Going to change the oil, where are the jacking pts and oil drain?

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Originally Posted by JCL

That seems a narrow interpretation of BMWNA's bulletin.

IMO their specific wording is only because BMWNA can't understand why anyone would change the oil in between the required scheduled changes.

BMW has carefully worded their document to not encourage additional changes. That doesn't mean that such changes void the warranty, just that BMW can't see the logic in doing them, and would prefer that customers use the dealer for service. They are very careful not to require you to use the dealer for service.

An API SM oil is approved. If it is an SM oil from a major manufacturer in the correct viscosity, it is hard to imagine BMW denying warranty simply due to the type of oil.

But if you want to eliminate absolutely all risk, and believe that BMW is looking for opportunities to void warranty on major engine failures, by all means only use the dealer for service. .

There is a very specific reason they allow 'non-bmw oil' for top off: they would be required to provide free oil under moss-magnussen...even though they spec one BMW oil, they must allow for non-BMW oil for needed top offs outside of their (way too infrequent) CBS services.

Since they pay for CBS service, under MM they can require only BMW oil for that service- and they do.



I am ABSOLUTELY NOT saying 'use the dealer for service' for the interstitial services...just that they specify ONE oil to be used to fill the car, and that is THE oil I use under warranty.

It has nothing to do with API ratings or full-synthetics or 'good enough'...it is simply one of avoiding a hassle of something unrelated to oil causes an issue and BMW sends an oil sample off somewhere.

After the warranty? I do not use BMW oils, and there is a WORLD of great choices...and the last people I trust would be a BMW Marketing Brochure written by lawyers.

Finally, BMW has published and revised this document multiple times... to think that this is written the way it is becuase they are 'confused' or 'cannot understand why' people would do extra oil changes is not believable (IMO).. indeed, they clearly understand these issues and spell out the whole 'interstitial change' issue in other documents that discuss the limits of the CBS (condition based service) intervals.

This memo is frustratingly dumb and surprisingly restrictive...People can decide that BMW really doesn't mean what it says, but they should know what it says. Narrow? yes. But it says what it says.

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