BMW OLM ????????

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08 BMW in my sig. Changed the oil and didn't reset. Original fillw as BMW brand 5-30 and showed 7k remaining. New at reset shows 15k miles. Now I changed to M1 0-40 with 7k on the minder. I can say it doesn't merely count down the clock of mileage with confidence as it's is on 6k with me having put over 2k on it since the 7k mark.

Why wouldn't it automatically realize this is fresh oil? Or at least bump up to say 8 or 12k from the pre-oil change 7k life remaining? All confusing to me....

What is the deal with the E90 oil life monitors? Accurate? yes? No? somewhere inbetween? I'd like to know how it functions in real life as well as how it was intended to functions.
 
The OLM is an algorithm that needs to be reset each OCI. Not sure if yours also has the oil condition sensor or not (don't remember when they implemented those) but that's just another input into that programming. The sensor doesn't just detect cleaner oil and assume you changed it, which seems to be what you expected to happen.

Bottom line: You need to reset the OLM if you want to continue to go by it.
 
Wont say for sure but I believe I will sleep well with 7500 mile OCI's but I will see what the UOA says first. I plan on sticking with M1 0-40. If it comes back "all that jazz" at 7500 I may be inclined to be a BITOG guy and push farther out. 15k would make my noodle blow.
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Although mine is a different BMW/engine (x35d), I've noticed with fresh oil the OLM seems to count down slower than with used oil. For example, when I reset my monitor it will show 11,000 miles....approx 1300 miles it will drop to 10000, and then after another 1200 it will drop to 9000. I notice once it gets to the 7000 or 6000 mile mark it appears to start dropping close to actual miles driven.

I change my oil at 5500 miles but don't reset until I'm at 11000. My understanding is the OLM monitors miles traveled, fuel consumed and time. 90% of my driving is highway.
 
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Originally Posted By: Fleetmon
Although mine is a different BMW/engine (x35d), I've noticed with fresh oil the OLM seems to count down slower than with used oil. For example, when I reset my monitor it will show 11,000 miles....approx 1300 miles it will drop to 10000, and then after another 1200 it will drop to 9000. I notice once it gets to the 7000 or 6000 mile mark it appears to start dropping close to actual miles driven.

I change my oil at 5500 miles but don't reset until I'm at 11000. My understanding is the OLM monitors miles traveled, fuel consumed and time. 90% of my driving is highway.


That makes sense....IMHO for a company like BMW or MB or Lexus I'd expect something a little more advanced.
 
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
IMHO for a company like BMW or MB or Lexus I'd expect something a little more advanced.

Is it just OLM or is it an overall service reminder? If the latter, then this service may include other work in addition to the oil change, such as oil filter change, air filter change, brake fluid change, etc. There is no sensor that can detect whether all these actions were performed, hence it requires a manual task of physically resetting the counter once all the work has been done.
 
For some years, BMW MMs operate based upon fuel used alone.
This actually makes some sense, since the same conditions that result in higher fuel use per distance traveled also cause a more rapid decline using a more sophisticated alogorityh based system.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
IMHO for a company like BMW or MB or Lexus I'd expect something a little more advanced.

Is it just OLM or is it an overall service reminder? If the latter, then this service may include other work in addition to the oil change, such as oil filter change, air filter change, brake fluid change, etc. There is no sensor that can detect whether all these actions were performed, hence it requires a manual task of physically resetting the counter once all the work has been done.



From what I can gauge it's more of an overall come to papa for high dollar servicing. My uncle always wanted a 5 series M black on black. Got it a few years ago when he retired from natural gas world. After 2 years he ditched it as he felt like he got raped every time he went to the dealer. Has a Lexus 350 now and totally different. Misses the BMW but says at 67 years old he hates getting raped.

I have a 3 series with an I6 so no biggie. I love it so far but wanted to know about how the oil monitor worked. I'm guessing [censored] great car if you can do some work on your own but if needing dealer waaaaaaay costly.
 
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
From what I can gauge it's more of an overall come to papa for high dollar servicing.

Yup.

Quote:

I'm guessing [censored] great car if you can do some work on your own but if needing dealer waaaaaaay costly.

