RE: Oil Change

["Fadeev, Alex" <Alex.Fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I have a 93 325i and I did my oil change about 6 months ago 
> and just waited for the lights on the dash board to tell me
> when I need to change oil again. It happen to be 9000 miles
> later that my oil indicator asked for an oil change. [...]
> I know for sure that I will never wait that long again, this
> was my first oil change on this car. What do you BMW owners
> do for your cars

Hassan,
	You've touched a subject that always solicits strong opinions from
all car owners. Keep that in minding reading this and other replies.
	9 +/-1K miles is about right for Service Interval (SI) lights to go
out. If you want to learn more about how SI lights work, go to:
http://www.peakeresearch.com/silights.shtml
	You _were_ following BMW instructions for oil changes and did _not_
do anything wrong. If for some reason _you_ feel you know more about BMW
engine design then the engineers that build your car, feel free to disregard
the SI lights and change oil every 6/3/1K miles. Whatever turns you on. If
nothing else, frequent oil changes will make your oil company/mechanic very
happy.
	This will not provide any additional benefits to your engine. But if
it makes you feel better ... who am I to argue with that logic. If someone
suggests otherwise, they should run, not walk, to save BMW from product
liability lawsuits.
	Personally, I change my oil by SI lights (every 7-9K miles) but use
synthetic oil (Mobil-1) as an extra bit of insurance. This may be an
overkill for a 160K mile M20B25 engine, but it certainly makes me feel
better, so I do it ;-)

> I noticed thought that the oil level is 2 quarts lower even 
> though there are no signs of leaking or oil burning. Does
> anybody know what's recommended as far as the mileage between
> oil changes and also, is it normal for a car in excellent 
> shape to burn oil after 9000 miles.

	The short answer is YES. Although it is very strange that your oil
level warning light did not come up with 2 quarts of oil missing. Are you
sure you did not overfill your engine during the last oil change?
	BMW maintains that 1 burned quart of oil per 600 miles (1000 miles
on older engines) is within specs. This does seam like a lot, but in reality
very few BMW engines burn that much oil. My 160K miles 2.5L E30 (M20B25)
consumes about 1 quart of 15-50 Mobil-1 between 7-9K oil changes.
	Your 2 quarts between 9K miles is well within spec.

relax and enjoy your car,
alex f

------------------------------

End of bmw-digest V9 #1232
**************************