Interesting chat with a BMW service manager today
Discussion
So I was in a BMW dealer today waiting for my car to be serviced ( service pack wont get me the next. third one coming in around 53k dont get sucked in to the 50k package! ) Got on with the service manager and asked him directly would you do an interim oil and filter change if you had your own BMW diesel not a company one.
He said he drove his own 5 series diesel and has never done that and never will in his opinion doesnt need it. But he does do something to blow everything out and keep the Turbo in shape. Every few weeks when he is on the motorway he will keep the revs right up using gears 4-5k for 10 miles. I had allways thought if you do a lot of motorway miles all is fine but of course in my 330d even at 90mph your only doing 2000 RPM which he said doesnt cut it. So coming back on the M40 I played with the gears and kept the revs high used a lot of fuel and felt "wrong" like I was damaging the engine but unless someone knows different ill carry on doing it .................just a heads up
He said he drove his own 5 series diesel and has never done that and never will in his opinion doesnt need it. But he does do something to blow everything out and keep the Turbo in shape. Every few weeks when he is on the motorway he will keep the revs right up using gears 4-5k for 10 miles. I had allways thought if you do a lot of motorway miles all is fine but of course in my 330d even at 90mph your only doing 2000 RPM which he said doesnt cut it. So coming back on the M40 I played with the gears and kept the revs high used a lot of fuel and felt "wrong" like I was damaging the engine but unless someone knows different ill carry on doing it .................just a heads up
Edited by smashy on Thursday 6th July 21:04
Edited by smashy on Thursday 6th July 21:23
Not suprised, the testing these cars go through in extreme heat at performance limits, then extreme cold at performance limits... Then every conceivable variation of trailers, passages and fuel quality in between.
The UK and its mild summers, winters, weather, fuel quality and speed limits means our cars are as pampered as they can get.
(and that's all ignoring how massively engineered oil is these days!)
Edit: as for holding the gears and giving the engine a good thrashing, sounds like a good practise again.. Providing its all up to temp. Kicks off out any carbon deposits and stresses the dpf. Again, all well within the design parameters of a modern engine.
The UK and its mild summers, winters, weather, fuel quality and speed limits means our cars are as pampered as they can get.
(and that's all ignoring how massively engineered oil is these days!)
Edit: as for holding the gears and giving the engine a good thrashing, sounds like a good practise again.. Providing its all up to temp. Kicks off out any carbon deposits and stresses the dpf. Again, all well within the design parameters of a modern engine.
Edited by Andehh on Thursday 6th July 21:38
Not sure I believe him. Bmw changed their oil change intervals and moved to "sealed for life" gearboxes at the same time they started selling service plans. Very long intervals would make far more financial sense for them.
Italian tune up on the other hand, that is good for the car every now and again.
Italian tune up on the other hand, that is good for the car every now and again.
as the OP ive spent some time researching and cant find a definitive answer re that high revving it didnt feel right thats for sure 10 miles like that felt I was knocking the guts out of it I am also not convinced re his view on interim oil changes as he says the BMW Oil is probably good but what about the oil filter?
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...
Maybe 5 miles not 10https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...
Maybe 5 miles not 10
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...Edited by smashy on Thursday 6th July 21:54
You could consider doing both. Halving the oil change interval makes perfect sense but he may not tell you that in the workplace, also keeping the revs high alone isn't necessarily the only solution for a clear out, it helps to have a wide throttle, heat, load, compression, and velocity etc. I'd get the car rolling, into second perhaps, and sweep the revs from say 1,500 to 4,500 in 2nd, 3rd, and if room, 4th, from no load to high load several times, but only after having driven 20 - 30 miles minimum first so the oil is hot.
That's just my2p though, you should only do this if you are certain of your vehicles mechanical condition beforehand :-)
That's just my2p though, you should only do this if you are certain of your vehicles mechanical condition beforehand :-)
CarsOrBikes said:
You could consider doing both. Halving the oil change interval makes perfect sense but he may not tell you that in the workplace, also keeping the revs high alone isn't necessarily the only solution for a clear out, it helps to have a wide throttle, heat, load, compression, and velocity etc. I'd get the car rolling, into second perhaps, and sweep the revs from say 1,500 to 4,500 in 2nd, 3rd, and if room, 4th, from no load to high load several times, but only after having driven 20 - 30 miles minimum first so the oil is hot.
