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red_stapler
red_stapler Dork
4/11/17 2:00 p.m.
BoostedBrandon
BoostedBrandon Dork
4/11/17 2:03 p.m.

That is fantastic!

oldtin
oldtin PowerDork
4/11/17 2:42 p.m.

Dig it! It's missing a display of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" with a piece of broken plastic cooling system parts.

mndsm
mndsm MegaDork
4/11/17 4:20 p.m.

That bmw one is so berkeleying true....

Will
Will UltraDork
4/11/17 6:07 p.m.
red_stapler wrote:

So tell a guy with domestic cars how much a good oil change should cost.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/11/17 8:23 p.m.

I did an oil change in a 2.0 TFSI where the oil filter was half pushed through the plastic grating in the filter cap/support.

The funny part, is this was an engine that I had the head off of last year, because the timing chains died before 90k, because the oil wasn't changed often enough...

We also have some customers with Ecotecs who regularly go so far over that the oil filters are wasp waisted.

I love cartridge filters. You have to cut open spin-on filters to get this kind of information.

(3000 max with regular oil. 5000 max with synthetic. Period. Bob may be the oil guy but he is not the engine guy)

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/11/17 8:31 p.m.
oldtin wrote: Dig it! It's missing a display of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" with a piece of broken plastic cooling system parts.

That's got to be a regional thing. I've customers with 200k on BMWs with the original water pumps and radiators and side tanks and everything else. (But not the accursed oil filter gasket/O-ring)

The only time I've had BMW cooling system issues, were on clutch fan E36s where the engine mounts go bad and then the fan hits everything and wrecks it. That isn't the plastic's fault.

tr8todd
tr8todd Dork
4/11/17 8:42 p.m.

Reminds me of the bathroom I demoed today. Why did I demo a bathroom you ask? Because the home owner built a bathroom and completely enclosed the water heater. Water heater was leaking. I could see the water heater from a crawl space, but I couldn't even touch it. Now he has a new water heater but no bathroom in his man cave.

oldtin
oldtin PowerDork
4/11/17 8:45 p.m.

Funny, I don't think I've seen an e36 or newer BMW that hasn't had cooling parts break. Just with my own cars I've had an e36, an e39 and an e61 all with plastic cooling parts that had broken. The other day someone pulled onto our street off the main road with an overheating e46.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/12/17 1:01 p.m.

So today, I had a 2.8l X3 where the oil filter was so wedged into its holder on the cap that the holder separated from the cap (spilling a ton of oil everywhere), and I had to cut the filter off with side cutters. It was mooshed in all around and mostly plugged solid.

That's not the good part. The good part is the vehicle's owner brought it to us for an oil change, because she took it to the DEALER for an oil change and they told her that it wasn't time yet.

dropstep
dropstep Dork
4/12/17 1:56 p.m.

Ive seen worse, but it is neat. Chevy trucks that turn the oil into jello, a montana minivan that went 3 years/46k miles on valvoline conventional.

Ecotech filters on a 10-12k interval pretty much all look terrible and come out in peices.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/12/17 6:33 p.m.
dropstep wrote: Ecotech filters on a 10-12k interval pretty much all look terrible and come out in peices.

I've never had one come out in pieces yet (although I anticipate that day with camera at the ready) but it seems like over 5k and they collapse.

I'm thrilled if there's oil on the dipstick when they come in. Usually there isn't.

EvanR
EvanR SuperDork
4/12/17 7:42 p.m.
Knurled wrote: (3000 max with regular oil. 5000 max with synthetic. Period.)

I'm guessing you own stock in an oil company. I do too. I tell people that 3000 miles is too many and they should do a full Mobil1 oil change every 1000 miles.

For my own cars, I go 10,000 miles or whatever the OCI tells me. Don't care what happens to the next owner.

chandlerGTi
chandlerGTi UberDork
4/12/17 7:54 p.m.

We had a Paccar through the shop a couple weeks ago that had 100k on the oil, Paccar calls for 40k on the oil/filters and since he was running 1LE he thought he could extend it some more. The filter had actually collapsed THE STAND PIPE in the cap. It was crazy. I've seen them collapsed before but this one was the worst by far.

I'll snap a pic tomorrow but I have a canister air filter I pulled out of a Peterbilt that collapsed on itself after 250k miles hanging in my show room. Nasty crap we see.

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/12/17 9:44 p.m.

