BMW repair shops (Alexandria, Reston, Springfield: buy, inspection, taxi cab)

[RUSDC]

95 dollar oil change
What a rip off

[stp_fan]

Originally Posted by RUSDC

95 dollar oil change
What a rip off

Sorry buddy, but ~$100 is the going rate for an oil change these days. If you got time, the tools and the space - DIY, But I don't, unfortunately.

Or you could take your BMW to a gas station and have some dude who works on Hyundais do one for you...

[Huckleberry3911948]

dont know VA but for my bmw 540i buying the car was relatively easy, its getting an honest reasonable mechanic that was more difficult. he is far more important than the car. like diogenes you must take that lantern and look for an honest man.

[car54]

Originally Posted by stp_fan

...Or you could take your BMW to a gas station and have some dude who works on Hyundais do one for you...

Or even worse, you could take your car to Jiffy Lube and and have some dude that was mowing lawns or flipping burgers last week do one for you.

I change my own oil, but if I didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to drop a C note having it done somewhere that wouldn't strip out the oilpan...over or under fill the crankcase....put the engine oil in the transmisission, or in the windshield washer reservoir...etc.

[Carlingtonian]

BMWs use a proprietary synthetic oil. That means oil changes cost more, but you don't need to have one except for about every 7,000 miles.

[stp_fan]

Originally Posted by car54

Or even worse, you could take your car to Jiffy Lube and and have some dude that was mowing lawns or flipping burgers last week do one for you.

I change my own oil, but if I didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to drop a C note having it done somewhere that wouldn't strip out the oilpan...over or under fill the crankcase....put the engine oil in the transmisission, or in the windshield washer reservoir...etc.

Yup. I know it's not hard to do an oil change, but to do it correctly is important to me and an oil change can really break or make a BMW for you. I can really feel in the engine, much smoother, after an oil change, and I can usually tell when I need one, engine gets more sluggish. But I'm the type of person who goes on "drives" with my car, window down, and get great satisfaction of hearing the engine and feeling the ride...

[stp_fan]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

BMWs use a proprietary synthetic oil. That means oil changes cost more, but you don't need to have one except for about every 7,000 miles.

Indeed, but I'd recommend every 4-5k, not 7k.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by stp_fan

Indeed, but I'd recommend every 4-5k, not 7k.

And you know more than a BMW mechanic who owns his own shop? Because that's his advice. And BMW's.

[car54]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

And you know more than a BMW mechanic who owns his own shop? Because that's his advice. And BMW's.

They argue about oil change intervals all the time over on the automotive forum. I have always believed that the cleaner the oil, the better it is for an engine. Changing the oil sooner than recommended is certainly not harmful.

I'm a fanatic about the oil in my boat's engines and I change the oil far more often than the manual says. That is possibly why the engines have never been removed in 44 years and almost 14,000 hours! Just removing them would cost tens of thousands of dollars....huge holes have to cut through the (mahogany) cabin roof so a crane can lift them out.

Not to mention that 12 cylinder Detroit Diesels are VERY expensive and getting harder and harder to find....they haven't manufactured the "buzzin' dozen" Jimmies in many years. BTW, each engine holds 48 quarts....I buy it in five gallon buckets....FIVE of 'em for each oil change! I also send a sample of the old oil from each engine to the lab for analysis. Like a blood test, potentially BAD things can be detected early enough that corrective action can be taken. I wanna get at least another 10,000 hours out of my babies!

[RUSDC]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

BMWs use a proprietary synthetic oil. That means oil changes cost more, but you don't need to have one except for about every 7,000 miles.

Mobil 1 0w-40?
Castrol syntetic?