I currently own a 1996 328i with 145k miles on it that I purchased new. Frequent oil changes have been the norm. To this day I do not have any measurable oil consumption. There are many e90 328i 2011's returning to the marketplace coming off leases. I am interested in buying one but am having a hard time with the first oil service on these lease returns being performed in the 12-14k range. I know it is synthetic oil now but can anyone weigh in here on my concerns? I plan to own and drive over a 100k miles on a "new" 2011 for myself. Just having a hard time with the non service on these lease returns with 15 to 25k miles and only 1-2 oil services being performed....
12 to 14K might be on the light side, but there is hope. My 2011 has 11,000 miles on it. For a stunning $98 bucks, I had the oil changed by the dealer at 6,000 miles. After the first year & at 10,000 miles, BMW provided what they call a "low mileage" oil change. In another 5,000 miles, the oil monitor will call for the first required oil maintenance, also provided by BMW. For the grand total of $98.00 my 2011 Z4 will have had three oil changes in 16,000 miles. I bought this car, but I've done the same thing on lease cars that I feel strongly about buying at the end of the lease term. I bet there are plenty of 2011s like mine out there.
That is normal for those vehicle BMW changes there oil every 15,000 miles or 1 year what ever comes first. Of course you can change it more often as mentioned above. The high mileage oil changes do not effect the vehicles longevity. Good luck with your search.
I hope you are right. Seems to me the large number of regular 328 lease customers could care less about the person who drives the car after their 36 months, so they won't bother with the "old school" maintenance as you did. For those who do, they can do better on resale by letting people on enthusiast forums have first shot at buying their car or go private sale. The documentation of the extra maintenance disappears if you just trade into the dealer and the no maintenance schedule is good enough to get the car sold as CPO at the dealer.
Maybe there should be a pre-lease screening to make sure the potential leasee understands what it takes to be a responsible member of the BMW family. Making the payments, doesn't do a thing for the long term value of the vehicle. Synthetic oil or not, putting a $50,000 on the road for 36 months with a student of the "Gas & Go" school of automotives may not be the best way to protect the car, or the brand.
