“Beep” my BMW i3 sounds as I turn it on, the dashboard ahead of me lightning up with a speedometer, range guess-o-meter, odometer, and other useful information. But I notice one new light: A red outline of a BMW i3 with the word “SERVICE” written above it. Apparently BMW wants me to change my car’s brake fluid and do an oil change.
I’ll do the brake fluid soon enough, and the oil change I’ll eventually do as well, though I’m in no rush; my oil has maybe 500 miles on it and it’s just one year old. Sure, there are more factors that go into oil quality than miles and age (like moisture content) — and in general I understand that automakers’ service intervals are based on actual data, but they’re also not catered to the individual.
Those service intervals are there to minimize warranty claims, while at the same time making the overall ownership experience more convenient (hence modern 10,000 mile engine oil change intervals and “fill for life” transmissions).
Speaking of “fill for life,” my BMW i3’s rear differential technically never needs its fluid changed. If this were a car that I wasn’t planning on keeping until the end of time, maybe I’d follow BMW’s interval, but the reality is that gears wear over time and send that wear into the working fluid, which itself can wear from all the shearing. In general, the cleaner your fluid, the longer your diff lasts, so why not try to maximize your car’s life expectancy?
Check out the metal shavings in my old i3’s “fill for life” diff:
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Anyway, I typically do my oils a bit earlier than the factory service intervals suggest, and when possible I’ll just check fluids visually (brake fluid, engine coolant) and maybe stretch the intervals a bit for those.
What about you? Do you follow what’s in the owner’s manual or do you live by your own rules?
Top Photo: Depositphotos.com
In BMW differential oil was clean and magnet on drain plug collected all metal particles like David has shown.
There was no need to change it besides “creating content” for his lame instagram influencer carreer.
yes
I usually do engine oil once a year and gear,diffs etc. whenever I feel like it. Usually on my older stuff shit breaks often enough that I can just replace the fluids when I’m there anyway.
3k/3 mon with synthetic high mileage plus Lucas oil; tire rotation every 2x oil changes; timing belts at or before interval
Porsche set the oil change interval at 15,000 miles, and 30,000 between oil filters! This on an engine that (if you believe the internet) breaks if you so much as think negatively around it.
So it gets changed a little more frequently than recommended…
Fuck, no. I don’t even follow MY recommended service intervals.
I do the oil every 5K, even though the BMW condition based service varies with driving. With me, it says every 17K miles and my wife’s car says 10K. Another car is around 7500 miles.
It’s probably overkill, but it gives me a chance to look at the motor every couple of months
Mostly, although I stretch the Prius oil change intervals because I put a lot of miles on it, the intervals are longer in other parts of the world, and I’ve done the used oil analysis that says it’s still fine after 8 or 9000 miles. Oil consumption has not changed in the 75000+ miles I’ve owned it so it seems to be fine.
I’ve also done the UOA to know that the 10000 mile intervals on my old truck were fine. After 140k the engine was still in great shape, unlike basically everything else on it.
Generally speaking, yes. Oil, belts, etc. Filters depends more on how they look.
I’m 67k into the 2019 Crosstrek and have pretty much followed the plan with the dealership. I like them, always good service, so not a problem.
Almost a year into my ’23 GR Corolla that I bought with 6k and trying to follow the plan, but they need to edu-ma-cate the SA’s. At 15k I had to argue that yes it was due for an oil change, not wait until 20k, and it took a screenshot of their own service plan and another advisor to convince him. (I’ll be trying another ‘ship for 20k.)
I had to stop doing my own oil changes thanks to vertigo issues.
For ICE vehicles, I do as closely as possible, for my EVs I completely ignore it as it’s always rotate tires, inspect something, inspect something else, blah, blah, blah.
Nope. Other than oil changes, I do stuff when I get to it.
Toyota says 10K for the oil change (5th gen 4Runner), and I mostly stick to that because I do 95% highway miles and still end up changing it at least 2X a year.
I visually inspect my air filter, when it’s dirty I replace it, and at that time I’ll do the cabin filter as well. I think a mileage is pointless for things like this, because driving and environmental conditions vary so much.
