09 BMW X5 30i BMW oil

[IllinoisSparky]

This X5 is supposed to do a 15k mile OCI, per BMW. (vehicle at 98k miles)
Last year, while they were doing some recalls, I had the dealer do an OC at 7500 miles (I thought).
I had it on jack stands to do the ATF, both diffs, etc., before going on a trip. So I also did an oil change (at 4700 miles). As soon as I saw how brittle the small o-ring was, I was suspicious, so I took a sample when I drained the pan.
It appears that there is way more 4700 miles on this oil. More like 12000.
In other words, oil was not changed at 7500. And the filter definitely wasn't. No way to prove it. Could have just been a mixup. Just not going to have them do any future oil changes.

My questions are:
1. Is iron level of 29 at 12k miles anything to worry about? (all other metals seem low for 12k)
2. What do you think is going on with the high viscosity? Could they be using something other than their own 5W-30?

Thanks.

 

[Audios]

Usually the air filter is dated when produced, if it wasn't done you should be able to prove it using the date stamp.

 

[IllinoisSparky]

Too late. It has gone to the oil filter "happy hunting ground" as they used to say.

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

Do you mean the o ring on the filter or the plug? I think I would at least show that to the service manager. They definitely did you wrong.

 

[IllinoisSparky]

O-ring on the oil filter. I installed a magnetic plug as part of this OC, and it came with a new crush washer.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the bad one. It is laying in the bottom of this orange bowl. Closest thing to a picture I have.
This is not the first time I have suspected that a filter was changed without changing the o-rings.




Funny thing is, when I do it myself, the rings are always still round and pliable when removed. Weird......

I just did the filter on a 2008 Kia that my sister bought, and the small ring was also hard as a rock and crumbled, and the large one had been in so long that the o-ring was actually flat-sided! Didn't get a picture of that either, unfortunately.

It appears that a quickie lube place had been servicing it. Blue paint on the drain bolt.

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

I was curious about the o ring but I actually think nothing was changed, oil or filter. The UOA is the major evidence.

 

[Gubkin]

whats mean "viscocity little thick for 5w-30" in lab comments?

 

[JoelB]

I believe the viscosity could be related to the oil thickening at the end of it's life span. Doesn't necessarily mean the oil that went into it 12k miles ago was that thick.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Did you happen to keep/read the dealer invoice detailing the work they performed on the car?

Did they charge you for the oil change?

Also I don't think they always change the small o-ring. Especially if it was a non-CBS oil change.

 

[Brons2]

Originally Posted By: Gubkin
whats mean "viscocity little thick for 5w-30" in lab comments?


Specification for Xw30 wt at 100C is between 9.3 and 12.49 cSt.

This oil has thickened into the Xw40 wt range.

 

[jeepman3071]

Hmm, did you use a MAHLE filter the last time you did an oil change? At my local BMW dealer, the OEM filters with BMW logos are just MANN HU816X.

 

[IllinoisSparky]

Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
Did you happen to keep/read the dealer invoice detailing the work they performed on the car?

Did they charge you for the oil change?

Also I don't think they always change the small o-ring. Especially if it was a non-CBS oil change.


Invoice says they did a "CBS Standard Scope" at 93442. 4700 miles before I did it the other day. This dealer doesn't list every part used, which is frustrating, so it doesn't say anything about oil or filter used.

Yes, they charged their standard fee for oil change.

If the o-ring comes in every filter, and only takes a few seconds to change, why WOULDN"T a mechanic change it? They can't be under that much pressure to get cars done, that they have to skip an o-ring. Just my opinion.

And exactly why I went back to doing it myself.

Again, I don't want to get some poor guy chewed out or fired over it.

Techs name is on the order, so he would hear about it for sure.
I am hoping it was just an honest mistake.....

 

[IllinoisSparky]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Hmm, did you use a MAHLE filter the last time you did an oil change? At my local BMW dealer, the OEM filters with BMW logos are just MANN HU816X.


Old oil filter is a BMW filter from the dealer.
The Mahle box is the one I just put in. Seems to be a good filter.
I have 2 Mann filters in the cabinet waiting to go in next time.

 

[camrydriver111]

What oil was in there before you had them "change" it?

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: IllinoisSparky

Invoice says they did a "CBS Standard Scope" at 93442. 4700 miles before I did it the other day. This dealer doesn't list every part used, which is frustrating, so it doesn't say anything about oil or filter used.

Yes, they charged their standard fee for oil change.

If the o-ring comes in every filter, and only takes a few seconds to change, why WOULDN"T a mechanic change it? They can't be under that much pressure to get cars done, that they have to skip an o-ring. Just my opinion.

And exactly why I went back to doing it myself.

Again, I don't want to get some poor guy chewed out or fired over it.

Techs name is on the order, so he would hear about it for sure.
I am hoping it was just an honest mistake.....

At least you didn't have to deal with the debacle I faced after a friend took his X3 to "Billy Bob's Laundromat, Tanning Salon and X-pert Car Repair":
I recently changed the oil in an older friend's 2005 X3, and wound up having to rectify the mistakes made by the prior service "technician".

I had previously provided my friend with a contact at my dealer as well as at my indie BMW shop, recommending that he go to one or the other for everything but oil changes- and I had offered to perform the changes for just the cost of the oil and the filter.

Well, he didn't want to "impose" on me so instead he took it to a local shop for an oil change. Fast forward to a Saturday a while back, when he called and asked me if I could change the oil sometime that week as his local shop was busy. No problem; I stopped by my dealer and bought a filter and he brought the X3 over. However, once I got into the job I encountered a textbook example of why you NEVER take a BMW to "Bubba's We Fix-It Emporium."

First off, the drain plug was extremely difficult to loosen; when I finally did break it loose I found that the plug was missing its copper sealing washer. Odds are that Bubba didn't see the washer fall off when he drained the oil; so when he reinstalled the plug without the washer it probably dripped- so he really cranked down on the drain plug to stop the leak. Idiot.

Next up was changing the filter. Bubba had used an off-brand cartridge which had plastic end caps(and were crumbling) as well as a filter medium that had started to distort. The correct BMW filter -manufactured by Mann of Germany- cost me $10.85 while no-name alleged "filter" cost $2.50 more. Such a deal...

The BMW filter also comes with a new drain plug sealing washer and a new o-ring for the oil filter housing cap. Anyway, I wiped out the filter housing as best I could, and I think I got 99.99% of the plastic bits from the worthless filter.

Finally, I poured in the requisite amount of Mobil 1 0W-40 and proceeded to reset the Oil Service light. Of course Bubba hadn't done that either, probably because he thought it needed a special tool. Wrong again; the indicator is reset using only the ignition switch and the odometer reset button. And it's not exactly proprietary information, either- just type "BMW X3 SIA reset" into almost any search engine...

My friend kept trying to pay me for my labor, but for me, fixing everything Bubba screwed up was reward enough. It's a dead easy job- assuming that you have opposable thumbs, the correct parts, and the readily available reset information.

 

[kschachn]

Too bad after all that you didn’t use an oil with BMW specifications.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Too bad after all that you didn’t use an oil with BMW specifications.


I actually did; the debacle occurred in October 2012, when M1 0W-40 still had LL-01 approval. I should have removed the "recently" from my post- I cut and pasted it from my original post on another forum.

 

[Bullwinkle007]

To be honest with you I have no idea why anybody would take their vehicle to a quick lube they're all a joke then try to upsell you everything that you don't need I can buy a Purolator boss filter and Castro 0-40 4 under 40 bucks and do it myself

 

[IllinoisSparky]

Wow! I feel better about my situation now.

 

[Al]

Obviously Castrol Oil