Oil Change Necessary? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Oil Change Necessary?

You know it's not riding season when posts like these get so many replies.

I'll bite though. I changed my oil when winterized in November (like I always do). A friend wanted to hear it run (had never heard it) a couple weeks ago so I started it up. It'll sit until likely March but I won't be changing the oil now just because it was ran for 10min.

My car has every oil change service receipt for the past 11yrs with mileage on intervals of 9k (I'm changing it at 7k tomorrow because Valet parking left it idling for 40min at Christmas and oil looks darker than it usually does at this point).
 
Wow,,,I would love to know the name of this oil that can be run for that many kilometres,,,buddy i knew that worked for and sold Quaker state oil, said the most is 10,000 km, it starts to degrade and becomes useless..

BMW full synth. I dont know who makes it for them, some euroblender.

The mechanic says 18-20,000 or every yr, the service manager says the car will tell you (stop and go is harder??) and the service guide says 20,000

car came with a liter jug sealed in the trunk if you needed to top up oil in FlinFlon, was told under no circumstance put anything but BMW house brand full synth in it. Must be magic.
 
Wow,,,I would love to know the name of this oil that can be run for that many kilometres,,,buddy i knew that worked for and sold Quaker state oil, said the most is 10,000 km, it starts to degrade and becomes useless..

15,000+KM chance intervals is not uncommon anymore. At all.

Not surprisingly, those who work in the oil change industry would have you believe that it's insane.

I am a believer that the manufacturers, who are also the same people providing the warranty on that engine...would not knowingly suggest something that could drastically increase the chance that customers are going to start showing up en-masse with destroyed engines. So if they say 20,000KM between changes providing you use the the proper oil (typically full synthetic), follow their guidelines. Most cars also have oil life monitors now as well that indicate when they actually *need* an oil change vs when the oil changer guys want you to believe you need an oil change.

Draw your own conclusions.
 
15,000+KM chance intervals is not uncommon anymore. At all.

Not surprisingly, those who work in the oil change industry would have you believe that it's insane.

I am a believer that the manufacturers, who are also the same people providing the warranty on that engine...would not knowingly suggest something that could drastically increase the chance that customers are going to start showing up en-masse with destroyed engines. So if they say 20,000KM between changes providing you use the the proper oil (typically full synthetic), follow their guidelines. Most cars also have oil life monitors now as well that indicate when they actually *need* an oil change vs when the oil changer guys want you to believe you need an oil change.

Draw your own conclusions.

The cynic in me says manufacturers only really care about the first ~80K while it is in warranty. If changing the oil every 5000 km extended the expected life from 250K to 400K do you think manufacturers would recommend the shorter change interval? It is in their best interest to advertise low cost of ownership and at the same time create more sales as vehicles fail in a reasonable but not outstanding timeframe.

Hell, on super-expensive luxo-cruisers (like the S600 for instance) that have no used value as nobody can afford to maintain them, I could see manufacturers putting in "lifetime" (ie. three year) oil. At that point, they will be traded in for almost nothing and replaced with the newest and best.
 
I find it hard to believe any manual will tell you to change oil every 20,000 km. Synthetic oil is to be changed every 7,500-10,000 miles(16,000 km). Even this figure is pushing it, why risk the internals for a measly $60?

OT: New oil is always better than old oil, use common sense, seasons changing dont affect the condition of the oil.
 
Chris you are correct, I actually went and looked in the manual , it says 15,000.km , I agree even that seems a lot. Thats the 'toy' car. US car, manual is in miles not kms.

The other BMW she just bought M2 2018 is 10,000km. in the book. Looks like BMW shortened the interval. Wonder if it was service related or cash flow related.

Sadly BMW service oil change is never $60, thats the optional latte refill.
 
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Chris you are correct, I actually went and looked in the manual , it says 15,000.km , I agree even that seems a lot. Thats the 'toy' car. US car, manual is in miles not kms.

The other BMW she just bought M2 2018 is 10,000km. in the book. Looks like BMW shortened the interval. Wonder if it was service related or cash flow related.

Sadly BMW service oil change is never $60, thats the optional latte refill.

