What is the general consensus for oil change intervals?

[SE7EN335]

Hi all, what is the general consensus for oil change intervals for the S55 engine based on the following scenarios?

1. Stock Tune
2. Stage 1 Tune running on pump gas
3. Stage 2 Tune with full bolt ons running on pump gas
4. Custom E85 Tune with full bolt ons
5. Custom E85 Tune with full bolt ons, upgraded turbos, upgraded fuel system (PI or meth) and built motor

All these conditions would be based on daily driving with occasional to moderate spirited driving.

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

Honestly if your stock and your car sits around a lot than 1 year is fine.

If you are going to make your car a race car the least you can do is change the oil every 5k or 6 months

[fackamato]

Oil is cheap, I do mine every 5k miles / 6 months regardless.

Now if I went to 4 track weekends in a row then yeah, might change it again.

[SYT_Shadow]

never more than 1/2 of what BMW recommends if you plan on keeping the car

[Remonster]

1. Stock Tune - 10,000 miles
2. Stage 1 Tune running on pump gas - 7,500 miles
3. Stage 2 Tune with full bolt ons running on pump gas - 7,500 miles
4. Custom E85 Tune with full bolt ons - 3,000 miles
5. Custom E85 Tune with full bolt ons, upgraded turbos, upgraded fuel system (PI or meth) and built motor - 3,000 miles

A really high quality oil that meets or exceeds BMW LL-01 / LL-04 does 10,000 street miles in the S55 no problem. I personally like Torco SR-5 based on my experience at my shop but there are plenty of other great options. If it meets / exceeds BMW LongLife standards, it works well for 10,000 miles in a stock motor. Any more than that is starting to ask for trouble once you get to higher mileages and you really don't want to be using your oil filter for any more than 10k miles because once it starts getting filled with junk, it'll go into bypass operation which means the oil is simply not being filtered anymore. If you prefer to change it more often then this, it's certainly not a bad idea but 10,000 miles / 1 year is the longest I would personally go.

I've seen enough used oil analysis results before and after cars get a stage 1 or 2 tune to now that you do see slightly elevated quantities of wear metals show up after the tune so it's a good idea to drop the oil change interval slightly but you don't need to go crazy. One of the reasons I've been happy with the SR-5 is it handles tuned cars just fine without cutting down the oil interval.

Once you introduce E85 into the equation, you should pay attention to oil selection. Some oils do a LOT better than others in the presence of Ethanol dilution. You do not want to use an oil with a lot of ester in it in cars spraying E85 so no Torco SR-5R (the last R is important here), no Motul 300v, etc. I've found that Group 3 and Group 4 synthetic oils work best on cars running E85 and no matter what oil you use, it's good practice to change it at 3,000 miles. This is another reason why a Group 3 synthetic is great, you're throwing away less expensive oil every 3,000 miles.

If you use Ethanol often and your oil starts to look milky, it's a good sign that it should either be changed more frequently or replaced with something else. (and obviously check your coolant and make sure you see no signs of oil / coolant intermix because that is a whole different problem ) If you use the typical oils that you can buy in a store this won't be an issue you have to worry about because you aren't going to find a high ester content in anything being sold below at least $15/quart.

[aerostar]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

never more than 1/2 of what BMW recommends if you plan on keeping the car

Why?

Do you know something the BMW engineers don't know?

[andrei.m4]

Originally Posted by aerostar

Why?

Do you know something the BMW engineers don't know?

Yes, if you don't change the car with a new one after warranty expires change more frecvent your oil. I do mine at 10.000km.

[agentrnge]

Curious if there are any 150k-200k mile semi modern BMWs that have followed 10 or 15k mile OCIs around without issue.

[MrSmartyPants]

Originally Posted by agentrnge

Curious if there are any 150k-200k mile semi modern BMWs that have followed 10 or 15k mile OCIs around without issue.

My local German Indy advised me to run 5k intervals if I was keeping the car long term. He's noted significant buildup in cars that run the longer 10k+ intervals. And no, he doesn't do my oil changes.

[N1rve]

For stock, I would go 12 months or 10K miles whichever comes first.

[tomlong]

My 2 recommendations that cover all stages mentioned:

3k miles if using the more common and less expensive motor oils (Mobil 1, Castro, etc.)

5k miles on premium motor oils (Redline, etc.) BUT change the oil filter twice during interval, so only change the filter at 2,500 miles and obviously at 5,000 miles.

I drive my F80 a lot (30k miles on the car in 6-months) and also drive it hard, which means lots of oil changes. Sometimes I do both options, out of timing and necessity, since there is lead time from buying the Redline Motor Oil online.

I also run 5w-50, not the BMW recommended 0-30w.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by tomlong

My 2 recommendations that cover all stages mentioned:

3k miles if using the more common and less expensive motor oils (Mobil 1, Castro, etc.)

5k miles on premium motor oils (Redline, etc.) BUT change the oil filter twice during interval, so only change the filter at 2,500 miles and obviously at 5,000 miles.

I drive my F80 a lot (30k miles on the car in 6-months) and also drive it hard, which means lots of oil changes. Sometimes I do both options, out of timing and necessity, since there is lead time from buying the Redline Motor Oil online.

