Every BMW I have owned I have always done Mid oil indicator oil changes as well as changing the fluid in the transmission/differentials/Transfer cases at 45k mark. There has always been much debate whether this is necessary or a waste of money. Old school mechanics have stated that BMW fluid intervals are too long and that fluids should be changed sooner. Especially when you have the turbos in that "HOT V" cooking the oils. My car, My money, so I change my fluids more than most people.
I have a 2012 N63 X5 with 52k on the clock. Since I have owned it it has had 9 oil changes. Yes 1 was for the 1500 mile brake-in (like M cars) and one was for the "Customer Satisfaction Program" for leaking things so needless to say it has had a bunch of oil changes. Along with shorter oil change intervals, some of the experts say, you need to red line/high RPMs with these engines to really get the oil moving through them to help keep things clean. Living in the chicagoland area and having lots of highways allows me to perform this task at regular intervals it while merging onto the highways. (Yes the motor is at full operating temp before High RPM's are reached)
Now where is this story going...... Well like many N63's my X5 burns oil. 1qt per 1500-2000 miles but recently that has increased to 1-2 qts every 1000-1500 miles. Just last month I burned 3 qts over 600 miles. I ended up purchasing an extended warranty and tried to make a claim that it was burning too much oil. The adjuster came out and video taped the initial startup of the car after 12 hours sitting and it was belching smoke and oil out the tail pipes. The adjuster said it was clear something was wrong and BMW suggested Valve Guide Seals needed to be replaced. Well that was promptly denied due the cost. BMW told them that if this keeps up there could be emission issues because there is not supposed to have this much oil in the exhaust. 1 month later and 3 more quarts the emissions light came on and the end result was 4 fouled O2 sensors.
The warranty company stated they needed to see the maintenance records for the car because they have seen these problems with owners who "neglect there maintenance" and was sure that it was the owners lack of oil changes was the problem. They also requested to take the valve covers off so they could see the sludge due to the neglect.
BMW took the valve covers off and to the master techs surprise, not a single bit of sludge in the top of the engine. This tech has performed this service on many different N63 motors and I quote " I have never seen an N63 motor look this clean ever and surely not at 52k miles". He then approached my SA and asked him to come take a look at this motor. During the walk back to the car, the Tech asked how does the owner take care of his vehicles. My SA responded that this X5 had 9 oil changes and every fluid replaced in the drive train at 45k. He just smiled and said "Well this is an example of a motor when you actually change the fluids in your vehicle on your dime".
Needless to say the warranty company immediately approved the work once they saw the maintenance records and the pictures of the motor.
For those who may chime in and say "your red line runs and High RPM's is what caused these issues". The Master tech said that this would not cause the valve seal issues and that he would not have me change the driving as well as the oil changes.
