Is It Just Is or is This Crazy!
 

EDIT: Is it just me or is this crazy

I change my synthetic Mobil 1 5W30 oil every 3000 miles. Am I supposed to be waiting longer?

My father just bought a BMW. BMW offers full matience including oil changes for 50000 miles or something. The thing is..... the oil is only changed once a year or every 15,000 miles!

I almost jumped over the table after hearing that. I then asked one of the salespeople who owns a BMW Z what the real deal was with that. He claimed the cars are made to go that long before an oil change and they use Castrol GTX 5W30.

They do let you come in after the car is 1200 miles to get all the crap out from break in, but after that is once a year.

Should I be changing my synthetic oil every 3000, 5000, 7500, or 15000 miles?

Is this whole BMW thing a sham or is it true?

who cares what BMW does, it does not apply to the 350Z anyway. follow the recommended service interval located in your owner's manual and you should be fine.

I think the service manual just says 5W30, it doesnt say synthetic or not. So I am thinking it may be able to go longer on synthetic.

But I am also concerned about my fathers car. It would be one thing if he leased it and was giving it back after 3 years, but its going to be with us a while, and maybe a hand me down to someone after about 5 -7 years.

Not too sure about BMW, but it's like that with Porsches. The reason being is that their oil capacity is about twice ours, thus the oil needs to be changed less frequently. I believe for Porsches most people do it around 10k miles.

From my lengthy research on the subjective oil topic, it would seem that synthetic oils can go long term before a change, but is dependent on the type of driving you are doing. In harsh driving conditions like heat + stop and go traffic + short trips, it would be prudent to change more frequently.

I go by the owners manual. OK. Call me crazy.

trying to go 5k with german castrol this oil change. Ive never gone past 3k, and I'm sitting at 4100, it feels strange...

does that help? :)

If you think it's time for an oil change, it is. Why not be SAFE and change it every 3,000? I know I do. I don't believe all the bull on who can stretch their oil life longer.

It just is.

I do every 5k with my mobile 1 synth.

It's nuts.

ok i got a question

the manual says every 3000mi/or 3 months correct?

i dont drive the Z often. So at the end of 3 months, i might only have about 1000 miles. Maybe even less. Even though i have hit the 3 months, im nowhere close to the 3000 mi stage. Should i still be changing oil every 3 months?

Yes. Hydrocarbons and blowby continue to break the oil down even if the car is just sitting in the driveway. That's why the factory also put the 3 month time constraint on changing it. Don't be cheap. Just change it.

+1.

A friend of mine works for BMW and also confirmed that they do oil changes at 15,000 mile intervals. He mentioned something about the engine running high temperatures, and for some reason this makes the car able to go longer without an oil change...

BMW is the same way. I drive a 2005 BMW 325i. But just for clarification the service interval for oil changes is 15,000 maximum. The car calculates your service interval based on how you drive. There is a gauge that counts down the miles in the dash. The harder you are on the engine the sooner it will tell you to get your oil changed. I usually go 7500 miles between oil changes. The car works perfectly that's the way its designed. The only way you will go to 15,000 before time for servicing is if you drive like a grandpa on sunday.

my brother just got a mercedes and its the same way for them the dealer told him ever 15000miles but he also said to go in after 1000miles for your first oil change

I think the Z manual says to change the oil every 3750 miles or 3 months with severe service. They also state that with normal service, the oil can be changed at 7500 miles or 6 months. I have kind of split the difference and change every 5,000 miles using Valvoline synthetic. I doubt many modern cars need an oil and filter change every 3000 miles. The oil change places and dealers tell you 3000 miles to get more business. I have a '99 Dodge Caravan with 111K miles and it has had an oil change every 5000 miles and I have had no problems. The car still uses no oil between changes. I think a 5000 mile interval is adequate, particularly if you are using any brand synthetic.

Les