Yup. Yup. But it's "free" while the car is still under the original warranty. And BMW likes a customer that trades up for a new one when the warranty on his current one is up.
smile.gif


BMW does not much care for customers that keep their cars for a long time and DIY.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
From what I can gauge it's more of an overall come to papa for high dollar servicing.

Yup.

Quote:

I'm guessing [censored] great car if you can do some work on your own but if needing dealer waaaaaaay costly.

Yup. Yup. But it's "free" while the car is still under the original warranty. And BMW likes a customer that trades up for a new one when the warranty on his current one is up.
smile.gif


BMW does not much care for customers that keep their cars for a long time and DIY.



Thanks buddy. Helps to be told you got it!
 
BMW has made various statements about what the OLM monitors.

It seems to be mostly based on fuel quantity used, with a bump for cold starts and high RPM operation. It tracks both calendar time (primarily for brake fluid changes) and operating time, so those might be inputs as well.

The monitor is a simple bar graph, with one segment being extinguished approximately every 1.5K (old) or 3K (modern) miles. With that coarse granularity, it's difficult to figure out exactly which factor is given the most weight.

Perhaps my car use is exactly 'average', but I've always had the OLM track very close to the 3K mile per segment rule of thumb. That makes me suspect that miles is the dominant factor.
 
Originally Posted By: BISCUT

I have a 3 series with an I6 so no biggie. I love it so far but wanted to know about how the oil monitor worked. I'm guessing [censored] great car if you can do some work on your own but if needing dealer waaaaaaay costly.


Not necessarily; on Edmunds.com's old Inside Line blog the writers would usually take their long term test BMWs to Santa Monica BMW for service- and then they would squawk loudly when they get hosed for non-warranty work. Anyway, back in 2008 Santa Monica had reamed them for some work on an E46 M3 they had in the fleet; by coincidence I had just had my local dealer perform an Inspection II and brake fluid flush on my son's X3 for a total cost of $374. Just for giggles I called Santa Monica and asked how much those same services would be. I was told that I was in luck as they had a "service special" going on. Their quote?
$1104.95
Only $730.95(295%) more than my dealer...
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I'd change it at 3000 miles if it were my BMW.

Why rich people abuse their cars is beyond me.


Seriously? Even when my UOAs indicate that an OCI of at least 10,000 miles on M1 0W-40 is perfectly safe?
 
Originally Posted By: MCompact

Seriously? Even when my UOAs indicate that an OCI of at least 10,000 miles on M1 0W-40 is perfectly safe?


Find me an oil that'll go 10,000 miles without causing varnish stains and I'll run it.
 
I don't see a top quality synthetic like M1 0w40 causing anything resembling varnish unless they completely deplete the TBN which is hard to do on an extended drain oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I'd change it at 3000 miles if it were my BMW.

Why rich people abuse their cars is beyond me.


Even if I were "rich" I wouldn't abuse any of my vehicles. I don't even abuse my 95 Camry! In fact, I probably take better care of that 95 Camry than most people do a 2 year old car.

For the I6 in my E90 naturally aspirated, 3k is a total waste of even conventional oil. If you had said 5k well, that's overboard but a little more reasonable. Using a top quality synthetic for 3k is irresponsible IMHO.
 
Was hoping to find a good link that explained the BWM system but I can't right now.

As I recall the designs is pretty well thought out it has to do with liters of fuel consumed as well as key starts and how you drive. It will adjust the miles left up or down not based on the odometer so much but the driving habits. It will actually look at RPMS and Temp. SO if you travel with a cold engine at 4500 RPM for 5 miles it may reduce the interval 7 or 8 miles. Something on that order. If you nurse the throttle all the time rarely seeing above the 4k rpm mark you'll see that 15,000 mark. BMW, MB, Porsche, et. al. are not doing oil analysis while you drive.

If I find the thread I'll post.
 
Originally Posted By: small
BMW, MB, Porsche, et. al. are not doing oil analysis while you drive.

Actually, some time ago BMW has introduced a dielectric sensor that attempts to determine the condition of the oil while you drive. But as OVERKILL noted, it's just one of the parameters that gets taken into account when calculating OCI.

Not sure if it's still in use today. This is a few years old...

e60_oil_condition.png
 
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