I remember reading somewhere that amsoil is rated to last up to 30k something miles. I'm supposed to be getting some Amsoil 0W-30 soon, so I'll see how I like it.

How many miles do you go until you change the oil?

no oil changed yet...and still running strong.....still waiting for it to beak down;)

will how come you want your car to break down? why do you hate your car so much?

Originally posted by 00soul
will how come you want your car to break down? why do you hate your car so much?

If my engine seized.. I would do a dance in the middle of the street... $50 for my deductible... and I get a new engine..

Originally posted by Stockman


If my engine seized.. I would do a dance in the middle of the street... $50 for my deductible... and I get a new engine..

but then again...i pay no deductible hahaha:)

Originally posted by 00soul
will how come you want your car to break down? why do you hate your car so much?

;) ill like it when it blows up

I was following the service lights for a while but I'm getting nervous because the interval has increased from around like 7000 miles to like 10000 miles. Now I do an oil change in between service intervals, like after three green lights go out.

Just curious, but how is it your insurance company will pay for YOUR negligence (i.e. not changing your oil and causing your engine to seize)? When I over-revved my engine (due to my negligence) I tried to get the insurance company to cover it with no joy.

Mechanic talks to insurance company
tells insurance company "blank happened"
insurance company gets pissed.. argues... eventually allows it

and do you have an extended warranty.. or INSURANCE?

Hmmmmm......my car was under warranty at the time. When the insurance agent came to inspect the car, he knew before he even came that he would deny the claim. Nothing my mechanic could say could get him to change his mind (and my mechanic was pretty sneaky, too!!). And no, I don't have an extended warranty on my car now. I was not sure if it was worth it or would they even give it to me since I have started to mod my car.

I aim to change my oil every 4000-5000 miles, running Mobil 1 5w30 (synthetic).
BTW - heres the little trick behind the service indicator lights, thanks to Peake Research (http://www.peakeresearch.com/silights.shtml).

I change every 3000K give or take a couple of hundred miles. I would rather pay the price now rather than a huge bill later. I also run the car very hard so it is def. time to change by 3000.

til 150k

The local dealership told me every 10k normal driving or every 5-7.5k if you drive the car hard (IE race, track etc)

Oil is cheap right guys? Engines aren't. As a matter of habit I change my oil every 3-4K miles, no more. This means I change it about twice as much as my service lights tell me to. It can't hurt the car and is probably good for it. Especially on an older car like mine (90 525i 5-spd, only 70K miles). Why not spend a little bit more now and help keep that engine running strong past 150K like all BMW engines can do if properly maintained?

I change the oil and filter in my M3 every 2,500 miles but mainly because I enjoy knowing I have clean oil in it plus I enjoy doing it too.

Bob ///M3

This evening I just perform an engine oil service using Amsoil's 0w-30. The last time I did this service was back in March and around 2000miles ago. I put on less miles but had it in the engine for the past 7 months doing lots of city driving. I also bought an oil analyzer kit and will send it out tomorrow.

6-7k miles... and I'm running 0W-30. I'm sure it could go longer if I just change the filter, but call me paranoid, I'd rather just change the oil while I'm at it.

every 3k for me i use mobil 1

Kevlar, how do you like the OW-30, that is what I am planning on getting.

Originally posted by will
no oil changed yet...and still running strong.....still waiting for it to beak down;)

Do you actually get better protection when oil breaks down ? or is it ALWAYS better to change early ?

I normally do oil changes every 2,500 to 3k miles using 5w-30...

6,000-7,000 miles...sometimes a little sooner when I noticed that the engine is not running as smooth.

Originally posted by Bry
Kevlar, how do you like the OW-30, that is what I am planning on getting.

I love the stuff... When I bought my car it had that dreaded valve ticking noise... BMW said it was normal. I put in 0W-30... the noise went away.

I was sold... I'm going to buy some right now actually.

I change whenever the lights tell me on the dash....i hate changeing oil its such a hassle.

My lights go out around 9500 miles. I change it myself when 3 greens are out (1/2 of them). So I guess I put in fresh oil/filter every 4000 miles. I use BMW Synthetic, but Mobil or the like would be just as good.

Originally posted by SeRg M
I normally do oil changes every 2,500 to 3k miles using 5w-30...

I really think 3000 miles is overkill, especially if you're running a synthetic. If it gives you piece of mind then go for it. It obviously won't hurt the engine to change it more often. ;)

I believe Amsoil's 0W-30 is good for up to like 20k or so miles! Of course nobody runs it that long but that's what they say. Bob or Kevlar, is that right?

