I have read varied things from 5k to 15k. .... BMW forum people claim ......drivers should get their car serviced between 7-9k.
I've given similar recommendation to my customers. Saab recommends 10k to 15k intervals depending on year/model/engine. "Technically", yea, you should (at least) follow the manufacturers recommendation, but many folks believe some of these intervals are are slightly on the lengthy side of things. Saab gives a few services for free as does BMW, so the argument the extraordinarily long intervals would save them (the manufacturer) on maintenance cost. Is this possible? Sure, absolutely. But it all boils down to how long you plan on keeping the car, how much you 'abuse' the engines oil, and how good of a job you want to do on maintaining your car.
Regarding the "sucker price", well.....It depends on exactly what it is they're going to do for that $189. If it's a lot of "fluff and B.S." in addition to an oil change, then no, you're not getting your monies worth. It's a given they're checking tire PSI, topping off fluids, etc... If they're truly performing all of those little extra things
they are supposed to be doing, like lubing door hinges, lubing weatherstripping etc.... then YES, by all means get it done. But if there's a lot of sales pitch involved in the description of what they're doing then you're getting ganked.
Your owners manual should have an itemized list of what exactly a 15k entails (I'll be at work in a couple hours and have access to software that lists exactly what's BMW recommends). Again, if it's a lot of "fluff and B.S.", then I'd say just do oil changes. It's been a long time since I worked at a place that services BMW's, but if I recall correctly, it was an impressive list of "all those little things" everybody should do to properly maintain their automobile.
Without seeing the list, my recommendation would be to do the 15k's as recommended, but "on the 7,500's", just do a plain Jane ($60-$90) oil change.
Bob
