juice

[Jarcoal]

I appreciate all of your guys responses. I have been reading them all throughout just haven’t got the time to respond until now. After looking through all the comments and what not. I daily drive this car so I’m racking up so far 10k miles after 8 months. Of course I could do the 5k mark but I feel like that’s just a lot since I’m #1 not doing the oil changes myself and going to the dealership there very frequently getting an oil change every like 4 months, saving time and some money I’ll do it around 10k miles for an oil change since annually I would definitely push over 10k. Hopefully all goes well and thank you all for your help

[Blue Angel]

Are BMW oil change intervals too long? YES, if you care about your car.

I would change at about 2/3 to 3/4 of the mileage they are recommending, and 1/2 if the car does regular short trips without getting the engine up to temp for at least 15 minutes.

EDIT: If you get oil analysis done you can make an intelligent decision based on the condition of the oil in YOUR engine and YOUR driving cycle. Barring that, I'd go comfortably shorter.