Coolant, eh. I’ve never had an issue with coolant. Same with brake fluid. If I have to replace a caliper, then I’ll end up flushing the fluid while bleeding but otherwise I’m not changing it on any schedule. Same with P/S fluid.
My transfer case and differential intervals are going to work out to be around 100K, I changed them at 100K, and at 195K I’m planning on doing them soon. I had a trans drain and fill around the same time, I’ll do it again soon as well.
I remember when I changed the rear diff oil in my old Grand Cherokee for the first time at 160k, it was still amber. I think that unless you see severe service or get water in it, gear oil is pretty much lifetime too.
I should probably do plugs soon too, those were last changed around 70K (which is early according to Toyota), before I bought it.
The Car Care Nut (a Toyota tech who has a YT channel) has said that Toyota’s can be quite expensive to maintain if you follow the maint schedule, but they are very durable even if neglected.
No, but on either side of the spectrum.
Oil? Port injected cars in the fleet get changed at beyond the recommended interval DI cars; less than the recommended interval never over 5k mi; all have always run full synthetic in my care
Trans/Diff/Brakes? 9/10 times the manual says “no service needed” always drain and fill every 30-50k depending on how expensive the fluid is lol
Coolant? Whenever I feel like “its been a while” in fall
Oil? Absolutely…and not just the service interval, but the “heavy duty” service interval. I’ve eased up on that a bit since synthetic seems to be displacing conventional and even blends, but even then I don’t like to go beyond 5,000 mile intervals (or a year, in the case of the one that isn’t a regular commuter). I generally follow the regular intervals for other service, with the exception of the air filter, which may get replaced more often depending on driving conditions. Brakes and belts get inspected often and replaced as needed; I would need to double check, but I think these roughly line up with actual service intervals.
I always intend to change my oil sooner than the factory interval but in reality it usually doesn’t happen until the car is badgering me about it. Having a modern car that emails me when it needs something is both useful and annoying.
Haha, same. If I’m good I’ll do it a few hundred miles early, but I rarely get to it sooner than that.
My DD is a company car so it gets all service done at the dealership at the appropriate intervals. The fun cars get an oil change at least yearly.
Lawn tractor gets an oil change every 2 years, since I don’t put that many hours on it.
Rusty hatchback gets a new half-quart of oil every 500 miles, and an actual oil change once a year-ish. I’m not religious about it anymore. I used to be, which probably is part of why the engine is still in good shape.
New SUV got its first oil change at 5k miles, and honestly the oil came out pretty clean. I think hybrids might be easier on oil? I think it’s going to get an oil change every year or 7500 miles, whichever comes first.
For my daily, yes. But also it’s a ’12 and lacks all the dumb stuff that isn’t important (cabin filters?).
For the lookin’ at sports car that rests in the garage, no. And the farm truck that gets 2k miles/year on it… also no. I don’t care what the ‘oil life’ thing says I’m not leaving oil in an engine for YEARS just because some 1980s era GM tech says it’s OK.
BMW’s sure are good about reminding you about maintenance. Our 330e tells you on startup every time when your next service is due (even if it’s 12 months away.) And when service is due, it gets more vocal, and then the dealership starts calling me. I do my own oil changes on it (with the OEM recommended filter and oil from FCP Euro), at the 1 year interval (since we mostly drive it on electric). Recently I started getting physical mail from my dealer staying essentially, that I should really return to the premium service provided by the dealer. It’s nice that BMW actually provides app access to the car for life (or as they say, for as long as they can, since I’m sure it’s dependent on the sunset of 4g or something), but I know it’s mostly so they can watch the status of the car and allow the dealers to sell their services at the right time.
I sort of do, 10K kms on the book for motor oil, I do it at 8, 5 if its a workhorse that uses shit diesel & semi-synth oil
60K Kms on CVTF?? hell, 20K every time, AT, CVT IDGAF Im doing it at 20K
Diff oil in book is 100K kms, I do mine at 50Kz
Yes. I’ve probably missed a recommended cabin filter change or two, but yes I follow the prescribed maintenance. Any of the “lifetime” fluids I do a bit of research on and try to make an “informed” decision, which typically means I’ll replace it at some point in time even though the manual says it isn’t necessary.