bmck

Thanks for the feedback guys. I phoned AA Technical and by chance spoke to a guy who used to be a dealership service manager. I put the above questions to him and thought his replies were quite reasonable and practical.

SERVICE INTERVAL

He said if we wanted the car to last we should ignore the car's service indicator, because this reflects a minimum level of servicing. A typical modern car has servicing at 15,000km or annually, but the AA man said his personal practice and recommendation is 10,000km or annual.

OIL

The AA guy said don't be fooled by the colour of the oil; it needs to keep dirt afloat so a dark oil means it's doing its job. But it still deteriorates with time: he would change the oil every 10,000km, using a semi-synthetic good quality oil such as Castrol Magnatec or Shell Helix.

GARAGE

He said the garage doing the service, whether it specialises in BMW or not, is not important. It's the mechanic doing the service you need to be able to trust , who understands your needs and gets enthusiastic about your car. Most garages _can_ use the Beemer's diagnostic plug; he suggested asking the mechanic outright if they are comfortable working on BMWs.

OUTCOME

The oil is dark and has grit/ crystals (?) on the dipstick. As it has done 10,000km since the last change, we're going to get that seen to now. For the next 6 months the car will get a weekly run while we're away. When we return to NZ and start using the car regularly we'll arrange for a "clean slate":

1. A full service (Inspection II)

2. A coolant change

3. A brake fluid change

In future we'll then get the car serviced/ oil changed annually or every 10,000km.

So do you agree: reasonable independent advice from the AA?

Many thanks for posting this Jochen; it worked for me and I'm very grateful to you. I also managed to find via Google an English manual for the BMW Business radio (my used car is a Japanese import). For others who may need this, the PDF can be found here:

http://www.linquist.net/motorsports/bmw/3manuals/

Cheers, Bruce

Make: BMW

Model: 318ti

Year: 2003

Chassis: E46

We've just got a used Compact. I'm getting conflicting information about when I should service the Compact:

* The last service was 17.01.07 (oil, inspection 1) at 24,000km

* A windshield sticker says next service due 17.07.07/ 34,000km (actual already 34,556km) i.e 6 months or 10,000km later

* At ignition residual distance B4 next "use based" service is 18,700km to go (oil service due next)

* I rang the shop where the car has been taken previously. They said it needs a service and to ignore what the car told me as 'sometimes the odometer is out-of-sync with the service indicator'!

Is a service every 6 months/ 10,000km normal for this car? In the UK my cars were serviced either annually or every 10,000 miles (I think).

The Compact's service manual says "The service Interval indicator tells you when an Oil Service, an Inspection (always Inspection I or II alternately) or a brake fluid change in necessary. Its special feature is that the servicing intervals are not fixed distances, but take the actual conditions in which the vehicle has been operated into consideration... If you drive only very low annual distances (well below 10,000km), you should have the oil changed every two years, since it ages regardless of the distance the vehicle has covered".

What do I choose? Do I believe (1) the car's use-based computer, go with (2) distance-based servicing, or (3) time-based servicing?

Can anyone recommend a shop in Wellington that has the right gear and won't rip me off?

Cheers, Bruce