The_Titanium_Knob_Man

I have an option to buy a 3-series 318 SE 03 reg, it was registered in March 2003 and has had one service in Oct 2004. Apparently this is because of BMW's condition-based servicing where the car tells the owner when it needs to go into the garage. I have seen this mentioned on the BMW website and just wondered if anyone has any first hand experience of this ?

18 months seems like a long time.

Richard_P

Ye probably should of changed the oil in that time you'd think.

As for the servicing yes a bmw has lights when you first start it up and these tell you when to service it. In mine it worked out about 10,000 miles I think. I'm not sure what factors it takes into account when working out how quickly the lights disappear, a dealer (not bmw) told me it takes into account engine revs, distance and running time.

It could be this car hadn't been driven that much in the 18 months, whats the mileage?

Rich

The_Titanium_Knob_Man

Thanks for the reply!

Its done 19500 miles now, I think it is ok becos looking on some other sites it is using CBS and it actually says in words on the dash what it needs doing. It appears the oil is monitored and they recommend low mileage car drivers have it changed after 2 years if it hasn't told you beforehand.

clarence

I have an old 740iA (1993 E32 model) which I very rarely drive. I do not follow the service indicators, & as a precaution I have the car serviced once every year.

brybusa

the newer cars dont have these service lights, they do however have a mileage count down to service which shows on the dash

My brothers e46 330coupe had its first service @ 12,000miles and after 15 months of ownership , which does seem a long time but thats as per BMW servicing schedule

russell hayward

15,000 miles is the average on a petrol, although this will be less depending on driving conditions

Measured by the amount of fuel going through the engine, so if more cold starts or "hard" driving then interval will reduce.

MattOz

TTKM,

The car will let you know when it's time for a service! My 330d had its first service at just under 20k miles and has now done 29k miles. I'm still over 10k miles away from my 2nd service. With the mileage I do I tend to need a service once every 12 months or so. BMW told me that if the car goes for 24 months without "asking" for a service it's best to change the oil anyway.

Matt

Shark Man

Current 3 series DO Not have serivce lights (only the older models have them). It has a mileage countdown instead. It basically tells you how many miles til the next service is due, and what service is required. There is a seperate indicator for the brake fluid (every 2 years)

Ours had done 14000miles and 18months before needing its first service. Just had the second one at 24000 at 32months

It's kinda hard to get your head round these massive service intervals.

But the car does use BMW's own spec synthetic oils - (Castrol SLX 0-30w synthetic in this case). So oil change intervals can be a hell of alot longer when compared to cars that only specify semi-synthetic oils (Subarus etc ).


It has been said on a few forums that if you want to keep the car for a long time (say 8+ years and run it over 100K miles) It maybe wise to change the oil at 12months 12K regardless. And if itsand auto, change the ATF every 5 years/50K as the box is supposed to be "sealed for life" so the ATF never gets changed, but if you don't want a plan a rebuild at 120-150K miles it's wise to change it.

The_Titanium_Knob_Man

Thanks guys for the replies, I was confident if anyone knows... u guys know!