I also run 5w-50, not the BMW recommended 0-30w.

No offense but I wouldn't consider red line a premium oil nor would I change the oil nearly as frequently as you recommend. Also, the filter and oil should be changed together. No point in changing one without the other.

2,500mi intervals is extreme even for conventional oil let alone synthetic.

Why are you running 5w50? If you are using red line, which tends to be on the heavier side, then that is wayyyyy heavier than what is recommended.

[rborane]

Agree with that ^^.

I do every 5k miles with liqui-Moly 5w30 or 5w40. Keep it simple and don't over complicate it.

[SCS55]

Did you mean "5W40"?

[SE7EN335]

Originally Posted by Remonster

1. Stock Tune - 10,000 miles
2. Stage 1 Tune running on pump gas - 7,500 miles
3. Stage 2 Tune with full bolt ons running on pump gas - 7,500 miles
4. Custom E85 Tune with full bolt ons - 3,000 miles
5. Custom E85 Tune with full bolt ons, upgraded turbos, upgraded fuel system (PI or meth) and built motor - 3,000 miles

A really high quality oil that meets or exceeds BMW LL-01 / LL-04 does 10,000 street miles in the S55 no problem. I personally like Torco SR-5 based on my experience at my shop but there are plenty of other great options. If it meets / exceeds BMW LongLife standards, it works well for 10,000 miles in a stock motor. Any more than that is starting to ask for trouble once you get to higher mileages and you really don't want to be using your oil filter for any more than 10k miles because once it starts getting filled with junk, it'll go into bypass operation which means the oil is simply not being filtered anymore. If you prefer to change it more often then this, it's certainly not a bad idea but 10,000 miles / 1 year is the longest I would personally go.

I've seen enough used oil analysis results before and after cars get a stage 1 or 2 tune to now that you do see slightly elevated quantities of wear metals show up after the tune so it's a good idea to drop the oil change interval slightly but you don't need to go crazy. One of the reasons I've been happy with the SR-5 is it handles tuned cars just fine without cutting down the oil interval.

Once you introduce E85 into the equation, you should pay attention to oil selection. Some oils do a LOT better than others in the presence of Ethanol dilution. You do not want to use an oil with a lot of ester in it in cars spraying E85 so no Torco SR-5R (the last R is important here), no Motul 300v, etc. I've found that Group 3 and Group 4 synthetic oils work best on cars running E85 and no matter what oil you use, it's good practice to change it at 3,000 miles. This is another reason why a Group 3 synthetic is great, you're throwing away less expensive oil every 3,000 miles.

If you use Ethanol often and your oil starts to look milky, it's a good sign that it should either be changed more frequently or replaced with something else. (and obviously check your coolant and make sure you see no signs of oil / coolant intermix because that is a whole different problem ) If you use the typical oils that you can buy in a store this won't be an issue you have to worry about because you aren't going to find a high ester content in anything being sold below at least $15/quart.

Thanks for the comprehensive explanation! I beg to slightly differ on the interval changes. I agree with you on the stock tune interval but the stage 1 and 2 should really be 5000 miles maximum. I would say the E85 tune would be another halved if not more around 2000 miles.

I remember when I had my 335i which was FBO and running on e60 with a stage 2 LPFP upgrade. I would change the oil at 5k kms intervals changes with Castrol Edge 5w40 (crappy oil IMO) and the oil would reek of the E85 smell. When I switched to 3k kms intervals changes on the Castrol 5w40, the e85 smell from the old oil was not as bad. When I switched to 5k kms intervals on Redline 0w40, it didn't have any noticeable smell of E85 when I changed it. I think full ester oil like Redline would be able to handle the effects of E85 better than Group III synthetics like Castrol.

The Redline oil cooling capacity is phenomenal though! Ive used it in my M3 as well and its cooling is just so good! The only downside is it takes quite longer to warm up to operating temperature than other Group III/Group IV synthetic mixes like Castrol, Valvoline, Pennzoil etc etc.

[tomlong]

A renown M5 engine builder recommended 5w50 and 2x oil filter change. My car pulls hard at 63k miles with no issues and sees over 100mph everyday. I'm not a professional and would advise that you ignore everything I said.

[SE7EN335]

Originally Posted by tomlong

A renown M5 engine builder recommended 5w50 and 2x oil filter change. My car pulls hard at 63k miles with no issues and sees over 100mph everyday. I'm not a professional and would advise that you ignore everything I said.

Lol TroyJeup recommends Redline 5w50 to address the rod bearing issues for the S65 and S85 engines. Not applicable for our engines. As our rod bearing clearances are tight, putting in 5w50 would do more harm than good than a good quality 0w40. Our engines also don't see as high of a revolution speed as the s65 and s85 to warrant a w50 hot rating anyways.

[hellokitty]

Every 3000 miles for my E85 tuned N54. Every 4000 miles for my stock F80. I could go longer based on past OCIs but both cars I am keeping long term so I like to take care of them with more frequent OCIs.

[bodega_bladerunner]

every bmw indy I've gone to has said 5k intervals