Service Indicator/ Oil Change

[Dshain80]

OK so i have searched this site time and time again, but the search kicks out all the words i want to search for. If anyone has some insite as to these two topics , PLEASE HELP...! My vehicle is 2003 X5 3.0 124k

1. All of the service indicator posts/write ups i have found dont seem to work, For me.. Id like to know if there is any service due or over due. There is a 2 year gap in service records that i cant track down. 6/11 - present(my purchace)

2. I cant seem to find and posts on when you should change the oil and oil filter based on milage. and im not gonna do the 12k mile thing my 335i says.!

Thanks in advance. Please dont reply with " learn to search", " try again" , or anything to belittle me. I am a BMW enthusiest, just as you are(id hope) so treat me as you would hope to be treated.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by Dshain80

OK so i have searched this site time and time again, but the search kicks out all the words i want to search for. If anyone has some insite as to these two topics , PLEASE HELP...! My vehicle is 2003 X5 3.0 124k

1. All of the service indicator posts/write ups i have found dont seem to work, For me.. Id like to know if there is any service due or over due. There is a 2 year gap in service records that i cant track down. 6/11 - present(my purchace)
Since we don't know your car's history, and you didn't give any story of what you have done in terms of maintenance or repairs since 6-11, how can anyone predict 'maintenance'? A Maintenance II probably wouldn't hurt, but much of that is 'inspection', and any good BMW Indie can do a thorough inspection and make suggestions, for half the price of a dlr.

2. I cant seem to find and posts on when you should change the oil and oil filter based on milage. and im not gonna do the 12k mile thing my 335i says.!
Change your oil/filter now, either DIY or have it done. Many here suggest every 7500 miles/once a year. I think once a year is fine. Pages of Threads on that debate. I would also get brake fluid flushed and refilled. Maybe do the power steering, either turkey baster style or the more thorough method. Both described in posted threads. If coolant and related cooling system components are orig, or of unknown timeframe/miles you might consider doing belt, coolant rez, new coolant, etc.

Thanks in advance. Please dont reply with " learn to search", " try again" , or anything to belittle me. I am a BMW enthusiest, just as you are(id hope) so treat me as you would hope to be treated.

Everyone gets treated 'equally' here, or at least as equal as they deserve...did you look at the OnLine References Tab upper middle right of any page? It has your MY's owners manual with some good Maint info.
GL, mD

[pezho405]

I usuallyt do a change every 3-5k miles. more like 5 but basically before it gets to the last green or the yellow on the service indicator light.

[pezho405]

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...-schedule.html

[TerminatorX5]

no records for last 2 years = no service. treat it as such and establish a new baseline for your own peace of mind

[tmv]

I change oil and filter every 7.5k miles or 6 months (whichever comes first) Waiting for service indicator is too long. IIRC, the interval was set for 12k-15k miles. Even though it might be OK with LL-01 oil, that's the risk I'm not willing to take. Synthetic oil can still lubricate past 7.5k miles interval.
As for your X service record: you might have to look at the date on the parts to determine if and when they get replaced.

[pezho405]

Originally Posted by tmv

I change oil and filter every 7.5k miles or 6 months (whichever comes first) Waiting for service indicator is too long. IIRC, the interval was set for 12k-15k miles. Even though it might be OK with LL-01 oil, that's the risk I'm not willing to take. Synthetic oil can still lubricate past 7.5k miles interval.
As for your X service record: you might have to look at the date on the parts to determine if and when they get replaced.

The length of the Service indicator can be coded im pretty sure mine is less than that, I used Autologic. imay be wrong, but i remember doing something about the interval time

[TerminatorX5]

iirc, the interval indicator is going by thenumber of fuel consumed since the last reset.. i think, that number can be changed somewhere in the TEST 16 or 17... i'd leave it alone and just keep a reminder on a calendar

[Qsilver7]

Ditto What TX5 said above. You can pretty much get a good understanding of the "BMW recommended Oil Serv/Inspection" interval and what should be done by the link posted by pezho405 in post #4 which shows the old SIA I & SIA II schedules that were used when mileage & engine load were 2 of the main considerations for service intervals.

On your vehicle, BMW has gone to SIA III where the SI interval is determined by fuel consumption, which is different for each engine/model designation. The old "mileage" determination is still not far off from the "fuel consumption" determination if all things are "average". But if they are not, then you can have a shorter/longer interval depending on the individual driving habit/style you may have.

With all the above said, you can still use the SI display to indicate when you may want to do an OIL SERV/INSPECTION by using when the remaining amount of lights illuminated to determine when its "your" time. If the 12k-15k mileage interval is too long for your taste, then it can be assumed that each green light indicates approx 2.4K-3k miles. Or you can still look at it through the prism of fuel consumption and change the oil when 2~3 lights have gone off when you've consumed 40%-60% of the pre-determined fuel consumption for you model & engine.

Again, our vehicles now use SIA III which was introduced with the 1996 e38 7 series...and now is used on all BMW models:

[JCL]

Agree with the previous posts that if you don't know when it was done, you need to do a service to establish a baseline. Oil, filter, and full inspection.

Once you have done that, it is up to you whether you want to change oil and filter more often than the approximately 15,000 mile interval that your vehicle uses as a baseline (adjusted by fuel consumed). I tended to run to closer to 12,000 miles on my last 5 BMWs, but if they were easy highway miles I went to 20,000 to 24,000 km, which is close to 15,000 miles. No issues whatsoever. No oil consumption. I wouldn't push it much past 15k miles, but I see no reason to change it more often unless your vehicle is subjected to some type of severe service.

I have posted pictures on this site of an engine with 100,000 miles, torn down for inspection, after a lifetime of 15,000 mile oil changes. Looked great. The 3000 mile oil change was invented by the oil change industry as a revenue generator many years ago. Vehicles today run much cleaner (less contamination of the oil) and we can see this in oil sampling results. Also, consider that when your vehicle was designed the oil that was called for was from the '90s and isn't even available today. Today's API SM and SN oils are much better and provide additional cushion.

The 7500 mile interval was adopted by many because it permitted an additional change, while maintaining the 15,000 mile schedule for vehicles that were covered by prepaid maintenance. Since we are out of the prepaid maintenance period on these vehicles, I wouldn't use 7500 but bringing it down 20% or so in duration provides a nice safety factor beyond the original design targets.