OIL Change

[allirroz]

Do most of you follow the FSS indicator light (The wrench icon on the dash) before scheduling or doing your oil changes? Reason I am asking is because I have never done so. I normally do it at 5k intervals using Mobil 1 0w40 . Is this doing more harm than good or vice versa? TIA

[Denlasoul]

I change my oil every ~3500 miles. I reset the FSS each time and use that to keep track of how many miles I have driven since the last.

[allirroz]

Well to be quite honest , I really do it at 3k intervals.
And main reason I thought I pose this question here is because I got sorta jump on, on another Forum when I indicated that I do it at 3K intervals

# 1. they said that I was basically wasting my money by doing it that soon when using SYN oil. That nowadays synthetic oils or Mobil 1 for that matter can provide proper lubrication up to 15k and that some tests have even shown up to 18K of protection before an oil and filter change should be considered .

#2 in reality they said that 7,5k is a good mileage indicator for oil changes when using synthetic/ Mobil 1

Think about it. MB calls for 10K, well for my MB,not sure of the newer models and the new BMWs call for 15K.

And you Denlasoul at 3.5K, me at 3k ...are we missing something here?

[Denlasoul]

Originally posted by allirroz
And you Denlasoul at 3.5K, me at 3k ...are we missing something here?
I do not believe so. I remeber reading about Synthetic oil breaking down around 8K miles or so. I'll try and find the link. It also depends on how you drive your car. I would think oil in a car that is run harder (be it driving hard, temp, etc etc) would break down sooner than a car under normal condtions.

As for the 10k intervals, that would be great but there is a Settlement out there due to dealers not using synthetic oils for the FSS and owners driving 10k+ miles on regular oil. Look it up, it on this board somewhere. :)

As far as wasting money, I'd be spending more money to buy a new engine as opposed to changing my oil 4 times a year.

But hey, that's just me. :D

[allirroz]

here is one of the responses I got when i said 3K - BMW forum

"I really doubt that anything any of us say is going to change your mind about how often to change your oil.

However, here are a few things to think about, perhaps others may find it interesting:
3000 mile oil changes were common when large amounts of byproducts of the combustion process contaminated the oil.
There are still byproducts being produced in engines, but the factor by which they have been reduced in the past few decades is exponential. There is a reason they are called LEVs and ULEVs. Less out the tailpipe, and less into the oil.

Those older vehicles had 4 quart sumps most of the time. Your 8 quart sump can hold twice as many contaminants in suspension, while having oil that is exactly the same in terms of being clean or dirty. That change alone would support doubling the oil change interval. On large stationary heavy duty engines, doubling the sump capacity is standard practice to double the oil change intervals. It is simple math.

Oil is a non-renewable resource. How can you consume so much and not consider your impact on planet earth? 3000 is five times as often as 15,000. Five times the recommended consumption, when translated to fuel consumption, would be the equivalent of driving a vehicle that gets 3 mpg. Does that seem normal?
Anyway, as you said, to each their own. For my part, I think that modern engines and lubricants are hugely different than those from the sixties and early seventies. I understand old school. I changed my oil at 3000 mile intervals back then as well. Now I go 10,000 miles, sometimes 12,000. I hit the time interval before the mileage interval"

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

[Denlasoul]

I'd say how about I run 12K oil intervals and if my engine blows up, you buy me a new one.

BTW, arent Bimmers notorious for premature engine failure?

[1995c280]

i think most people on here will agree that they change their oil at or around 5k miles. personally i change mine between 8k-10k (depends if i have a free lift that week at work, LOL). the newer benz's you are referring to have intervals of 10k and some even 13k. i have drained some at that interval and it came out completly clean and some have not. i think it has to do alot with your driving style and conditions.

forgetting all the above information now.....IT CAN NEVER HURT TO CHANGE YOUR OIL TOO MUCH!

Jason

[allirroz]

Originally posted by 1995c280
i have drained some at that interval and it came out completly clean and some have not. i think it has to do alot with your driving style and conditions.


What do you consider Clean?

[allirroz]

Originally posted by Denlasoul
BTW, arent Bimmers notorious for premature engine failure?

Dont know about that, have owned a few and never had engine issues with them.

[Denlasoul]

Originally posted by allirroz
Dont know about that, have owned a few and never had engine issues with them.
Probably then just abused E46 M3's.

I agree with Jason. Figure $250 a year for oil changes. Figure $5k for a used C43 engine. That would be 20 years before I thought that those oil changes would be wasteful.

[1995c280]

allirroz...if you change alot of oil like dealerships do you can easily tell the difference between clean and bad oil. bad oil obviosly is very DARK BLACK and smells burnt. on the other hand clean oil will not have as strong as a odor. it will be light to dark brown if you change is between 3k-7.5k miles and at around 10k will usually change to black but not as dark as if it were burnt. like i said every car and every driver are different depending on climate condition and driving style.

Jason

[allirroz]

Originally posted by 1995c280
if you change alot of oil like dealerships do you can easily tell the difference between clean and bad oil. bad oil obviosly is very DARK BLACK and smells burnt. on the other hand clean oil will not have as strong as a odor. it will be light to dark brown if you change is between 3k-7.5k miles and at around 10k will usually change to black but not as dark as if it were burnt. like i said every car and every driver are different depending on climate condition and driving style.

Jason

thanks for the clarification Jason, only reason I asked is because I pay attention to the color of my oil on my dipstick and on my 3k changes the color of the oil is dark brown. On the other Forum I responded to , they say oil being black doesnt mean it is dirty , which is exactly what you have indicated. Oh well Black to me is dirty and will never have my Oils reach that point.

On another note how can color Black change to DARK Black:D

[RemoLexi]

All stock engine i replace it every 10K.

when I get my turbo on, ill change it every 5-6K.

I run Pentosin High performance motor oil.

[1995c280]

allirroz...good point there with the color. easy way is to just take off the oil cap and smell the oil. if it's burnt - you'll know it!

Jason

[Proven Guilty]

i change every 5k with mobil 1 synthetic 0w-40 and new mann oil filter. while some oils boast longevity over 8k and even up to 15k miles, it doesn't take away from the fact that burning fuel produces dirt, carbon, and other impurities.

dirty oil is dirty oil, and a filter can only clean it so many times. i'm with den on this, but i'm just closer to champaign taste on a beer budget :D