How often should I change the engine oil? I have read conflicting info and now I'm confused!

I've seen every 6,000 miles and also every 3,000kms, that is a huge difference

Hi there
Dont remember were I read it but for the bike and cars, change oil and filter every 5000km, wen on mineral oil. And every 10000km wen on semi or sint (thats only for the cars).
I also flush (flushing aditive or diesel oil) the bike every 10000km.
No problems to date.
Best regards.
JAP

japuentes wrote:Change oil and filter every 5000km, when on mineral oil. And every 10000km when on semi or synth (thats only for the cars).
I also flush (flushing additive or diesel oil) the bike every 10000km.

5,000 kms (+/- 3,000 miles) sounds more logical than 6,000 miles especially considering the bike has the same size engine as some small cars!

Yes, but way more heat than most cars I would think, and of course that is what kills an oil's lubricating qualities. I don't ride a huge amount (about 3 K a year), but change it every 3K kms.

Fortunately, must of my riding is done on motorways or in fast moving traffic. But, even so, I don't wish to go beyond the bikes servicing limits.

Martin
Minor service @5000miles and major sevice @ 10000 miles oil change carried out at every service according to BMW handbook and Haynes service manual (uk)
Regards
Ganumph

Hi Martin,
The BMW service sheet says change the oil and filter every 7,500 K (4,500 Miles) and if you only do short trips change the oil and filter every 3,500K (1,800 Miles) that's direct off - BMW Motorrad Maintenance schedule
K 75 / K 75 S/C/RT / K 1 / K 100 / K 100 RT/LT up to 1993 onlys
K 100 RS (2V)/(4V) up to 1993 onlys (their spelling)

If you use full synthetic and do long journeys like you do you could happily stretch that distance between fills and changes. Amsoil (no I am not a dealer) have recommendations of quite extended change intervals when using their oil and special filter.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Hi Martin, I've written quite a bit on this previously, but I'm not sure if/where Bert files all the posts, so maybe I can add a little more to K Bike's recommendations (as we are mostly on the same page it seems).
The K engine holds 3.75 litres of oil in a finned crankcase sump. It has a large oil pump when compared to similar and larger engines. The K engine (as you know) is also water cooled and the cooling system is well over designed. Put simply, the whole engine is extremely robust and over-engineerend in typical German fashion, that's why they last for ever if well maintained.
The biggest "killer" of oil in our K engines is condensate, which will be generated when the engine is only used for short periods (less than 15 minutes), particularly in colder climates. There are no high temperatures anywhere in a properly maintained K engine, the maximum oil temperature will be around 85 degrees C, and this will only ever be encountered in hot weather, in city conditions. Open road, 2-up fully laden you will see around 65 degrees C, trust me I have measured this with an infra-red thermo gun.
Excessive temperatures shorten the oil's life. Boxer engines have this issue because of their cylinder head temperatures. So, to summarise, Synthetics are required in order to cope with high temps, other than that you are wasting money really.
I use 15W40 Diesel oil (Caltex Delo Silver here in Aust), and change it and the filter at 5000 K's. My engine has 167,000 K's and uses no oil between services. Hope this helps, Dennis

Thanks to everyone for the help.

My next question is how much of a gap is there between the filter and sump wall? The filter extractors we have commercially available here have a thickness of either 3 or 5 mm.

Hi ther,
The tool I use has 82.5mm OD with no problems.
Best regards
JAP

This weekend I had the oil changed. Unfortunately the tool needed to remove the filter are not so easy to find, luckily though, the filter had been spun on finger tight. I had never seen the brand before, it looked like a generic version of a generic filter! It didn't even have the country of origin stamped on it.
For the filter I had a choice of the Mann W7 3/4D or the Mann W712/53, I opted for the second, which looks like this one http://the-filtershop.eu/en/spd/V213/Oil_filter_VASCO_V213 as now I shall no longer need a special tool!
As my choice of lubricant I went for Castrol GTX 20W50, over here it's one of the more expensive but does last longer.

The oil changing tool is available over here from a normal car parts place ....(Halfords) i think it was £4.99 cheaper than even ebay.

I think its just a standard tool.

badgerdid wrote:The oil changing tool is available over here from a normal car parts place ....(Halfords) i think it was £4.99 cheaper than even ebay.

I think its just a standard tool.

Not standard over here though. The usual types over here are either a chain or metal strap and handle affair....pretty useless unless you have enough space around the filter.

I meant standard as in the tool fits most oil filters, not a special size for the K's

Martin,
If you are using synthetic oil there is no need to flush it as synthetic leaves it very clean indeed. You don't get Sprag clutch problems either.
This is the adapter used to remove the filter and as you can see I had a problem with overtightened filter by some idiot previous owner. I rigged this to solve the problem.
Cheers Ajays

Martin
It is no big deal to remove the sump then you can get a strap on the filter. Use gasket seal when refitting the sump, I have just done this myself.
Regards
Mick :pirat:

I took my oil filter to a car parts shop and matched it to a fluted oil filter remover worked a treat enough clearance and only £6 saves removing sump cover :-) ian

Reddragon52 wrote:I took my oil filter to a car parts shop and matched it to a fluted oil filter remover worked a treat enough clearance and only £6 saves removing sump cover :-) ian

That's the tool which is not so easy to find down here! I'm sure I'll find one on e-bay.

Martin, look at this.... They even ship to Brazil for $9.99

Crazy Frog wrote:Martin, look at this.... They even ship to Brazil for $9.99

Thanks,

Are they all the same size? Do BMW really do a 'one size fits all' oil filter?

On the 'Buy it now' items postage would only be US$3,00!

I believe they are all the same.

Hi there
I bougth mine from strupper and they come in various sizes.
Mine has stamped "KD2790USA" in the back.
Strupper is a very comon tool brand here in Venezuela perhaps in Brazil too.
Best regards
JAP

japuentes wrote:Strupper is a very comon tool brand here in Venezuela perhaps in Brazil too.
Best regards
JAP

I'm not familiar with that brand. I'ts probably easier just to source from e-bay as per the link mentioned above.

Martin, sorry is not strupper is TRUPER.
Best regards
JAP

Here is one filter not requiring the special tool:

Crazy Frog wrote:Here is one filter not requiring the special tool:

The Mann filter I fitted looks just like this one, except it's black.

Yes, but they are shorter. That may mean less filtering area and that could be bad.
Any experience regarding the subject?
Best regards
JAP

japuentes wrote:Yes, but they are shorter. That may mean less filtering area and that could be bad.
Any experience regarding the subject?
Best regards
JAP

They are the same length as the other filter listed by Mann (W7 3/4D). Plus I compared them with the the unknown brand filter on the bike...all the same length.

I used one of those K&N oil filters on an Oilhead I owned. Just one though, since when attempting to remove it the welded-on nut simply stripped right off the filter, and it was not overly tight to begin with. I used a screwdriver to finish removing it, then fitted the correct type of filter from then on. Gimmicks abound.