405er

I recently bought a 2015 SQ5, and instead of getting sucked into the entire 15k service at a dealership, most of which seemed like visual inspection and other BS, I opted to use my trustworthy indy mechanic to just change the oil and cabin filter. Looking at the maintenance schedule for this car, next oil change isn't until 25k miles? Am I missing something or this that correct? Figure no point in asking dealer since they'd take the additional business whether necessary or not.

uberwgn

405, welcome to AudiWorld. Audi has been at 10k mile intervals for a long time...as have the other Euro mfrs.

blmoore

Hi 405er,

I have been changing oil more frequently in my '14 Q5, and having the oil analyzed each time. The change intervals I've done so far have been 5k, 5k, 6k, 7k and most recently 8k.

Each time, the metal (mostly copper and tin) content has gradually reduced as the engine has been broken in. I am only now planning on running 10k between changes, starting at roughly 31k miles.

ex-quattro PETE

Right, but how is that related/impacted by your more frequent oil changes? Is there a correlation?

AFAIK, the engine will break in regardless of your OCI. And typically either the wear metal particles/objects are large enough to get captured by filter media or small enough to be suspended in oil and not causing any measurable harm to the engine.

Redd

Welcome to the world of premium synthetic oils, which have only been around since Mobil1 threw down the gauntlet around 1985. The Audi approved oils are all that good or better, all synthetic. Different makers have suggested 10,000 miles, even 15,000 miles, and up to one year of normal use. And that's going on for 30+ years now.

Nothing new here, except the wide range of brands and choices now available.

blmoore

Yes, the larger particles should get captured in the filter. Getting the smaller stuff out of there with more frequent changes int he beginning might reduce the chance that it will cause wear.

Is it enough to justify changing oil at shorter intervals in the beginning? Maybe or maybe not. At a cost of less than $100 for an oil change, it's cheap insurance IMO. I plan on keeping this car well beyond the warranty.

stix

My thinking is identical.
My 2012 is at 65K. It's been trouble free. I decided to keep it past warranty. Oil changes have been at every 5-6000 miles.

Redd

I think part of the difference in mfr recommendations comes from the engines being made differently in recent years. The old standard were honed cylinder walls and the piston rings were designed to fit snugly and polish them down tightly to make the final fit. But these days? I think the machining is different, a laser surface hardening process may be used on some, and the rings certainly are different. Toyota is even shipping engines that use something like a 10-20W oil as their standard fill, because the engine's internals are so different from the usual.
Certainly cheap enough to do a break-in change if you plan long term ownership, but without knowing what or how different the engine might be, that could also be like doing a preventive air change in the tires. (What, your tire guy didn't try to sell you on the break-in air change?(G)

rdA4WtQ5

Many 2017 Audi's now have their first change at 10K instead of 5K also.
The longer interval is not only due to better oil designed for longer intervals but more due much cleaner running and faster warming up engines. Extremely little fuel ends up in the oil anymore. When fuel finds it's into oil the oil stops working so well.

BlackSVT

I'm going quite a bit off topic for this one, but it is interesting in the vein of how oil change intervals have changed. "Back in the day" (my college years) I'm working in a garage/gas station, we had this lady come in because her car was smoking and running really bad. It was a 3-4 year old Thunderbird, guessing a ~1986, with a 302/5.0L V8. Mileage was only in the 12-14k range. Come to find out she had never had the oil changed because her trips "were all short" and "I don't drive much". Wrong. Never warming up, lots of fuel buildup in the oil I'm sure, 1980s crappy engine and oil leads to sludge like I've never seen and a destroyed engine.

I haven't gone quite to 10k between changes on the Q5, but I get a lot closer than I ever thought I would given the TBird sacrificed-in-the-name-of-science experience