Service interval lights

[FlipperMan]

I know that the service intervals are dependant on how you drive the car, how dusty the environment is etc but has anyone done any analysis on how the service interval lights are split, percentage wise ? I fully accept that the figures would be screwed if you drove the car 'carefully' for a month and then thrashed it for a month but I suspect the split between the lights ie the weighting, would broadly stay the same.

Is it equal or is there a weighting applied ie duration of first default to longer periods (give a little solace to the customer whose just had a service and doesn't want/expect to see a light disappear in the first month).

Reason for asking ? - I'm about to invoke 'voluntary termination' of my BMW finance contract, having paid over half of what I owe. I've got one light left lit, then I'll have 'service due' but if I hit 'overdue' before it goes back - ill get hit for the service bill - which was the catalyst for changing the arp car in the first place.

Any ideas ?

[Sanj]

Green bars last 'about' 3,000 miles, so you need to gauge that last bar with what mileage you think you've already covered....

Plus or minus that figure based on environment, short hauls, driving experience!

[X5Sport]

I certainly found that mine changed approx every 3,000 miles. I did read somewhere (but now can't find) that it's actually monitoring the amount of fuel being used. It kinda makes sense as the harder you drive, the more fuel you'll use and the faster your maintenance point are needed. No doubt someone will be along (won't you Sanj ) to tell us how to find the data in one of the 'secret codes' in the OBD.

Not having '53 any more ( ) means I can't check for you.

[Sanj]

LOL! Not me - ask Jig. On second thoughts don't he may not REALLY have an X5 to test it on!

[FlipperMan]

Thanks for quick response ! 3k sounds about right. Can I expect 3k between 'service due' and 'overdue' do you think ?

[Sanj]

The amber bar? Yes. But based on driving style still (I think).

[AW8]

I have never allowed mine to go to red so no idea how many miles between that & first amber illumination.

A more definitive answer may come from someone who has turned to red & been bothered enough to record the mileage from amber illumination, albeit I suspect many who run to red might not always pay attention to mileage detail.

[jaynana]

[quote=""AW8""]I have never allowed mine to go to red so no idea how many miles between that & first amber illumination.

A more definitive answer may come from someone who has turned to red & been bothered enough to record the mileage from amber illumination, albeit I suspect many who run to red might not always pay attention to mileage detail.[/quote]

guys i have a clarification - on good practices

is it good practice to service every 10 to 12k miles, and not wait for all the green boxes to go off and turn amber/red?

with my previous bmw (3 seriese) i've always serviced when the car told me to, but that that wasn't turbo powered.

my regular mechanic (who's ex-bmw) told me given that this car is turbo powered and cos our cars are now slightly old (mine's 04 reg) a good practice is to not wait till the car tells u that it needs a service, but to do it every 10 to 12k miles.

his reasoning was that the turbo fan's bearing was lubricated by engine oil. and good engine oil was very important for the good health of the turbo fan's bearing.

so..

do you guys service when the green boxes go and amber/red boxes appear, or do you service every 10 to 12k miles?

j

[X5Sport]

On the warning lights - but as soon as possible after the Amber came on. As I had and still have BMW Service Packs any services wanted outside the OEM pattern needed paying for. I can see where your mechanic contact is coming from, but I think that as long as you use the right oils you should be OK. On all my cars I always get the original oil & filters replaced at 1,200 miles on the new engines (to clear any swarf etc). The oil & filters are changed but the service interval is not reset.

It's been a while since I bought a second hand car (1993) and every car since has used synthetic oils and I have followed the manufacturer's guidance. I did however ask my Dealer recently about changing the oil in the X6 as that has only done 6,000 miles in 14 months. They told me it was not necessary with synthetic oil, but in any event there is a two year clock on the coolant and brake fluid, and if the mileage was still below the normal 19,000 limit for a change at two years, they would do it anyway on a time rather than useage basis

The real killer for turbo centre bearings, apart from use of incorrect oils, is where drivers fail to warm the engine up a little before using the full power range, and worse still switch off the engine straight after a high speed, or high engine speed (in a lower gear around town for example), run so not allowing the very hot turbo to cool a bit before cutting off its oil supply. Cooked oil does far more damage. Mechanical awareness and driving sympathetically for the first and last couple of minutes can make a big difference. IMHO of course.

Turbo failures are not that common on these cars - you're far more likely to suffer an auto failure than a turbo failure.

On my earlier generations of cars I changed the oil etc at the right service point, or 12 month intervals depending upon which came first. These were all higher mileage, non-synthetic equipped cars, and whilst I don't disagree with what you suggest (the engineer in me says clean oil is always better than dirty), I would just ask anyone as to whether modern synthetic oils suffer the same deterioration and performance degradation as the non-synthetics do/did?

[jaynana]

Thanks for that, i do drive a bit chilled out, sympathetically till the temp rises above the 'blue' range after a cold start and also if i drive fast eg. motorway, i let the engine relax a bit before knocking it off, to allow the turbo to cool off a bit. this is best practice from my past experience with turbos.

on mileage i do much less than 12k/year more like 6 or 7k miles/year (mostly weekend running and ferrying kids to classes week days, i don't go to work in the car as i cycle, plus the occasional holiday). so i guess it would be the annual service at much less mileage for me, which is while the service lights are still green.