Using an independent to change oil in an in-warranty E60 BMW

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My 2004 530D needs an oil change every 18k miles or so, it's currently sitting at 12k miles until the next one's required. Pretty much any knowledgeable person I have talked to has advised against this and said it should be something between 9k and 12k to really keep the engine & turbo in top condition, and I'm sure most of you here would agree.
So in another 2k miles I wouldn't mind changing it, but don't see the point in paying a ****** dealer £200 for something a local garage can do - I've a couple of people who know reliable guys for changing it who own VAT-registered garages, can reset the oil service indicator and 'stamp the book.' Then when the next oil change is done, I'll take it to the dealer for a full check, which is when the next proper service was due anyway.

I'm not too concerned about the warranty as a) there's only 4 months left and b) afaik if I use a VAT-registered garage (and genuine parts) the warranty remains intact. But it's more to do with later down the line - is it bad looking if on the service book I have stamps from an independent dealer in between official BMW dealer services, even though it was only an oil change? And does it remove the 'FBMWSH' that some people like to swear by, even though in actual fact the car's been better serviced than normal?
 
5tephen said:
I'm not too concerned about the warranty as a) there's only 4 months left and b) afaik if I use a VAT-registered garage (and genuine parts) the warranty remains intact. But it's more to do with later down the line - is it bad looking if on the service book I have stamps from an independent dealer in between official BMW dealer services, even though it was only an oil change? And does it remove the 'FBMWSH' that some people like to swear by, even though in actual fact the car's been better serviced than normal?


Just meke sure the stamp refers to BMW in some way i.e. "BMW Specialist" thats all I would be concerned about when checking a BM's service history.
 
If your worried about how the stamp looks and just want the oil change as piece of mind just asked them to change the oil and leave it at that, no book stamping.

The car will still have the BMW service history come resale time.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
If your worried about how the stamp looks and just want the oil change as piece of mind just asked them to change the oil and leave it at that, no book stamping.

The car will still have the BMW service history come resale time.
Exactly what I was thinking.

Keep the receipts from your oil changes and when it comes to resale time (assuming you sell privately) you can choose whether or not its worth mentioning. You can usually get a feel for whether someone is a main dealer>anything type person or whether they know what they're talking about :)
 
Firstly, if you do do this, don't reset the service indicator. You'll mess up the countdown to the non-oil services. Just change the oil and leave the book and indicator alone.

Secondly, I dont know who you've been talking to but really on a car like yours this sort of interim change is uneccesary. The oil used has been specially designed to last properly. The benefit to modern synthetic oils is longer life.

And thirdly, an oil change at your local dealer can be had from as little as £140 including Oil, or £50+ your choice of oil.
 
Ok, that's worth a thought :) Is it possible to change the oil without some sensor recognising it's been done, so that there's no need to reset the service indicator? Or at least reset the service indicator to show 8000 miles left rather than 18000? I don't want to leave it in with the dealer for an oil change 10k miles after an indy's done so, they'd be wondering why I'm asking for an oil change 8000 miles in advance!
 
I don't know how the E60 condition based servicing works - if it was an E39 it calculates it based on average fuel economy and number of cold starts so yes you could easily change the oil without affecting the calculation.

Still think its a waste of money though.
 
As far as I can see the only way your going to be able to keep your BMW FSH and get interim oil changes would be to get it done every 9k alternating between dealer and independant.

As you stand at the moment you'd have to get it done now and again in 6k's time. It seems like your making a lot of work for yourself, as Fox says the BMW interval would have been calculated to be on the safe side anyway It would probably do 20k between oil changes with ease.
 
[TW]Fox said:
And thirdly, an oil change at your local dealer can be had from as little as £140 including Oil, or £50+ your choice of oil.

Well I was just thinking that, I've only read what other people say they charge and not actually asked my own dealer what they charge. Would prefer to go down this route if it's not a ridiculous amount more, and whichever way I go I'll supply my own oil.

And I'm just going by what other people say about oil duration, a couple of guys I know say that they've checked the oil in cars and notice how smooth it is after 8000 miles or more but after 12k - 13k it starts to thicken quite noticeably. I didn't question this further as to the type of car & oil that they were talking about though :confused: Could've been an older example.
 
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