Lots of German luxury brand models are saying 15k intervals now. The M2 likely has a shortened internal due to the performance nature of the engine, i suspect if we look up the other one's it will be in line.

Do the oil change yourself, save some bucks!
 
Lots of German luxury brand models are saying 15k intervals now. The M2 likely has a shortened internal due to the performance nature of the engine, i suspect if we look up the other one's it will be in line.

Do the oil change yourself, save some bucks!

I have a Mercedes c-class and try and change the oil every 8-10,000 km. Doing the oil change myself costs more than having my mechanic do it for me.
 
I have a Mercedes c-class and try and change the oil every 8-10,000 km. Doing the oil change myself costs more than having my mechanic do it for me.

Are you the exception or the rule?
 
Well if you can't figure it out..

Anyways,

I buy filters and oil on sale and in bulk, the shops don't come close to what i save.
 
Well if you can't figure it out..

Anyways,

I buy filters and oil on sale and in bulk, the shops don't come close to what i save.

It depends on the car. If you have to use manufacturer specific oil (I know VW has their own spec, I assume others do as well), often the savings may not be there. The mechanic gets a better price on the oil which offsets what they charge you for time. If your car is happy with generic oil, I agree with you (speaking of which Crappy tire is having a clearance sale on mobil 1 for ~$5/L).
 
I have a Mercedes c-class and try and change the oil every 8-10,000 km. Doing the oil change myself costs more than having my mechanic do it for me.

Are you the exception or the rule?

Not sure where you are getting at. Calculate the cost of 8qt of 5w-30, oil filter, and 30 minutes, then you have your answer.

There is no way your mechanic can do it cheaper than if you did it yourself....

If your mechanic is not at a Mercedes dealership than yes he would be cheaper, but still not cheaper than you doing it...

We do our own oil changes on the Mercedes, nothing too it, get the vacuum pump thingy from Princess Auto, suck out all the oil, get filter from dealer, install it yourself, as it's top mounted, get oil from wherever it's cheapest add the recommended amount and your done in about 30 minutes, heck you won't even get dirty.....

.
 
I hear good things about Amsoil. The guy I picked my last bike up from was an Amsoil Engineer, and told me how he tested the life of all the oil that he personally used. He has 2 cars in his driveway, both over 500k each. Crazy part was, he said he did oil changes every 50,000km or less on them, and he still tested over 50% life left in the oil. He put amsoil full synthetic in the bike when I picked it up, after 8k or riding, I did an oil change and its still came out golden, like new.
 
I hear good things about Amsoil. The guy I picked my last bike up from was an Amsoil Engineer, and told me how he tested the life of all the oil that he personally used. He has 2 cars in his driveway, both over 500k each. Crazy part was, he said he did oil changes every 50,000km or less on them, and he still tested over 50% life left in the oil. He put amsoil full synthetic in the bike when I picked it up, after 8k or riding, I did an oil change and its still came out golden, like new.

Depending on how often he tested the oil, for a person without free access to a lab, they would spend more on testing their oil than just dumping it and starting again. With change intervals that long, it's hard to compare the usage cycle from one interval to the next and predict when a change will be required.
 
sampling regimen with 2 units is not going to give any useful trending
need a larger fleet and time to get reliable data to make maintenance decisions

and GG is right, with a long interval like that
you could have something critical breaking down and not know about it

and the discoloration has nothing to do with the oil
it's dependent on use and condition of the engine

advantage of synth is that it needs less of a polymer package
base oil is more stable and doesn't shear down over time like dyno oil

it's questionable whether synth has any advantage in a bike
engine tech is generally lagging far behind that of cars
so the oil gets hydrocarboned up long before shear down is a problem
and you need to get it out of there

oil threads are awesome
 
I hear good things about Amsoil. The guy I picked my last bike up from was an Amsoil Engineer, and told me how he tested the life of all the oil that he personally used. He has 2 cars in his driveway, both over 500k each. Crazy part was, he said he did oil changes every 50,000km or less on them, and he still tested over 50% life left in the oil. He put amsoil full synthetic in the bike when I picked it up, after 8k or riding, I did an oil change and its still came out golden, like new.

I'm sure he puts the used Amsoil on his pancakes too
 

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