What's involved? I heard all they do is change the oil and tranny/diff fluid? It should be done wihin an hour or two... right?

Kevlar,

The engine oil is NOT changed. Only the transmission and differential lube. The technician is also suppose to check for any faults in the M3.

Should take no more than an hour.

ahh that's gay, why don't they change the oil? cuz don't they run with mineral oil until the next oil change (15k scheduled miles?) and then change it from mineral to synthetic, or something like that i heard, i dunno...

Originally posted by iwannadinanm3
ahh that's gay, why don't they change the oil?

Why would they change the oil at 1200 miles? Why waste the oil?

Both my friends had the oil changed at the 1200 mile check???
I'd like it changed because new engines theoretically have more debris in the oil, but don't know if that holds for newer engines.

It's soo easy to change oild with an oil extractor anyways. The main pain is getting rid of the oil.

There is a new process that BMW now follows with E46 M3s. All of them must have the oil changed in addition to the other things they used to do.

With my first engine they didn't change the oil, but I am told they are now changing oil on all E46 M3s with the 1200 mile service now. I'll let you know in a few months when I finish breaking in my new engine. I get my car back today. :)


Oh and Kevlar this takes about 1 hour.

Brian

Dang when did this come up? I better check the bulletins or call techline.

Brian,
The replaced engine you got still needs a break-in? If so, then I'm going to set the transportation mode on when I replace the engine that I'm working on.

Brian, its going to take you a few months to break in your new engine? I usually drive 1200 miles in a week and a half. Do you have a daily driver?

Well depending on how ambitious I feel will be how fast I break it in. I work like 5 miles from my apartment so I won't be getting 1200 that way anytime soon.

A couple of trips to Austin maybe even San Antonio for the hell of it should do the trick.
The M3 is my only car.

With all the blown up M3s recently BMW is trying to be extra careful to cover themselves so the 1200 mile oil change I'm guessing its part of that.

http://members.roadfly.com/jason/m3engines.htm

Jon add your name to this website, if you haven't already.

Brian

So Brian, you were just driving along atr normal speeds and the engine blew? Did it shoot a piston out or something or was it something internally that you could not see? Have they figured out why these engines are blowing up?

It was at normal speed when the engine blew. Although it never really blew until much later after I started hearing the ticking noises coming from the engine.

From what I understand its a faulty bearing that breaks down and snaps, when this happens it ruins the insides of the engine.

Jon knows a lot more about this than I do. His M3 blew up a few days after mine did.

You can read about it here in detail:
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44263

Jon's story is also in a thread called "Another one bites the dust"
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45336

Brian

Jon,
You mentioned that when you get the new engine in, you are going to turn on the transportation mode.

How do you go about doing that? That would be a terrific feature to have when breaking in the engine or letting friends drive the car. Does it have a top speed limiter or just a rev limiter?

Ben

Transportation Mode started on producion models on or after 12/01.

Basically the rev-limiter is 5500rpm. Only a BMW Diagnostic computer can disable/enable this feature.

Originally posted by dallasbboy
There is a new process that BMW now follows with E46 M3s. All of them must have the oil changed in addition to the other things they used to do.

With my first engine they didn't change the oil, but I am told they are now changing oil on all E46 M3s with the 1200 mile service now. I'll let you know in a few months when I finish breaking in my new engine. I get my car back today. :)


Oh and Kevlar this takes about 1 hour.

Brian

I just made my 1,200 mile service appointment 5 minutes ago for my 2002 M3. The service manager said that they only top off the engine oil 1,200 miles and that I should change it at 7,500 miles (I will pay for this oil change). Then at the 15,000 mile service they will change it again (They will pay for this). I am confused.