Servicing The Car

[GnarlyCow]

Hi there. When I bought my car in March of this year, the milage countdown for my car was at 10800km or so. Since I am barely putting any km on my car everyday (16), this will mean I don't have to service this until sometime early next year.

To keep my warranty, do I only need to service the car when that mileage counter gets close to 0 or is it when that reaches 0 or x-number of months after last service?

[2001BMW330iRob]

The computer takes into account mileage and other factors.
Not sure if you store the car if the next time you drive it the display will move forward more than usual.
Might be just a mileage thing. Lets face it BMW Dealerships want you to maintain your car more than any other make.
The cars do not need that much maintenance and inspections!
When was the last time you heard a Caddy or Lincoln needing inspections every 30k?
That cost anywhere from $300 to $1000 if nothing is found and just a few fluids topped up or changed?
Take care!

[GnarlyCow]

So I should just wait for that number to get close to 0 before bringing it in. I just don't want my warranty to be voided because I didn't read some fine print somewhere saying I had to maintain every x-months or whatever.

[2001BMW330iRob]

You bought the car in March, the odometer countdown was 10000km.
What year is the car, and what is it a 320i, 323i, 325i, 330i, M-3 etc.
I am assuming the car is used, not sure how much of the 3 year, 80,000km warrantee is still valid?
Basically need more info to give you an answer.
Also are you handy at all with a wrench?
You would be surprised how much you can do at home, including reprograming the computer.

[GnarlyCow]

I bought a 2001 325Ci that had 56000km on it. It had the extended warranty on it so it's covered until August 2007.

I'm not handy with the wrench yet. I plan to learn, but not sure if I should 'learn' on a warrantied car. After, who cares.

[2001BMW330iRob]

Well with all that warrantee left you have no worries provided you find an honest Stealership.
Remember those extended warrantees could be more of a curse than a blessing with the wrong dealership.
The dealer has a hard time squeezing money out of the extended warrantee company for minor faults but has no problem charging you for "maintenance" items not covered under warrantee but needed to keep the extended warrantee in check.
Finding an honest BMW dealership is key in your situation.
No point in doing anything with the wrench when the car is under warrantee however I believe the scheduled oil changes are like 25,000 kms apart (in Canada).
I would not stretch any oil and filter that far.
Find out when the last oil change was done on the car that would be the first thing to do.
Every 8,000kms to 10,000kms max even with synthetic oil or 6 months in my opinion.

[moto]

GnarlyCow. You are in the same position that
I was last year in May. I bought a 2000 328i with 52350 km
on it and the service counter showed about 19000 km left.
I only put 7000 km on it last year before I stored it. I still
changed the oil last summer and again this August. I would
not go the full distance which is 25000 km for an oil service.
If the car is stored, then change it soon before winter and
then change it next year. If your going to drive it through
winter, I would go with 6 month intervals. Change it around
November and then again in May.