Servicing intervals

[JD123d]

I bought my car in March this year, it was registered in March 08, and it has not had a service at all yet. I am approaching 10000 miles and was told by the dealer when I bought it that I should get it serviced at this point. Have just called up a dealer to book it in and he says I don't need to bother, just wait for 20000 miles or until the car is two years old.

Is this right as I thought it should really be serviced every 10000 miles or every year ish?

[rich_vw]

Service intervals depend on the car. My current 118d (bought in June last year) is service every 19k miles or year, which ever is first, therefore she's booked in this month even though only up to 15k.

[christer]

which car is it?

/facepalm

[Deano_BMW]

id book it in for at least an oil change, even if thats outside of the recommended service schedule. i do mine every 8-10k

[dave_s13]

Or just change the oil yourself for piwce of mind, and save a few quid.

Just keep receipts for the oil and filter to maintain a record. Sorted.

[LocoBlade]

According to your profile you have a 123d? If so, its a variable service so the car will tell you when it needs servicing.

You can check this yourself though, when you first start the car it will show you on the dash how many miles / how much time before the next service item. You'll probably find you'll need a basic oil change at around 14-16k miles depending on how you drive, then brake fluid change after 2 years or about 25k miles then one of the bigger inspections at around 30k. I believe it monitors fuel consumption to work out when the service is required, so if for example you average 45mpg you'll wont need a service as quickly as if you average 40mpg over the life of the car.

Edit: Actually Im not sure it ALWAYS tells you the countdown to the next service if its not imminent, mine's always done it but I bought it second hand at 11k miles so it was already within about 4k of its service. If not, get in the car, put the key in and press the start/stop button without your foot on the clutch, this will turn on the ignition and bring up the display without starting the engine. Now scroll down using the up/down rocker on the indicator stalk until you see "Service Info", then select this with the button on the end and you can then scroll through the dates / mileages for each of the service items.

Edited by LocoBlade on Wednesday 3rd June 22:33

[christer]

JD123d said:

I bought my car in March this year, it was registered in March 08, and it has not had a service at all yet. I am approaching 10000 miles and was told by the dealer when I bought it that I should get it serviced at this point. Have just called up a dealer to book it in and he says I don't need to bother, just wait for 20000 miles or until the car is two years old.

Is this right as I thought it should really be serviced every 10000 miles or every year ish?

As some said it is probably condition based servicing, so the car will tell you when it is needed. Read the manual so you know how to check - my E60 tells me the most imminent service element needed on the OBD, plus I can check in Idrive for all the details but not sure what you have there.

[phumy]

Does anyone know what happens if you interupt the service time which is displayed, does it re-adjust itself or still keep the same mileage?

By interupt i mean that you do an oil change well ahead of the scheduled time the car is telling you.

[LocoBlade]

Im 99% sure the OBC doesn't know you've done a service so has to be re-set manually, therefore if you change the oil it will still count down from where it was before.

[northandy]

LocoBlade said:

Im 99% sure the OBC doesn't know you've done a service so has to be re-set manually, therefore if you change the oil it will still count down from where it was before.

Correct, it has to be manually reset and then it would start counting down again.

[christer]

phumy said:

Does anyone know what happens if you interupt the service time which is displayed, does it re-adjust itself or still keep the same mileage?

By interupt i mean that you do an oil change well ahead of the scheduled time the car is telling you.

I had my E60 done a few weeks ago when it was still showing around 16K to the next service (long story as to why, maybe another time). Please note that Cooper Croydon were not able to reset the service interval due to the fact that the service was actually due so far in the future. They did not know however when this woudl be possible (i.e. at what mileage) - but I was happy enough as I only do around 7K per year so would expect to need another in 2 years in any case.

[bimmer_87]

Do any of you feel totally comfortable leaving the same oil in for 14-16k even 19k as mentioned above?

I personally dont, the oil most probably will the filthy black by that mileage.

I know modern oils are very good, but in such a harsh environment can they really last that long?

Max i would leave in for would be 12k, but ideally i would be changing at 7k.

