BMW 3-Series E46 (1998 - 2005) - 30K since last Service - no oil change please it's

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Tue 16 Oct 2007 11:50
30K since last Service - no oil change please it's - Falkirk Bairn
Awaiting my car being MoTd (+ minor repair) last week at my local independent I heard the following

A 54 Reg BMW 3 series was mis-firing. The plugs were BLACK. On looking at the service book it had not seen an service for 30K miles (18mths).

4 x new plugs and 1 x Coil seemed to fix it.

When phoned to tell him the mis-firing had been fixed with plugs + coil the owner did not want the car serviced as apart from the mis-firing it was going well!!

Not even an oil & filter change - £30 worth of materials & labour. The mis-firing was £100+ VAT - the coil must be the expensive bit as there was only 45 mins or so between start & finish of the work.

In true BMW style the owner had arrived with dipped headlights + spot lights on at 8:30
{And in true BR style, within 24 hrs of the last mention of lighting abuse, it gets yet another one ;0) - DD}

Anyone want to buy a 318, Silver, 3yrs old, 1 careless owner........................

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 16/10/2007 at 17:53

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Tue 16 Oct 2007 12:07
30K since last Service - no oil change please it's - Humperdink
these are the people the govt should be penalizing for harming the environment, that car is sooner or later going to need a new engine whats the environmental impact of that?!
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Tue 16 Oct 2007 12:07
30K since last Service - no oil change please it's - jbif
As most people probably know, service books are no proof of the work done or not done on a BMW car. BMW's central computer records are more likely to have a better record of the real work done, assuming that the clerk or mechanic bothered to upload the data.
Is it not true that the Platinum long-life plugs on BMWs do not need changing for 100,000 miles?
The long-life Castrol synthetic LL04 spec oil can officially last 20000 miles and will probably be Okay for up to 50000 miles.
This is quite typical of the abuse that lease cars are subjected to.

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Tue 16 Oct 2007 12:22
30K since last Service - no oil change please it's - jbif
In USA, where people usually change oil every 3000 miles using ordinary fossil "lube" oil, the advice given to BMW owners by one specialist is:
www.autohausaz.com/bmw-auto-parts/bmw-tuneups.html
BMW Tuneup & Maintenance Tips:
Tuneup & Auto Maintenance Tips To Lengthen Your BMW's Life
Spark Plugs
All spark plugs should be removed and checked every 30,000 miles - even if your BMW is "low maintenance" - you're told to change spark plugs at 100,000 miles.

Edited by jbif on 16/10/2007 at 12:23

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