BMW Revises Recommended Oil Change Intervals to 10,000 Miles for 2014+ Z4

[z4z4z4]

Originally Posted by tranquility

I must be dense because I don't understand his comment...what did he mean?

Nothing changed with the product is his comment, but the change I suspect is that the BMW corporate environmental/green foot print score is improved with this embellished maintenance factor in their life cycle analysis.

[jparnes1]

Originally Posted by tranquility

I must be dense because I don't understand his comment...what did he mean?

No difference between E89's built before the new oil change frequency and after. Same car, different maintenance schedule. Seems arbitrary.

[HerrK]

Originally Posted by z4z4z4

Nothing changed with the product is his comment, but the change I suspect is that the BMW corporate environmental/green foot print score is improved with this embellished maintenance factor in their life cycle analysis.

Don't quite understand the better greener foot print by shortening the recommended service intervals. BMW is trying to promote the life span of older cars in lieu of selling new more efficient vehicles.



Now you're using more oil with more frequent changes, you potentially prolong the car life on the road versus newer more fuel efficient cars, and the old vehicle is producing more smog emissions than newer cars. I would think the longer service intervals and less use of oil products would far outweigh (from a green standpoint) any minor emission improvement gained by more frequent service intervals. Then factoring in the entire cost of the initial crude production and reprocessing the used oil at more frequent intervals has to have a larger carbon footprint than the longer service intervals. Anyeone with a better explanation.



The only reason I do shorter service intervals is to prolong the life of the car thus saving myself from investing in a new vehicle. I guess I get attached to them ($$$ - greenbacks and the vehicle) and don't necessarily need the latest and greatest vehicle. Tend to be a 10-15 yr owner and get rid of them when the repair frequency exceeds my tolerance. By then I have saved and am ready for a new vehicle.

[nicknaz]

My speculation is they got enough long term warranty cost data that showed more oil changes was cheaper than repairing parts affected by long oil change intervals, such as the turbos.

BMWNA is on the hook for maintenance and warranty in the same time window so there's bound to be some analysts crunching the data to minimize the company's expected costs across both those programs.

[InsanePineapple]

Depending on your driving style, 7500 mi per oil change is probably perfectly fine. You can always get an oil analysis if you want to be certain.

[z4z4z4]

We're in violent agreement HerrK. BMW will be extending the time that 2 tons of their product goes to the dump (theory). We all replace shocks, brakes, clutches, and a plethora of ancillary items to keep the car operating, but if the engine goes most of us will finally cut the umbilical.
I guess there are examples within other car marques, but we all know there are numerous BMW owners who keep their previous BMWs......we just don't line them up in the front yard like other marque owners.
The expanding market place (new owners) is the source to carry corporate sales growth and targeted market share.

Changed my neighbors oil and filter yesterday on his son's 99 323i. I devoured 10 pages of 10+ year old postings about how to reset oil service reminder alert in the dash. (we've come a long way....can you believe paperclip stuck inside two contacts under hood in OBD I connector?!)
Same conversations back then about BMW 15000 mile (25k km) interval on the reset being too long, full synthetic or not. So, same subject now for the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

Personally I drive under 8-10k miles per year and perform a full change on anniversary month and a filter only change with top off around the 6 month interval. Oil analyses usually show we're throwing away good oil. Before the big engine oil companies bought into synthetics the 24,000 mile interval was promoted by the upstart synthetic companies, but filter maintenance was always a key component to longevity. Look at this epistle. I'm out of breath rereading it.....Sorry.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by z4z4z4

We all replace shocks, brakes, clutches, and a plethora of ancillary items to keep the car operating,


Personally I drive under 8-10k miles per year and perform a full change on anniversary month and a filter only change with top off around the 6 month interval. Oil analyses usually show we're throwing away good oil. .

If you don't mind me asking, what have your purchase + maintenance + repair cost for your E89 been so far?

Every time I do the lease vs. buy new and hold calculation I always come up with 7+ year holding period to make the costs equivalent and would appreciate knowing what your costs have been to help me validate how I'm thinking about this.