And then again, maybe I've owned more BMW's over the last 40 years than
you've ever looked at.
I certainly have never leased one, or driven one less than 170,000 miles.

But anyone who posts that when " the car reaches about
Miller, by the way, does not discuss maintenance schedules of autoboxes - he
holds them in disdain, period.( along with Nikasil blocks, another thing I'm
not quite sure he fully understood, and a few other things he dislikes).

No one who EVER went to a good independent BMW tech ever bought into the
extended or lifetime fluid schedules - don't think you unlocked some great
secret there.

"Big Clobby Bobber" <Big Clobby (AT) myspace (DOT) com> wrote:

As I've posted in here before, the local "indy" German-car repair-shop
refused to change the "lifetime" fluid in my car... "We've never seen
an E46 tranny fail. Take it to the dealer if you want the fluid
changed."

Nice one! I guess that's why ALL those owners of old bimmers changed oil at
3,000 miles and tranny fluid at 15,000, and differential at 30,000. And the
cars are in as good a shape as ever. IF BMW had paid attention to what the
owners were saying and doing, they would have a free research base of cars
and maintenance plans to show what really happened to the internals.
My personal opinion is that their new maint intervals allows BMW Pre-Owned
to show documentation, but it could also show how the parts are failing due
to increased intervals. It's a double-edged sword.

Bill in Omaha
'86 535i

In article <XS2Hh.37950$as2.26159 (AT) bgtnsc05-news (DOT) ops.worldnet.att.net>,
Big Clobby Bobber <Big Clobby (AT) myspace (DOT) com> wrote:
Sounds of axes being ground. ;-)

--
*A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click *

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article <hG3Hh.15964$dO6.7786 (AT) newsfe07 (DOT) phx>,
Bill <wechorba (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:
You're begging the question. Without control vehicles driven in the same
way it's only conjecture that early oil changes are of any use. And my
experience says they're not.

Leaving out the autos where I think the jury is still out over *lifetime*
fluid, what evidence have you of engine wear or failure when sticking to
the maker's recommendations?

--
*One of us is thinking about sex... OK, it's me.

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk> wrote

I have no "evidence" short of hearsay, which is to say none. Going on what I
hear and see with a dose of common sense, it would seem to me that things
run better on something that is not older than half it's expected life.
Fluids, batteries, things with a destructive edge. Not pencils, or matches,
but stuff that by nature, ensures life of something else by its own
destruction or depletion. Maybe that 100k mile fluid should be changed at
50k, before the trans failure people are letting the world know theirs
failed at 60k. I remember when spark plugs were done at 30k miles or less.
100k seems long and a few owners have said so when they changed the plugs
and put new ones in, the DME was wonky for a bit getting back into
adjustment from so worn plugs. Sounds like cheap-assed, lazy drivers to me.
You know this one, YMMV? Well, I'm just applying it to the info that has
amassed about the maint intervals BMW came up with. I do respect that the
intervals were devised by someone who tested them though. Yes, Dave, you are
correct. The jury is out and to each his own. I also know an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure. I for one don't have a spare bank
account to see what happens when I follow instructions that are even odds on
failure, excepting that shit happens. LOL

Yes, but that is more than a cut and dry issue. Nobody( in their right mind)
was comfortable with "lifetime fluid", but a combination of ( then ) hard to
obtain and very costly fluid, repeated scare stories from dealers ( after
all, if you say something often enough, it becomes truth, doesn't it?) and
requests from cars with already high mileage tended to make it a LOT easier
to send people to the dealer.

Add " and we don't intend for one to do so after WE service it" between
those sentences from the indy below, and it makes a lot of sense, don't you
think?

"dizzy" <dizzy (AT) nospam (DOT) invalid> wrote

In article <P_gHh.11828$Ko5.840 (AT) newsfe08 (DOT) phx>,
Bill <wechorba (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:
Except that changing long life fluids can't be done for an 'ounce' -
they're very expensive. And to fully change the auto transmission fluid
ain't easy.

It could be going back to cheaper fluids and DIY changing them at older
intervals would be a good idea - but I'm not convinced. Generally the
mechanics on cars last longer these days than ever.

And in case you think I'm young with no experience I've personally in the
distant past re-built many an engine and auto which has simply worn out -
and at a lot less than 100,000 miles. Of course I'm talking older UK cars
which were rather more highly stressed than the average US one - but then
BMW isn't a US design either.

--
*If God dropped acid, would he see people?

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk> wrote

I agree 100%. I changed half of the trans fluid when I did the wife's '98
528i. The other half is in the torque converter. Damn if I'm pulling all
that to change fluid. I did do a filter at the same time, though. That
should help a little. Since she has the GM trans, I used the recommended
Castrol Dexron 3-Mercon. I believe it was less than $3/qt and I used 4 qts.
I did see that someone recommended straining/filtering the old fluid and
putting it back in.
Certain mechanicals are made better by certain companies. When was the last
time you saw ANY American car do 300k miles? Or 200k ? Just look at the
break-in miles for a new car today. And I believe you when you say you've
rebuilt a few engines. I have as well, but I can say that some were, um,
less than quality stuff when we tore them down. I did think it was funny
that the e39 540 trans was more prone to fail, so I've heard, than the e39
528i trans. And the 5sp auto more than the 4sp auto in the same cars. And it
was mostly a little plastic ball that caused a bit of the failures.. Yes, I
have a reference if you like. Not being snotty or arrogant to anyone, I am
just telling what I think or surmise from stuff. I could be wrong and freely
admit it. Just my two cents, YMMV, IMHO, and have a nice day.

Dave, I do read and heed what you say, don't think I just like arguing.
Everything I say is with a smile, even if it's not seen.

Bill in Omaha
'86 535i