F30 320d - expected condition of oil and filter at service?

[MitchT]

Mate had his F30 320d serviced yesterday. The guy who did the work expressed surprise at the condition of the oil and filter. Comments to the effect of...

- "oil filters have clearly not been swapped out at last service"
- "1cm of gunk on them"
- "oil was well gritty and looked old"
- "when the oil was drained it looked like chip fat"

Is this to be expected on a modern car with a long service interval or has the previous servicing garage not done their job properly? It was last serviced in 2017 - about 16,000 miles ago - at a "good" independent, albeit one with big windows, leather sofas and a coffee machine, so trying to replicate the main dealer experience.

[E-bmw]

If you ever wanted a reason for not obeying service intervals on modern diesel engine cars there you have it, it should still be done at least every year 10K Miles IMHO.

[Wills2]

Probably just got ripped off by the indie cutting corners to save them a few quid.

[MitchT]

Polar opposite responses then!

[helix402]

2 years and 16k miles is a long time for a poor old N47 oil and filter so they probably were changed.

I’ve seen N47 filters full of gunk after much less mileage than that (may have been due to the huge amount of silicon the main dealer stuck the sump back on with after the new timing chain). As mentioned 10k/1 year is a wise interval if you’d like longevity.

[Schermerhorn]

MitchT said:

Mate had his F30 320d serviced yesterday. The guy who did the work expressed surprise at the condition of the oil and filter. Comments to the effect of...

- "oil filters have clearly not been swapped out at last service"
- "1cm of gunk on them"
- "oil was well gritty and looked old"
- "when the oil was drained it looked like chip fat"

Is this to be expected on a modern car with a long service interval or has the previous servicing garage not done their job properly? It was last serviced in 2017 - about 16,000 miles ago - at a "good" independent, albeit one with big windows, leather sofas and a coffee machine, so trying to replicate the main dealer experience.

Mechanics often say things like this to make themselves sound like superheroes who know what they're doing so you'll be more inclined to go back to them and rubbish other mechanics.

Chances are the oil looked like how any post-service engine oil looks after its been inside a car for thousands of miles and removed - black and smelly.

My mechanic used to say the same thing to me before I called him out on his typical trade BS "who serviced your car last time? They didn't change the filter"

I told him "You changed the oil and filter last time, remember? I use you because you're the closest mechanic to my house" He shut up and he never tried it with me again.


Modern cars have so many sensors and lights on the dashboard that if something was amiss you would have had a warning or some sort.

[Pistonheader101]

My f30 did 30k between oil changes and no issues like above.