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      09-27-2013, 10:34 AM   #112
five_timer
no turbo, no auto, no iDrive, no kidding
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Drives: 128i convertible
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NH

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I think my situation is similar to that of many BMW owners:
- Pre-BMW, I used to change my own oil. But with the drop-in filters, I don't have the right torquing tool. And frankly, I'm past the point in my life where I want to climb under my car when it's not on a lift.
- Local oil change places really can't do BMWs, and don't stock the filters.
- My dealership is located a half-hour from my house, in the opposite direction from my commute to work, and there aren't any other closer BMW dealerships.
- Dropping-off my car means leaving work early the day before, driving an hour to the dealer, getting the loaner car (but only if I called weeks in advance), then driving a half-hour to get home. Then I repeat that to pickup the car the next day.

So I should do this, even though I've never seen a Blackstone labs report indicating that following the recommended OCI is bad, nor have I seen evidence of high-mileage problems in the general marketplace of used BMWs?

You're all free to do whatever you like, to show how much of an enthusiast you are. But nobody has evidence that all the hearsay about 3K oil changes and 5K oil changes is anything but a placebo, to make people feel more involved in their cars.

I think one poster got it right when they said that manufacturers generally err on the side of caution, not the other way around. I'm guessing that the old 15K mile OCI standard was based on the worst case engine BMW made at the time. Now with more turbos, and 4-cylinder engines, and start-stop technology, they're dropping the "baseline" to 10K.
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