I still agree, every 3000-3500 miles...when your yeller light comes on.

Your yellow light comes on every 3000 miles??? :confused: Mine doesn't come on for almost 10k miles now.

Originally posted by TiChick
I still agree, every 3000-3500 miles...when your yeller light comes on.
Uhhh no, try ~8k. Guess who doesn't change her own oil ;) That's okay, I gotta do something to be usefull.

Originally posted by bimmer95

Uhhh no, try ~8k. Guess who doesn't change her own oil ;) That's okay, I gotta do something to be usefull.

lol


---
I am going to take my oil to like 5000 miles... and see how it is... if everything is fine... every week or so I will check it... I have only had my car like 3000 miles...

Amsoil 0W30 is rated for 35,000 miles or one year between oil changes with filter changes and top up every 12,500. I have gone 15000 with Amsoil's cheapest synthetic (15W40) with a filter change and oil analysis at 7500. The oil did degrade fron the 7500 to 15000 mile mark but it was still better than virtually any petro oil and "suitable for continued use" after 15K.

E36 M3s howver are typically driven hard and hot so 7500 on Amsoil 0W30 should be no problem. Oil analysis is the way to tell.
http://www.amsoil.com/products/g.html....Use 508684 (mine), 523140 (Kevlar's) or 532108 (Jaramil's) as your customer number when ordering. This way they throw one of us a bone.

Don

http://www.amsoil.com/products/g.html

test

First oil change on my ///M Coupe was @ 9,700. Down to two greens and have 16,500. I must be one of those old timers hooked on the 3,000mi. oil changes because I hate waiting this long...

Originally posted by Don Stevens
E36 M3s howver are typically driven hard and hot so 7500 on Amsoil 0W30 should be no problem. Oil analysis is the way to tell.
http://www.amsoil.com/products/g.html 508684 (mine), 523140 (Kevlar's) or 532108 (Jaramill's) as your customer number when ordering. This way they throw one of us a bone.

Don

Thanks for the post Don. When I first got my ///M3 back in February I immediately flushed the oil and put Mobil-1 0W-30. Then after joining this board, and researching I became sold on AMSOIL (0W-30). So after 5k miles I changed everything upon Inspection I (tranny - AMSOIL ATF, gear - AMSOIL Gear 75W-90, oil - AMSOIL 0W-30, brake - Super Blue ATE).

Right now I'm about close to 6k miles on my car with my first use of AMSOIL 0W-30. I will order the oil analysis kit as well. But since I've done 3 autocrosses, lots of canyon runs, and generally hard driving on LA freeways, I've added a couple of quarts here and there. Although 3k is optimal, it can be overkill, but nothing wrong. If money is tight then you have the comfort of knowing you can drive for at least another 4-5k extra miles by using AMSOIL 0W-30.

I'll probably do the oil change at the end of this month.

Gio

wow i must be anal. i change my oil every 3k on the dot. i use redline 10-30w and sometimes mobil1 syntetic when i am penny pinching. i think i would go nuts if i went 4k mile without an oil change let alone 10k.

I'm running Mobil 1 0w30 and changing every 5k miles, with a OEM BMW filter change every 2500 miles. I'm not sold on Amsoil yet, I feel Mobil 1 is a superior product.

Originally posted by Rel44 M3
I was following the service lights for a while but I'm getting nervous because the interval has increased from around like 7000 miles to like 10000 miles. Now I do an oil change in between service intervals, like after three green lights go out.
I'll throw my hat in here.
I change like this too..3 lights..and out. Sometimes that's 3500 miles, sometimes it's 5500 miles.

All I know is that I just changed my oil by myself...and I'll probably do it every 4000K or so...I'm more careful when I change because I let it drain out and even add some fresh oil to flush out the old stuff.

AND, I drain when it's warm...so more of the bad stuff escapes.

Are there any better aftermarket oil filters on the market, or are the OEM ones the only ones? does anyone know. i notice that they tend to do an ok job, but not as good as some of the aftermarket ones you might find on other cars. just wondering. thx.

In our case, the OEM filters are generally better than the aftermarket ones. As Jon Caldito reported, some of the aftermarket ones have a tendency to tear and then leave additional residue at the bottom of the oil filter canister, which needs to be cleaned out. The OEM filters now are made with a different type of material that will not tear away as easily.

what i've read, I'm pretty sure it was on this board, is that the heat of the engine will wear lesser filters down quicker.

The OEM filters are the best.