Same with the bmw 'lifetime' fluids, i'll be getting my Gearbox and Diff fluid changed at the next service.

[christer]

I understood it that on a condition based service vehicle there are sensors in the engine that can gain basic information as to the state of the oil and takes this into account when counting down to service time. I am not sure if this is entirely accurate or true though. In any case, I would assume that the car would demand a service after 2 years in any case regardless of mileage.

I do about 6-7k miles per year, so in my case I am not sure what I would do tbh. I am very meticulous on maintenance, but at the end of the day follow the manufaturers guidelines for the most part. The same goes for the GT3, 12 months or 12K whichever is sooner - and in a carlike that you can imagine it is done every 12 months as I do maybe 4K per year in it. I have spent around £4K since October on it, £350 of which was actual servicing, the rest preventative maintenance in terms of new rads that were warped, cracked coil pack, new front suspension control arms etc - nothing that was completely urgent but I get them done as it saves time and money in the long-run. I would apply the same to the 550, however I am not sure what I would get out of resetting the oil service every 6K miles (12 months) when Cooper Croydon told me recently they couldn't reset due to the large amount of miles to the next service. Would I have a book full of stamps and the countdown hopelessly out of whack?

I would just be sensible - there is no point over-servicing a car unless it just makes you feel good about it. If the manufacturer says 12K/12 months , or 20K 24 months or whatever I would twend to stick to that - but I would also take the car in when it says "vehicle check" to make sure that things are caught in time if anything needs doing. Yes, an MOT also does this but I have seen things happen fairly quickly on cars, and I am not going to compromise on safety.

A bit rambling - I don't have what I feel is a definitive answer but instead of changing oil every year regardless of mileage on a condition based service schedule, I would follow the rest to the letter and perform preventative maintenance if I feel it necessary.

[richyb]

19k seems huge for service intervals. I always have changed my oil and filter every 6k. I am a firm believer that a regular oil change is the best thing you can do to keep a car running well throughout its life.

[christer]

richyb said:

19k seems huge for service intervals. I always have changed my oil and filter every 6k. I am a firm believer that a regular oil change is the best thing you can do to keep a car running well throughout its life.

How do you reset the condition based service intervals?

[LocoBlade]

Never tried it, but you can do it yourself I believe

http://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&am...

gt2homas said:

Step 1
Insert key into slot
Step 2
Press start/stop button without depressing clutch/brake and wait for the service reminder to dissapear.
Step 3
Immediately after service reminder goes out, press and hold the odometer reset. After 3 secs a warning triangle will appear, keep the odo. button pressed and after another 2-3 secs the Oil can will appear. I f you hold it too long (10 secs in total) you will overshoot the runway and some German writing will appear giving the software level/ can bus etc. of the car. Go back to the beginning and start again.
Step 4
You are now in the service menu, use the toggle switch on indicator stalk to scroll up/down through the various service items.
Step 5
When you have the item you want to reset showing, press the BC button on end of indicator stalk. Reset should now appear in the display. Press in and hold the BC button for 2-3 secs and a clock will start whirling around and hey presto, its done
Step 6
You can now either scroll up/down to select another item (as in step 4) or you can press the start/stop button to exit.

Edited by LocoBlade on Friday 5th June 14:34

[Deano_BMW]

why are you so set on resetting it? just do the extar oil service as an interim service between the flagged up condition based services.

[acquiescence]

Why waste money on an extra oil service ?

The oil is engineered to cope with 19k, as is the car.

If the engine fails, BMW will change it.

As long as it has a FBMWSH.

[DSM2]

bimmer_87 said:

I personally dont, the oil most probably will the filthy black by that mileage.

It's a diesel. The oil will be black by the time he gets home............

My 320D has done 70,000 faultless miles. Oil was changed at 25K and 50K, in accordance with the OBD.

[Deva Link]

richyb said:

a regular oil change is the best thing you can do to keep a car running well throughout its life.

That's fine if you're going to keep the car for its life. But if you change the car after even maybe 4-5yrs then the only people who benefit from more frequent oil changes are the subsequent owners.