just a small question concerning OIL - United Bimmer Community

**253325is** · 12-02-2008, 07:29 PM

the darn "OIL SERVICE" light came on last night it's never been on befor and i'm not quite due for an oil change so what can this mean?? i mean should i change it anyway... ha...?

that and over the last 10,000 miles i've been using mobil1 10w-30 fully synthetic high mileage oil but i'm not really sure anymore if that is what i should be using someone told me that was wrong for my car but they didnt say what i should be using... does anybody have any suggestions on the oil i should be puting in my baby?? and thanks-

**3050rpm** · 12-02-2008, 08:46 PM

Kinda confused, what do you mean by the oil service light never having come on before? How did you determine when to change your oil and reset the service lights?

As to the Mobil 1 10W-30, that might be too light for the engine, and an engine that wasn't particularly meant to run with that viscosity. Just stick with the recommendations in the owner's manual, for such an old engine I'm not sure you'd find any advantage in going with a synthetic, even the conventional oils have formulations and additives to them that'll provide you with good protection and performance without having to spend the extra money.

**253325is** · 12-02-2008, 10:55 PM

when i bought my car last year i changed the oil with a tune up i'm not sure if it was due or not but i did it anyway. i changed it again this year when the miles were up but i didnt know there even was an oil service light because it hasnt come on in the whole time i've owned my car... is the light supposed to turn on every so many miles or just when the oil is due?? cause i konw the oil is due again pretty soon but the light just scared me i wanted to make sure thats what it was for. how do i reset the light anyway??

and for what oil to use i'll just do more resurch. if i remember correctly my owners manual called for 10w-30 the reson i am curious is because i heard europes oil is measured differently so 10w-30 over there would be like 10w-40 over here so 10w-30 over here would be too light i guess? right?... but yeah i'm not sure. ha at all.

but thanks so much for your reply-

**3050rpm** · 12-03-2008, 08:19 AM

The "oil service" and "inspection" lights are determined by algorithms, in the case of the oil service it would hinge upon number of cold starts, amount of stop-and-go driving, duration at highway speeds, stuff like that, so you can get optimal use of the oil. I think the same indicator lights have been in use in BMWs at least since the E30 models, consequently you should have a series of green lights that extinguish as the oil change interval draws near, then yellow lights I believ, then red or orange when the interval has been exceeded. To get back to the full display of 5 green lights you need to use the reset tool, or have it done for you. Since this car is relatively new to you, the indicator lights were probably unfamiliar, but I should think that something should have been illuminated on the dash (yellow lights perhaps). See the owner's manual (if still available) to read up on this.

I'm not aware of oil viscosity being measured differently in North America vs. Europe, although I could be wrong. I'm not convinced that synthetic oils are worth the price differential, or even make any difference, in older engines. For sure some cars come direct from the factory with synthetic oil in them, but these are brand new cars, with modern engines made to closer tolerances and with better materials than before, and therefore can make better use of the qualities of synthetics. That's my read on the situation, your research and preferences may indicate otherwise.

Big Evil · 12-04-2008, 04:00 PM

3050 is right on the money all the way around. Get on ebay and get a reset tool, you can pick up one that works for about 60 bucks or so and follow the instructions.

**ricks330i** · 01-31-2009, 08:50 PM

I reset my service lights on my 1989 325is and 1991 325ic by grounding the 7 and 19 connectors on the quick disconnect wiring harness and holding the ignition key on the run position till the lights go out. Here is a link that explains it better than me.

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/ele...ce_lights.html - 21k -