# When to do 1st oil change on new car??



## kashrahman (May 10, 2004)

*We recently purchased a 2004 530 through ED. We heard that some people do an oil change after the break-in period (1,000 miles). When I called the local BMW dealership, the service dept. told me that this is not necessary for the newer cars and that I should have one done after 12,000 miles.

Any thoughts?

Jamila*


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## marinakorp (Oct 3, 2003)

kashrahman said:


> *We recently purchased a 2004 530 through ED. We heard that some people do an oil change after the break-in period (1,000 miles). When I called the local BMW dealership, the service dept. told me that this is not necessary for the newer cars and that I should have one done after 12,000 miles. *
> 
> *Any thoughts?*
> 
> *Jamila*


I would do it on my own dime after 1k miles or so... to pull out any garbagethat is in there at manufacturing

I usually change my oil at 5k miles too, and do not believe that the filters can last the 15k that the dealer wants to change them


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## DotBalm (Jul 27, 2004)

Will the dealership be able to tell if one does an oil change on the side?

I have a '04 545 w/ approx 1300 mi...if there's a good reason to have this done I'd like to do it, but not violate any warranty.

Thanks


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## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

DotBalm said:


> Will the dealership be able to tell if one does an oil change on the side?
> 
> I have a '04 545 w/ approx 1300 mi...if there's a good reason to have this done I'd like to do it, but not violate any warranty.
> 
> Thanks


No warranties will be violated. They'll be particularly thrilled if you line their pockets with $ by having them do it.


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## JB-From-FL (Jul 23, 2004)

*Do NOT change early!!!!*

During the engine build most manufactures do not use regular oil anymore. They use a special additive package. This is designed to facilitate the break in of the engine. If you remove this oil you can cause poor break-in. BMW engines change dramatically over the first 30K of their life, for the better. The Audi and VW guy's have had huge problems when they remove the factory fill early. The engine will outlast the car anyway... save your money and service your transmission regularly. That will extend the life of your car. Additionally, another positive effect of a few dollars could be from using Mobil 1 instead of BMW oil for the rest of it's life after the first interval. BMW oil is not "real synthetic" but Mobil 1 is.


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## operknockity (Apr 19, 2002)

DotBalm said:


> Will the dealership be able to tell if one does an oil change on the side?
> 
> I have a '04 545 w/ approx 1300 mi...if there's a good reason to have this done I'd like to do it, but not violate any warranty.
> 
> Thanks


If you have BMW do the change then it'll be in their records for the car and you'll pay more than you need to.

If you do it yourself or have an independent shop do it, it won't be on the records and they might be able to tell if you use a non-oem filter or oil, but I doubt they look that closely. The other way they might know the oil had been changed more frequently is if they expect the used oil to come out all brown and burnt and with lots of particulate, but it comes out nice and clean. That will depend on how long ago the extra oil change was done, what kind of filter and new oil was used.

FWIW, I had my oil & filter changed at 5K, did it myself again at 10K, and never heard anything from the service department when they did my 15K change. If they were aware of it, they didn't say anything, but likely they didn't even notice. I'm sure that if they noticed and it was something they could use to make me pony up some $, they would have.


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## marinakorp (Oct 3, 2003)

JB-From-FL said:


> During the engine build most manufactures do not use regular oil anymore. They use a special additive package. This is designed to facilitate the break in of the engine. If you remove this oil you can cause poor break-in. BMW engines change dramatically over the first 30K of their life, for the better. The Audi and VW guy's have had huge problems when they remove the factory fill early. The engine will outlast the car anyway... save your money and service your transmission regularly. That will extend the life of your car. Additionally, another positive effect of a few dollars could be from using Mobil 1 instead of BMW oil for the rest of it's life after the first interval. BMW oil is not "real synthetic" but Mobil 1 is.


Sorry, but I thought that Mobil1 is a Hydro cracked Synthetic... similar to the BMW


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## JB-From-FL (Jul 23, 2004)

*Castrol is hydroisomerized Mineral Oil, Mobil 1 in mostly PAOs with additives*

(BMW/Castrol) VHVIs or hydroisomerized basestocks are created by chemically converting the molecules of a selected feedstock to a different set of molecules, predominantly through chemical rearrangement or decomposition of the structure of the feed molecules.

(Mobile 1) PAOs are derived from a chemical process that combines small molecules to make larger complex molecules of a desired type.


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## WAM (Jan 30, 2002)

When I got my car, I changed the oil at 1,500, 4,500, 9,000 and the scheduled one at 13,500. All the oil changes were done by an independent mechanic.

However, if I had a new car now, I would also change the diff and transmission oils at 1,500 miles. BMW used to require diff oil changes for the non-M models too before they started to pay for the services.


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