'06 330ci ZHP former CPO car maintenance history concern?

[mikay]

Hi there-
New member here, getting ready to pull the trigger soon (I think) on an '06 330ci ZHP 6MT, 63k miles, 2 owner. Car is in excellent shape, was a former Cert Pre Owned car out of Hendrick in Charleston, SC. After securing its service history, I've discovered the car accumulated 15k miles/yr for its first three years of life, then was sold to its current owner as CPO.
My concern is that it apparently only received one annual oil change each of those 1st 3 years of its life, including the first one. Since then, it has been babied and led an easy life in semi-retirement with low annual miles. The current owner states it doesn't use any oil, but he drives it so little he can't really give a fair gauge on it. It did pass a PPI with flying colors, but forgot to ask to specifically check for oil sludge, nor was a compression / leakdown performed.
Are those first 3 15k oil change intervals anything to be concerned about?

[Lorenzo]

No concerns. Sounds like a great car. Go for it!


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[san]

None of us wait till 15k miles to change the oil now but it could be quite possible that when the e46 was new and under warranty and factory maintenance the oil was changed at 15k interval. I could be wrong though. Either way I don't think it's an issue.


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[kayger12]

I wouldn't sweat it. I bought a used E46 from a family member that had 15K changes up to 100K. Had the valve cover off to do the VANOS at that time and everything looked fine. Sold her 40 or 50K later with no issues.

[Oli77]

^ Boss man! Haven't seen you around here much.

Yes, OP, no sweat, I bet most of our cars started their life with a 15K oil change till ~65K or 5 years.

[mikay]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm probably over thinking it but am just looking for some input one way or the other.....I guess the good news is if the original owner racked up 15k/yr for the 1st 3yrs then that car was getting highway miles / getting fully hot on a regular basis....

[BMWM3186]

I say go for it, the cars are too rare to be that picky at this point in my opinion.

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[fredo]

My ZHP was not a CPO car. But I got the service recs from the dealer and they say oil changes done at 16, 32, 44 and 58k miles. I don't have the time frames handy. However the PO replaced VCG at 90k miles and there was no sludge at all.

[3ZHPGUY]

I bought mine 12/06 CPO and have followed the 15k recommendation for the last ten years and 120K. All oil changes have been at a BMW dealer and i have no consumption issues at 150K as of today. It was using less than a quart per change before I changed the valve cover gasket a few years ago.

[BMWCurves]

If I recall correctly, 15k miles was the standard E46 non-M interval for oil changes. BMW was stingy, but I doubt it did any real damage to the engine. Sounds like a great car.