how often does everyone change their synthetic oil?????

[tim s]

i am switching over to castrol in my 1995 540i/a, my mech. recommended 10w40 @ 7500mi intervals. should i change it more often than that??? should i change it @ 3000mi. for the first change only??? should i change the filter half way between changes??? this is the first time i am using synthetics.
thanks
tim s.

[ryan roopnarine]

why not the mobil 1 0w40 ? which brand of 10w40 synthetic are you thinking of using? (are you changing it yourself?). I notice that i can't go more than 6900 or 7k miles in my m50 before i notice a marked breakdown (IE unexplainable improvement in fuel economy). As a result, i try to stay under 7k.

i am switching over to castrol in my 1995 540i/a, my mech. recommended 10w40 @ 7500mi intervals. should i change it more often than that??? should i change it @ 3000mi. for the first change only??? should i change the filter half way between changes??? this is the first time i am using synthetics.
thanks
tim s.

[tim s]

my mech. lets me use his lift to service my car.
thanks
tim s.

[Russell]

I switched to Mobil 1 15w50/filter and drove about 4,500 miles. The oil seemed very dirty. Changed with Mobil 1 15w50/filter and now have almost 3,000 miles this time. The oil seems much cleaner this time. I suspect a lot of varnish etc is being flushed out of the engine wit first time use of synthetic oil. I wish I did the first change earlier. I think gunk it is still being flushed out.

I plan to change to Mobil 1 0w40/filter next week or so. I think I will drive about 4,000 or so before I change again. Even then I am not sure if I am wasting money by changing it so soon. BTW, I do my own oil change.

My experience to date.

i am switching over to castrol, my mech. recommended 10w40 @ 7500mi intervals. should i change it more often than that??? should i change it @ 3000mi. for the first change only??? should i change the filter half way between changes??? this is the first time i am using synthetics.
thanks
tim s.

[kuly 95 540]

i am switching over to castrol in my 1995 540i/a, my mech. recommended 10w40 @ 7500mi intervals. should i change it more often than that??? should i change it @ 3000mi. for the first change only??? should i change the filter half way between changes??? this is the first time i am using synthetics.
thanks
tim s.

[ryan roopnarine]

if you are going to use a castrol product to service your car, make sure that it says "made in germany" on the back, as the US/canad/mex version are less synthetic by content than the german...do you live somewhere warm? I've wanted to try the castrol 0w30 as its kinematic viscosity is very close to making it a 40 weight, but i have to economize right now and am using conventional 10-40. you may be able to get grades other than 0w30 in the german version, but this is likely the one you'd be able to walk into autozone and (find) as the other grades seem to usually be american stuff. the mobil 1 5w40 (or mobil1 suv) or 0w40 would be good choices too.

ps. i don't know if bmw's oil is made by castrol any more, bill r would. SOME oil was discontinued for implementation by bmw a short time ago.

my mech. lets me use his lift to service my car.
thanks
tim s.

[scott540]

mOBIL 1 0w40. Every April and October which comes out to about every 3-4000 miles

[ryan roopnarine]

that's kinda early to be changing it. if you go over to www.bobistheoilguy.com, in their used oil analysis section, you'll see that 7000-8000 miles is where most synthetics in gas engines start to irreperably break down unless somebody changes the oil filter or tops the oil off. at about 68-6900 my m50 would start to get 33 mpg at 65-70, whereas before it would be only about 31.5-32 or so, so my experience seems to concur with their analysis results.

I switched to Mobil 1 15w50/filter and drove about 4,500 miles. The oil seemed very dirty. Changed with Mobil 1 15w50/filter and now have almost 3,000 miles this time. The oil seems much cleaner this time. I suspect a lot of varnish etc is being flushed out of the engine wit first time use of synthetic oil. I wish I did the first change earlier. I think gunk it is still being flushed out.

I plan to change to Mobil 1 0w40/filter next week or so. I think I will drive about 4,000 or so before I change again. Even then I am not sure if I am wasting money by changing it so soon. BTW, I do my own oil change.

My experience to date.

[Russell]

I want to flush as much gunk out as possible then go to longer oil/filter change . Also, I want to see if the 0w40 is as good a people say.

that's kinda early to be changing it. if you go over to www.bobistheoilguy.com, in their used oil analysis section, you'll see that 7000-8000 miles is where most synthetics in gas engines start to irreperably break down unless somebody changes the oil filter or tops the oil off. at about 68-6900 my m50 would start to get 33 mpg at 65-70, whereas before it would be only about 31.5-32 or so, so my experience seems to concur with their analysis results.

[Dick Schneiders]

Twice a year, without regard to mileage, seems much easier for me to keep track of. Our mileage is about 10,000 miles a year for both of the cars, so that works out to around 5,000 miles per oil change.

I also am, now, using the Mobil One 0w40 in my cars.

mOBIL 1 0w40. Every April and October which comes out to about every 3-4000 miles