Long time gaps between oil changes - problem?

[bakerlonglegs]

Hi,
I'm going to look at a Z4 3.0 on Sunday. It's a lovely looking car, with the spec I'm looking for and relatively low mileage. However, before the current owner bought it, it only had two oil changes in about 18k miles over the first six years of its life. The current owner seems a genuine chap on the phone.
I've not owned a Z4 before - am I right in thinking they have a service indicator system which tells the owner when to take it in? Does it matter that the oil changes could have been so far apart? I'm used to schedules on other cars which require a service every year regardless of mileage.
I don't want to walk away from a nice car if such gaps between services are standard with these engines.

Any thoughts and advice appreciated!

 

[srhutch]

Max gap between oil changes is 2 years, so it's not as bad as you think it is.

Quite common on low mileage zed to have been under serviced from BMW's recommendations. Assuming it's got a fair few miles on it and a few more years I wouldn't worry too much. Just bear it in mind when you come to sell that others may ask the same question.

 

[Chris_D]

It wouldn't put me off looking. As long as it hasn't been driven hard under oil starvation.
Have a look at what comes off the dipstick after a test drive. If it's a dark gloopy syrup I'd be thinking twice....

 

[Smartbear]

It wouldn't put me off looking. As long as it hasn't been driven hard under oil starvation.
Have a look at what comes off the dipstick after a test drive. If it's a dark gloopy syrup I'd be thinking twice....

That’s difficult to do if it’s got the facelift n52 engine, no dipstick!
Rob

 

[Taz]

It wouldn't put me off of the car is in good condition otherwise.

View it and go off your instinct. If it's rough you'll know

 

[Chris_D]

It wouldn't put me off looking. As long as it hasn't been driven hard under oil starvation.
Have a look at what comes off the dipstick after a test drive. If it's a dark gloopy syrup I'd be thinking twice....

That’s difficult to do if it’s got the facelift n52 engine, no dipstick!
Rob

oh yeahhhh. lol, what a travesty of a design-error that was!
who in their right mind..... :roll:

not having a dipstick and wondering if the sensor was reporting back level correctly would just constantly feed my anxiety. :roll:

 

[Magicarcher]

I had the same dilema when I bought mine twelve months ago, it was 12 years old with 26k on the clock but only two recorded oil changed rather than the 5 I would have liked. I looked at a lot of Zs and it is fairly common for individuals to change on mileage rather than "mileage or 2 years whatever comes first", mind you it is mildly less annoying than the car salesmen who virtually all insisted 2 years between changes was irrelevant it was 18k miles that mattered!

In the end I went on two things:

• Did the engine sound smooth and quite (I had looked at quite a lot and heard a few that had sounded quite bad, particulalrly N52 engines)

• Did the oil look ok. Checking for level, colour and looking for emulsifying under the rocker cover with the filler cap unscrewed

The car itself had been well looked after and was in the best condition of the 30+ I had looked at over 8 months, so I went for it. Haven't regretted it.

 

[bakerlonglegs]

Thanks very much for all the advice I feel more confident about it now, cheers!

:cheers:

 

[csquire4]

How did the viewing go ?