When do you change your oil?
 

When cars first came with on board oil change calculators there was a lot of discussion around whether the owner should go by what the car says or something more frequent…

BMW kicked this off when they started including 4 years free maintenance. Owners quickly noticed that oil change frequency changed from every 3,000 - 5,000 miles to suddenly 12,000 or 15,000 miles. Although oil quality has vastly improved over the years along with engine manufacturing methods.

Two questions:
Approximately what mileage are owners seeing before the car recommends an oil change?

Do you wait until the car asks for an oil change or use your own schedule? (3,000 miles? 5,000 miles?)

Many thanks!

Per the OLM as that's what it's for.

I change my oil when the OLM tells me to, basically once a year but with only a few thousand miles on it. But I wouldn't have a concern going to 7500 miles.

What the owners manual says - every 12 months or when the OLM says to change it. Whichever comes first.

I changed my oil filter @ 2k miles, followed by the complimentary service from Chevy @ 6,900 miles (oil change, tire rotation, & DCT filter). Since then, I've followed the the OLM (which includes time) which has worked out pretty closed to once every year/7k miles.

Many thanks to all…..

I think for many C8 owners the “once a year” oil change trigger kicks in before miles….

I am currently not driving very much but but hope to get out there more with the warmer weather….

I will probably fall into the annual oil change category but I would start squirming if I got to 5,000 miles and had not yet changed the oil 🤣…. Old habits…

No more than 5000 miles on any of my cars. First one at 2450 on my C8. There's more junk in a new engine from break-in than folks realize. You're opinions may differ....

Once/year so far.
I'm hoping to drive so I need to do it more often.

I think listening to the GM engineers is the best bet versus someone's opinion on a car forum.

The OLM indicated "Change Oil Soon" at 2,500 miles and about nine months on the clock. I found out that the OLM is based on time and not miles, so the 2,500-mile message seems unrealistic. Since this is the original oil, I'm going to change the oil and filter anyway. When changed I don't expect to change the oil again until the transmission service is due at two years or 7,500 miles whichever comes first. can the OLM be manually set to correspond with the mileage or every two years?

The oil life is mileage and time. There is no two year requirement for transmission service. There is a "free" service you can get that expires at two years.

Per Owner's Manual:

Change oil and filter every 7500 miles or yearly (whichever comes first)...Even easier to just change oil and filter when the Oil Life Monitor says to do so!

:iagree:…. Or at 12 months before the last oil change.

The OLM will require a change at 12 months if actual driving conditions do not require it sooner. If you don't drive it at all, the OLM will go to 0% at 1 year.

At 7,500 miles and every 5,000 miles after that... easy to keep track of and below the "you must change the oil NOW!" warning. I'm getting my 3rd oil change since June when I picked up the C8.

JT

I change around 5000 to 6000 miles or twice a year. My dealer wants me to go to 7500 but I'm comfortable at what I do. Enjoy the ride

Twice a year, Spring and Fall regardless of miles or OLM

Thats what I always believed…. I worked a few Summers in a machine shop and have seen casting to machined part process. You’d be amazed where the tiniest chips from machining or polishing grit can hide…

The few times I bought a brand new car I would do a first oil change at 500 miles, the E46 M3 I changed the engine, transmission and rear diff oil at 500 miles. I think BMW actually required the diff oil change by 1,500 miles…. But I’m guessing…

If I really love and I mean love the car I could see following that…. I have spent a lot of time treating cars really well then selling them to folks that benefit from all my super maintenance 🤣

The car is beautiful inside and out…. It’s just gorgeous and so far drives very well…. But the tech, connectivity and complexity are a big minus… on many levels….

I change my oil in all my cars every 6000 miles or once a year using Mobil 1 oil.