That's just my2p though, you should only do this if you are certain of your vehicles mechanical condition beforehand :-)
Nice post Carsorbikes encapsulates a lot ive found ie no staying very near the redline continously yep I get he was at work and i said to him officially or unofficially That's just my2p though, you should only do this if you are certain of your vehicles mechanical condition beforehand :-)
believe he genuinly didnt change his oil. I will do this Italian tune up just not as I did today too much hanging near the redline thanks all Crafty_ said:
Sure, but I don't think there is any merit in placing any weight on his vocation, thats all.
Fair enough and actually I do believe that many forum bods have more info than these guys ,he hadnt heard of any oil filter issues on the new 340is which have been reported he just reckoned BMW Oil Filters were good enough to take 20k oil changes..just thought he would have more "inside" info than me as he had been with BMW for yearson petrol models like my 735 the vanos system doesn't work until you reach 3,500 rpm so every now and then you need to drive high revs to keep the oil flowing through, i work on trucks and you do need to work the engine now and then to clear the crud out of the exhaust, just pottering around does the engine more harm than good, might be good for mpg but not for the engine in the long run as the exhaust gets more and more blocked and you have to drive harder to keep the same speed and then you find your mpg goes down ( over a few thousand miles ).
Yep...in many ways, with modern diesels the good old fashioned 'Italian tune-up' methods is still as valid as it was on old tech carb'd petrols back in the days of yore....
A point I've failed to get across to one of my neighbours everytime he complains about the costs he gets charged by his dealer for cleaning the gunk out of his diesel car that he does barely 75 miles a week in never driving it further than about 3 miles each time....
He's told me his dealer has said exactly the same thing to him, but he still doesn't believe it.....
A point I've failed to get across to one of my neighbours everytime he complains about the costs he gets charged by his dealer for cleaning the gunk out of his diesel car that he does barely 75 miles a week in never driving it further than about 3 miles each time....
He's told me his dealer has said exactly the same thing to him, but he still doesn't believe it.....
aeropilot said:
Yep...in many ways, with modern diesels the good old fashioned 'Italian tune-up' methods is still as valid as it was on old tech carb'd petrols back in the days of yore....
A point I've failed to get across to one of my neighbours everytime he complains about the costs he gets charged by his dealer for cleaning the gunk out of his diesel car that he does barely 75 miles a week in never driving it further than about 3 miles each time....
He's told me his dealer has said exactly the same thing to him, but he still doesn't believe it.....
I've a customer who lives central London, and has had the DPF light on 3 times in 9 months - clears with a decent run at revs, yet seems to think it's a faulty car. A point I've failed to get across to one of my neighbours everytime he complains about the costs he gets charged by his dealer for cleaning the gunk out of his diesel car that he does barely 75 miles a week in never driving it further than about 3 miles each time....
He's told me his dealer has said exactly the same thing to him, but he still doesn't believe it.....
Jonnny said:
aeropilot said:
Yep...in many ways, with modern diesels the good old fashioned 'Italian tune-up' methods is still as valid as it was on old tech carb'd petrols back in the days of yore....
A point I've failed to get across to one of my neighbours everytime he complains about the costs he gets charged by his dealer for cleaning the gunk out of his diesel car that he does barely 75 miles a week in never driving it further than about 3 miles each time....
He's told me his dealer has said exactly the same thing to him, but he still doesn't believe it.....
I've a customer who lives central London, and has had the DPF light on 3 times in 9 months - clears with a decent run at revs, yet seems to think it's a faulty car. A point I've failed to get across to one of my neighbours everytime he complains about the costs he gets charged by his dealer for cleaning the gunk out of his diesel car that he does barely 75 miles a week in never driving it further than about 3 miles each time....
He's told me his dealer has said exactly the same thing to him, but he still doesn't believe it.....
This guy is late 50's but has no grasp/understanding of the issue at all. What made me shake my head more during one previous conversation on the subject, was he said he wanted to buy a Prius (and actually probably better suited to his journey profile) but he didn't because his wife reminded him that there would be no where to plug it in......
Err.....its a hybrid I said.......exactly he says, no where to plug it in....... I try to run away whenever it looks like he wants to engage me in conversation now.
As the OP can I say on a tangent if we lose diesels I will be..... well, gutted is the only word I can find. Just did 440 miles West London Bradford and back in my F30 330d..........60.7 mpg OBC plenty of 70/80mph ...about 20% eco pro mode a lot of middle lane and last half hour stuck in rush hour London Traffic ,,,,,,,,,,,,nice warm day and shell Nitro+ perfect combo I guess...crazy really
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