Servicing confusion/problem

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playalistic

Senior member
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I admit i'm a total noob when it comes to cars. I bought my Z4 a month or so ago and noted on the dash that is was due a service in approx 2k miles. I'm getting near now so decided to book it in for a service. I checked the service book and can see that under the "use-based maintenance" the car had its pre-delivery check and just one (oil) service at 14032 miles and nothing since. After being on the phone to BMW they have said that despite what the car says on the display it should have had services at least at 2005, 2007 and 2009 i.e. every two years since the pre-delivery check.

Now I appreciate perhaps this is something I should have known, but I'm 99% sure the seller listed the car with FBMWSH. So if that is the case and although I claim total ignorance I'm pretty peeved as I bought a lemon. Can someone give me some reassurance or should I fear the worst! :headbang: :headbang:
 
Those should have been oil changes. Sounds like the one it had was the 15K one. Is there any record of "in between" services? I think in the UK, it's every 2 years. Here in the US it's yearly. Also the brake fluid should have been changed every 2 years regardless of mileage. Could they have had an independent do the oil change? It's not a lemon, maybe just not maintained as it should have been. You're coming up on inspection 1. If you don't have any kind of warranty on it, find an independent to do it.

What year/engine do you have?
 
Ah right, well the only thing that appears under "time-based maintenance" which I assume is the "in between" service (which the lady from BMW said should have been every two years) is in 06 and was a brake fluid change. This was at the same odometer reading and date as the only service showing in the book i.e. 14032 miles. or April 06 if that makes sense?

So I think I'm starting to understand now. The only thing done is an oil service and brake fluid change at 14k. The car is now just a shade under 30k and the service indicator is saying I have 150 miles left. So now it is due an "Inspection 1"? It is under warranty through a third-party not BMW but to be honest I am willing to pay (eek) for anything if totally necessary just for some reassurance! I guess this is pretty bad for me when/if I come to sell?!
 
Looks like it's only been serviced when the OBC has said it needs doing.....but like BMW have said, if the OBC doesn't says it needs servicing and 2 years have passed it's time to get an inbetween oil service. These can easily be missed by many owners who have no idea about that little piece of information and only go on what the OBC tells them.

The brake fluid change is every 2 years and it's one you can't can't really miss seeing that is needs doing, because a little clock comes up on the OBC screen and stays there till you've had the brake fluid change done and the garage clears the reminder.

I've seen a few cars on here go 3 years without an oil service but I wouldn't be to worried about that as they have done so few miles in that time. How long ago was the 14K service done?

and yes, I bet your service coming up is the inspection 1.
 
The 14k one was done in April 2006. So over 4 years ago. Ouch. Looks like it has done around 4k a year since then so not huge mileage by anyones standards.

I've booked it in for the inspection 1 on Tuesday. Fearing the worst!!! :thumbsdown:
 
The service intervals are as follows... (It's surprising how many people don't know/follow this)

Service Types in order: Oil, Inspection 1, Oil, Inspection 2; recurring
Service must be carried out every 2 years OR by the mileage indicator - Whichever comes soonest.
Brake fluid change must also be carried out every 2 years, and is not mileage indicated.

Sounds like, as you say, your car has not been serviced properly. Don't worry too much, as there's not much you can do about it now, but if it hasn't been serviced, I'd be checking the brake fluid, too. It will however knock the value of your car down.
 
As IK has said, nothing you can do about it now, so don't worry about it. I doubt you'll get any nasty surprises on Tuesday related to it missing an oil service.

Just follow the above servicing advice given by IK in the future and you'll be fine.

I doubt it will effect the future value much, if you keep it well maintained and are owning it for a few years.

.....I wonder how many others cars are out there that have missed oil services due to the not obvious servicing schedule???
 
Thanks all. I called my friend who had recently bought a used X5 advertised with full BMW service history. Same again, had missed out on the "time-based" servicing and regular oil changes and only stuck to the service counter/ODB thingy. Sucks that this is going to affect the future value of the car but you live and learn I suppose!
 
playalistic said:
Thanks all. I called my friend who had recently bought a used X5 advertised with full BMW service history. Same again, had missed out on the "time-based" servicing and regular oil changes and only stuck to the service counter/ODB thingy. Sucks that this is going to affect the future value of the car but you live and learn I suppose!
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Don't worry about the future value. Like I said, keep it well maintained from now on and I doubt it will effect the value if much at all.

At the end of the day it's a 7 year old car and by the time you come to sell it if you keep it a for a few years it could 10+ years old and most people buying cars of that age will be more interested in how it's been looked after in it's recent years.

Just enjoy it :thumbsup:
 
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