2004 X5 4.4 85K white smoke

[dustin8192]

What's the best place to get the TIS manual? I see a ton of places selling it, but they look rather shady. I found it online at: BMW TIS Online • 5' E53 • X5 4.4i (N62) Offroad but it doesn't look like the whole thing. I've heard the Bentley manual is okay for things not engine-related, since the N62 isn't addressed in the Bentley.
Doing searches in the forum for TIS didn't help.

[IanP]

Bought mine as a CD from E Bay, looks about the same as the online version. It isnt quite as detailed as say a Haynes, you have to fill in between the lines yourself

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by manfrmbklyn23

Sludge build up?? That's new to me. Ok I'll look it up, thanks! Yeah yako it sucks but, your right. Gotta move on.

That's what happens when you follow the BMW oil change of 15,000 miles between oil changes.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by upallnight

That's what happens when you follow the BMW oil change of 15,000 miles between oil changes.

Those of us who routinely go 24,000 km/15,000 miles, or close to it, with no oil consumption, no accelerated engine wear, and no sky falling on us, on multiple vehicles over many years, disagree with you. If your driving qualifies as extreme service, or if the vehicle is abused with short trips and never running it properly as it was designed to be, then more frequent oil changes can be a good idea. But there is nothing wrong with the CBS for the vast majority of owners.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by JCL

Those of us who routinely go 24,000 km/15,000 miles, or close to it, with no oil consumption, no accelerated engine wear, and no sky falling on us, on multiple vehicles over many years, disagree with you. If your driving qualifies as extreme service, or if the vehicle is abused with short trips and never running it properly as it was designed to be, then more frequent oil changes can be a good idea. But there is nothing wrong with the CBS for the vast majority of owners.

You can disagree with me all you want. I see from other posts that you disagree with a lot of other people on this forum.

I'm not the only one that don't believe in the 15,000 mile oil change.

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...ion-101-a.html

Engine Sludge - YouTube

If you brought your X to a dealer to have it service under the free maintenance warranty they will not ask you if you drive in sever conditions, they will just look at the odometer or oil service indicator and tell you that you are not due for an oil change. You can tell them that you do a lot of short trip and they will tell you that if you want the oil change it will cost you x amount of dollars because according to the odometer and oil lights you are not due for an oil change.

I believe if you did a research as to where most Xs are sold, it would be in an urban area since most BMW dealerships are located in an urban area. Just like most pickup trucks are sold in rural area. Since most X's are sold in urban area, it would be safe to assume that they encounter urban traffic (stop and go and travel under 1 hours and under 20 miles. Driving to the grocery store or dropping off the kids at school is not what I would call abusing the car.

The X was designed by BMW as a Sport Activity Vehicle. I use it for towing my boat and jetski and for hauling the bikes for the family as well as the skis and snowboards. So yes we use it for a lot of "Sport" activities.

However, having own multiple vehicles myself, including exotic cars such as Lotus and Porsche I'm a firm believer in preventive maintenance.

[JCL]

I didn't say you shouldn't do additional oil changes if you want to. I just said that following the CBS, for the majority of owners, doesn't result in oil sludge. That Toyota video is referring to a well known engine design problem, not to an oil change interval problem. BMW engines certainly form a condensate paste when not warmed up sufficiently, but that is different than oil sludge.

I remember withidl's posts well. Great respect. But do you also follow his practice of changing the oil filter only every second oil change?

My last five BMWs were all driven in urban conditions. No issues, except with a 318i that tended to form condensate paste if not given a good highway run every now and then. Small engine, more fuel efficient, thus less heat. Short trips are fine. It is when they are the only trips that it is a problem.