First Oil Change – 2008 BMW X5

Can you believe that it has been about a year and two months and I just got my first oil change in the 2008 BMW X5?

The dealer says to bring the vehicle in for it’s first service at either one year or 15,000 miles. I didn’t here the “one year” part. I was going on the mileage and it only reads a bit more than 13,000. Why the one year? Does oil get old if the car just sits? I mean, I drive it enough, just not a lot. Whatever.

A few days ago, I called the service manager and asked about bringing it in. He said that I should and we set up an appointment. The nice part is that BMWs come with a maintenance plan for four years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. They handle all maintenance issues except for gas and tires. That’s makes the checkout at the dealer somewhat fun. You don’t even have to open your wallet. All you do is sign a few forms that describe the service that was performed and leave.

So here’s what happened. I pulled up to the dealership last Friday. Since I had never been there before for service, I had no idea where to leave the car. I walked inside and asked someone. They told me to pull the car right up to the big service door and it would open automatically. I thought that was neat. I got back in the car and pull it into the service bay. I parked the car and a few guys ran over to me. They pulled my paperwork and took my key. They plugged the key into the computer and downloaded all the information that was recorded on it. Don’t ask, I have no idea. Apparently, the car is a big computer that records all sorts of information, such as average MPH, MPG, seat settings and all sorts of stuff. It’s for them to know and for me not to care.

Anyway, I let them do their thing and I had a seat in the waiting area.

One thing I wasn’t aware of was the fact that there was a wireless connection in the waiting area. I could have brought my laptop to get some work done. Next time. Instead, I read a few pages of the book I brought along. I was probably better off doing that anyway.

There was also a guy walking about asking everyone if they needed a ride into Hartford. He had a shuttle and really wanted to drive someone someplace. If I had something to do, I may have taken him up on his offer. Since I am a fairly boring person, I sat there and waited.

I did start chatting with the young fella next to me though. He was 25 and interested in business. My eyes lit up when I saw how eager he was to learn. I sat there for about an hour teaching him about all sorts of things. He was all ears and made me feel very important. He must have read Dale Carnegie’s book, “How to win friends and influence people.”

Let’s get to the fun stuff. What does the dealer do for the first maintenance visit?

– Standard scope: basically hooks a machine to the PCM/computer and asks the car what it needs
– Brake fluid service: brake fluid flush
– Microfilter service: swap out the microfilter that filters the cabin air
– Low mileage annual oil service: change oil and filter
– Windshield cleaner: add windshield wiper fluid
– Wash and vacuum: I thought that was nice

The car was filthy and the wash and vacuum was the cherry on top.

There was also some software download that needed to get done, but would have taken another two hours. I was told that they could take care of that next time. Since 15,000 miles is almost here, I will have to go back for another service. That’s right around the corner. As the service guy put it, I’ll get another free oil change. I would prefer they not call it “free.” It’s more like, “included.”