> The "reason" for that 15,000 mile oil change interval may well be that they
> wanted to limit dealer costs during whatever period oil changes are "free".
> That would be balanced against some majority of the engines lasting until
> outside the warranty period, which is rarely over 100,000 miles ... whether
> an engine will last 200,000 or 300,000 miles is rarely a factor for a car
> maker.
We have a couple cars that have the oil-interval counter. One ticks
over at about 9000 miles, the other (an '00 M5) will go 12-14K miles
between oil changes.
In general, I change the oil once in between the built-in counter's
indication. The M5 is one of the easiest oil changes I've ever done in
my life.
As long as you don't tear one of the silly little bonded-rubber oil
filter canister mounts that seem to break every third oil change.
Every time I order oil filters from Pacific BMW I order up a few mounts
too.
John.
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