[ndog14]

As the title says, the dealership will not change my oil under the maintenance.

Background: took my car into the dealership 11/11 to be fixed. While there they changed my oil complimentary without resetting the oil light, service read 5.4k till needed change. Early March '12 I call the dealership to set up an appointment for oil change and state inspection because of my busy schedule. Mid march the oil change service interval reaches 0, I reset the light because of how annoying it is. Drive +1k miles in between resetting and today. My car is at 46.4k now.

The dealership says they cannot change my oil under the maintenance plan because I reset my oil light. I explained to my SA, who relayed it to the service manager, that I reset it because I could not drive such a distance with that annoying light coming on every time. The service manager says BMW NA will refuse to cover the oil change because I reset my light. And they won't change the oil because it hit the 45k mark.


Is this dealership a stealership?

[David1]

If the car doesn't say to change it, the dealer will not get paid. You should not have reset it. You can still get the anual oil change after 12 months regardles of miles.

[ndog14]

Originally Posted by David1

If the car doesn't say to change it, the dealer will not get paid. You should not have reset it. You can still get the anual oil change after 12 months regardles of miles.

And drive around with people in my car with a red triangle and exclamation mark coming up every time I start my car? It should be in BMW's interest that there cars don't have a red triangle and exclamation mark every time you start there cars.

[tbracing]

Originally Posted by ndog14

And drive around with people in my car with a red triangle and exclamation mark coming up every time I start my car? It should be in BMW's interest that there cars don't have a red triangle and exclamation mark every time you start there cars.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by ndog14

And drive around with people in my car with a red triangle and exclamation mark coming up every time I start my car?

Yes. You reset the countdown so why should the dealer pay for your mistake?

Next time, leave the OBC alone or take the car in before it reaches 0 if the brief reminder light bothers you.

Tom

[ndog14]

Originally Posted by tbracing

Say you've never been in a BMW before. You get in your friend's/client's. He starts it and a red triangle and exclamation mark pops up. He says that it is a remember he needs some sort of service done. You think about your Honda/Toyota/Ford/GM/etc. That red triangle and exclamation mark is stupid.

[///Mfan]

why does it need to be changed after only 4 months anyway?

[dassub]

I'm gonna have to go ahead and say you shouldn't have reset it.
Who cares what someone thinks of your car?

[a08335k]

Have to agree with what others have said. I had my oil change done at the dealer before the recommended interval and my SA told me that they won't reset since i'm coming up on my 60k service in the next 5k miles. If they reset it would have meant that the scheduled maintenance was done. Why don't you just pay for the oil change and take this as a learning.

[ndog14]

Originally Posted by Bamaben

why does it need to be changed after only 4 months anyway?

It's been 7k since the last change, most people here do it every 7.5k. And I won't be able to change it myself for another 3k

[David1]

The oil is good for 15 to 18 k miles. Don't worry about it.

[Syndicategt]

Originally Posted by ndog14

It's been 7k since the last change, most people here do it every 7.5k. And I won't be able to change it myself for another 3k

Well that's the reason your dealer won't change it! It's not because you reset the light. They have your service records and know when your last change was. They will give you a free change in another 7.5K miles. People changing every 5-7k pay out of their own pockets. Stop being cheap and buy your own kit if you want it changed

[Kolyan2k]

lol at your threads.....change yourself at 10-15k miles, problem solved. you also said dealer did a complimentary oil change, how is this a stealership ?

[apc3libras]

If your friends see a red exclamation point icon on your dash, and you tell them its a dumb service reminder, they won't be judging BMW. They will probably ask you why you haven't taken it in for service yet.

[anerbe]

Originally Posted by apc3libras

If your friends see a red exclamation point icon on your dash, and you tell them its a dumb service reminder, they won't be judging BMW. They will probably ask you why you haven't taken it in for service yet.

When i see a service light on in any car, I don't think the car is a piece of crap. I think how lazy the owner is.

[Toyo]

[bmwjunky]

Why would seeing a scheduled maintenance light insinuate you have a POS car? That doesn't compute with me.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by David1

The oil is good for 15 to 18 k miles. Don't worry about it.

Not for people who want sane maintenance intervals. Google "Mike Miller's Old School BMW Maintenance Schedule".

Originally Posted by anerbe

When i see a service light on in any car, I don't think the car is a piece of crap. I think how lazy the owner is.

This! OP, if you noticed that the service indicator hadn't been reset during service, you should have reset it right AFTER the appointment, not waited until it hit 0. Now you have an indicator that's not at all in sync with what's actually happened to the car; resetting it in the middle of the oil's lifetime completely defeats the point of the indicator. The only reason not to reset a service indicator after service is if like some of us you pay for intermediate oil changes every 7500 miles but still want the free change every 15K.

[bsamoul]

You shouldn't have reset the light, plain and simple. The dealer has no way of proving that the oil wasn't changed already. Looking at a red ! when you start the car is no big deal. It's only there for 5 seconds max. Just pay for the change yourself and you'll be good for next time.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Not for people who want sane maintenance intervals. Google "Mike Miller's Old School BMW Maintenance Schedule".

i googled this and confirmed for myself that BMW 5w30 oil is just Group 3 non-synthetic oil. good to know that BMW USA uses shitty products for cost savings

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

i googled this and confirmed for myself that BMW 5w30 oil is just Group 3 non-synthetic oil. good to know that BMW USA uses shitty products for cost savings

Not sure where in that document you found that factoid, but BMW definitely uses synthetic oil, not standard....

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Not sure where in that document you found that factoid, but BMW definitely uses synthetic oil, not standard....

he says that he recommends changing oil every 5-7.5k miles in USA (if you use BMW oil), but in Europe he recommends 7.5-10k intervals because oil is PAO synthetic....therefore BMW 5w30 in USA is not PAO synthetic oil. i was almost positive on this before, he just confirmed it for me. I remember dealers used Mobil1 5w30 (or Castrol was it) until they re-branded some oil to BMW...probably the same Mobil1 5w30 as before which in reality is not synthetic