oil change confusion

[Tyler Lynch]

Hi there,

College student here, just bought a 318ti and am so confused on maintenance lights under the speedometer. I do not have the owners manual, is there a place I can located a diagram that explains what they mean and how they work? I am unsure if I need an oil change or not.....

Confused :?

Tyler

[GDB]

There is a little bar that shows the status of your oil. If it is green then you're fine, orange means that the oil change is due, and red means that it's past due.

[brucelee]

Change the oil and filter anyway. You then know when it was changed and that you used a quality oil. You are using Mobil 1, right?

[yeehawbob]

Like Brucelee said change the oil and the oil filter and make a note of the milage.
The lights go off 1 by 1 as the milage increases, BUT the thing to notice is that BMW recommends changing the oil at 8000 miles interval, so the lights go off slowly.
You should change the oil at 3000 miles. Try to get a reset tool as well so that you can easily reset the lights when you change the oil.
Make sure that you put 90+ octane gas.

Good Luck! and welcome to the board!!!

[bimmerboi318]

I think the lights go out depending on how you drive actually. For me they usually go out around 5k miles. I'd recommend changing the oil sooner than 5k miles, no matter what the oil can withstand. Sure, alot of synthetics can last 8k-10k miles or maybe MORE. But your oil filter still loads up at the same rate. Just my suggestion.

[Billan]

Service Lights Explained:

http://www.peakeresearch.com/silights.htm

[brucelee]

I use Mobil 1 and change oil and filter every 5 thousand miles. Seems like that will work fine unless you are always hammering the car or don't drive it much.

[1996 328ti]

My regiment is now oil (Mobil 1) every oil service and filter only at 1/2 intervals.
If I was noting the mileage it would be ~9000 miles for oil, ~4500 miles for oil filter.

[Tyler Lynch]

Thanks for all the information! I appreciate it very much. Don't know what oil I use because I just bought it and have not had an oil change, however I will take everyone's input!

[aceyx]

you can also reset the lights yourself (if you're doing your own oil changes) with $0.05 of wire: http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/electrical/e36_reset_service_lights.html

remember that every other oil change requires an inspection, which is all stuff you can do yourself as well.


Steve -- do you notice a difference in the oil coming out? i.e. darker than normal, thick or runny?

that would make my life so much easier if i didn't have to put it on the ramps every other month.

[1996 328ti]

I don't find the oil any different. Synthetic is designed to run longer.
If the engine was warm it comes out pretty quick.
I changed the oil in the Mini and the engine was cold.
The oil came out slower.

The important this is to change the filter.

[aceyx]

i'm gonna give it a shot then.