I change the oil on my rover every 3000 miles.. which is right about when it needs a quart

RevRico
RevRico GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
4/12/17 10:06 p.m.

Wow, seeing some of these thing, seriously collapsed filters? I don't feel nearly as bad for not changing my oil at 3k on the dot.

That reminds me, I still haven't changed the Vic oil since I bought it, might want to get on that.

dropstep
dropstep Dork
4/13/17 7:49 a.m.
Knurled wrote:
dropstep wrote: Ecotech filters on a 10-12k interval pretty much all look terrible and come out in peices.
I've never had one come out in pieces yet (although I anticipate that day with camera at the ready) but it seems like over 5k and they collapse. I'm thrilled if there's oil on the dipstick when they come in. Usually there isn't.

The fram filters tle at wal mart uses are the worst for it. Usually the plastic sticks in the cap and the lower half of the plastic stays in the engine with the element. Fish them out with needle nose.

I also recomend people follow the 3k interval but this is the age of the internet and people claiming its safe to run 7500-10000 miles on conventional oil. My wifes ecotech gets synthetic every 3k and at 145k miles it doesnt rattle or smoke.

Rumnhammer
Rumnhammer Reader
4/13/17 9:10 a.m.
Knurled wrote: (3000 max with regular oil. 5000 max with synthetic. Period. Bob may be the oil guy but he is not the engine guy)

I follow this religiously, although I only ever use conventional oil for the first 10k miles in a new engine only synthetic after that in everything with an engine I own, including mud motors and lawnmowers!

Rusted_Busted_Spit
Rusted_Busted_Spit GRM+ Memberand UberDork
4/13/17 9:22 a.m.

I change it in our vehicles at 5K with synthetic. I like doing the 5K intervals because it is very easy to know when it is due.

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse UltraDork
4/13/17 9:43 a.m.

Next to this, we need a case of oil filters from my cars, all of them over 25 years old, all get 15W-40 diesel oil every 3000-4000 miles and a new Pure One filter.

15W-40 is 10 bucks a gallon at Wal-Mart. Changing your oil more often and using cheap oil is better than going longer in between fills and using expensive stuff, IMHO.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/20/17 6:03 p.m.
Knurled wrote: So today, I had a 2.8l X3 where the oil filter was so wedged into its holder on the cap that the holder separated from the cap (spilling a ton of oil everywhere), and I had to cut the filter off with side cutters. It was mooshed in all around and mostly plugged solid. That's not the good part. The good part is the vehicle's owner brought it to us for an oil change, because she took it to the DEALER for an oil change and they told her that it wasn't time yet.

Heard back from this one. Apparently the truck is currently at the dealer with sludging issues in the top end. And the service manager is berating the truck's owner for getting an unnecessary oil change done! (Bear in mind that the dash display was indicating the oil was 1000 over per the very lax BMW internal schedule, so probably 15000+ on that oil/filter) According to them, you change the oil once a year and any more than that is bad.

Well, sure, it keeps you from buying a new BMW every three years. Although from what I have been seeing, this "service" schedule is a great marketing tool for Acura and Infiniti and Lexus, which brands people buy when they swear off BMWs as being trouble-prone.

I still want a 3er, but I am thinking more and more that I will see dealer service records in Carfax as a run-away indicator, not a selling point.

NEALSMO
NEALSMO UltraDork
4/20/17 6:19 p.m.

The only BMW's I've ever seen with bearing issues are M cars. 5K,10K,or recommended 15K interval cars seem to take the extended services just fine.

I usually go 8-10K on proper synthetic in my e46. I'll probably add 2 quarts during that interval.

Datsun310Guy
Datsun310Guy PowerDork
4/20/17 7:12 p.m.

I changed the oil in my Accord 34 times in 152,000 miles. Overkill? Yes. Flame away.

When the guy who bought it showed his buddy my records of only 0W20 Mobil Synthetic and only Honda filters he immediately told him to buy it at my asking price.

I made that little engine sing - FWIW I used about 1/2 quart in 5000 miles.

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/22/17 10:52 a.m.
Knurled wrote: Heard back from this one. Apparently the truck is currently at the dealer with sludging issues in the top end. And the service manager is berating the truck's owner for getting an unnecessary oil change done!

unless I did something seriously stupid, if a Service Manager berated me for something I did to my vehicle, you better believe I would NEVER set foot back in that dealership again.

Will
Will UltraDork
4/22/17 12:40 p.m.

I still want to know how much an oil change should cost if the $80 version is too cheap.

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