oil change? before indicator is red?

[vivanov1]

i purchased an X5 with 54k miles. The oil indicator light is only 2 bars down (meaning i have a while until an oil change is necessary), should i do an oil change anyway to have a peace of mind and reset it?

i read on the forums you can change the oil but dont reset it?

also, im planning on using mobil 1 instead of BMW OEM, has nayone had issues with this?

Thanks

[Aimster]

I use whatever synthetic oil is the cheapest.

[mtX5]

change it if it gives you piece of mind, you got nothing to lose. i started changing mine much more frequently because of the 'winter cheese' i kept getting. many people say its normal, as well as the dealer, but i felt better knowing it wasn't soaking in my engine.

also, i feel more comfortable changing it in about half the recommended time now that i'm almost at 100k. gives me piece of mind.

so in the end, its all up to you.

[vivanov1]

ok i think i will then. do you reset the service interval after every oil change?

[mtX5]

nope.

[vivanov1]

ok so at what point do you reset it then?

sorry for the annoying questions, just confused about the whole service interval thing.

[motordavid]

Skip the reset, which will bring you up to "Insp ll", when you get down
to next Yellow Light. If/when you do Insp II or, oil change then, (in lieu of Insp II), you can reset it.

The Search Tab offers literally pages of good info threads on Oil, Oil Changes, Intervals, Oil Brands, etc.
Worth a read, imo.
GL,mD

[asawadude]

Cheap is not always good. You should use a synthetic that meets the BMW Long Life 01 specification.

That would include Castrol Syntec 0-30 (made in Germany, same as BMW OEM Synthetic) and Mobil 1 0W-40 which is the ONLY Mobil 1 oil that meets the LL01 requirement.

[vivanov1]

i have mobil 0-40 European car formula at home which i used for my audi TT. but i havent seen it say anywhere that i can use oils other than 5-30 and 5-40,

please let me know if mobile 1 0-40 is ok?

[JCL]

If the Mobil 1 oil you have is labelled API SL (OK) or API SM (Better) then it is fine to use.