# oil change intervals- how often?



## DrKaz (Oct 5, 2011)

I own a TDI and I wanted to know if peope are doing more frequent oil and filter changes than that recommended by Audi's LongLife service intervals (about every 19K miles).

I used to do this on my BMW 530D- BMW oil service every 20K miles, and I myself would do a change at the 10K mile in between BMW services (effectively replenishing the oil and filter every 10K miles).This car was a family "horse" and had 205000 mile on the clock before someone wrote it off, but it felt very solid to drive till the end and I am sure the frequent oil changes were a significant factor. On BMW forums, many US owners are changing every 6-8K mile which I think is over kill and too expensive.

I know fully synthetic oil has superior functional longevity over mineral or part-synthetics oils, but I still question the lubricating ability of even the best fully synthetics beyond 10K miles with regards to protecting the engine and the turbo if applicable.

On the TT, I plan on doing an "in-between" oil and filter change myself at 9.5K miles and stick to Audi's service plan at the 19K mile mark. Many taxi drivers change thier oil at 10k miles allowing thier vehicles to go well beyond the 200K mark. I will be keeping this car for some time so I should reap the benefits with doing this. Do peope think this practice is a waste of time and money? Opinions please?

Second point- transmission oil (gearbox oil). Like in the BMW 530D, I was told my manual gear box on this Audi TT TDI (non S tronic/ multi-tronic) is a "sealed-for-life" box and will not need its oil changing. I too challenge this notion (like may others). They recommend changing oil on the other x-tronic boxes at 38000 mile so why not the standard boxes. I had BMW change the 530D's transmission oil every 80000 mile as a precaution, and so the gear box felt silky smooth till its death. I shall do the same with the TT. Any opinions welcome?

The above may not be so important to many TT owner as alot will change thier cars every 2-3 years, but I like to hang on to my vehicles and do a lot of miles, so reliability is key. 
Kaz


----------



## phil3012 (Jul 25, 2008)

I just stick to the service intervals on time rather than miles though (18 months).

Whilst you're talking about oil, remember the haldex needs an oil and filter change every 40K which it outside the normal schedule.


----------



## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi Kaz, Frequent oil changes has to be a benefit for the long term owner. 
Taxi engines last for ever because engines are always hot & have fewer cold starts, its the numerous cold starts that cause the wear/oil contamination.
Hoggy.


----------



## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Car has a oil quality sensor, not point changing it until it tells you.
other option is to change it when the DIS say its got a few 000s left.

I ran my RS for 2 years without an oil change.


----------



## TT-driver (Sep 14, 2010)

Most of us won't take the TT up to those kinds of miles. If this is what you're intending to do, then a slightly more frequent oil change will be wise, especially when the number of miles grow. The longish interval will be fine in the first years, but as the engine gets older it will produce more sooth which partly ends up in the oil. At some stage it will produce more sooth than the oil is capable to keep afloat. This is when sludge starts to build up. And sludge is not good.

You did well on the BMW. I'm sure the Audi will like the same treatment.


----------



## mauvedipstick15 (Jan 25, 2011)

Hoggy said:


> Hi Kaz, Frequent oil changes has to be a benefit for the long term owner.
> Taxi engines last for ever because engines are always hot & have fewer cold starts, its the numerous cold starts that cause the wear/oil contamination.
> Hoggy.


They used to last for ever Hoggy 2.7 Nissan  the present ones are shyte,based on the Chrysler Voyager engine they are suffering catasrophic engine failure up and down the country.L Taxi Company will not admit to there being a problem hence they are not selling any London style black cabs anywhere apart from maybe London (no other choice apart from Mercedes Vito) i can see it going bang maybe in the not to distant future.Warranty at the minute is 100,000 cabs siezing between 400--and 250,000 miles,to inspire confidence they require to warranty engine for 500,000 miles.


----------



## TootRS (Apr 21, 2009)

I change oil every 5k miles


----------



## rob.b (Feb 11, 2011)

I will change mine when it requires an oil service as I don't believe they need it any sooner.
I have a VW Golf TDI with over 223,000 miles on it. It never gets anything more than the required servicing, and it does has a full service book and it's still going well. In fact it's never had the oil changed in its gearbox, and it's still as good as when I bought it in 1998. It's one of the very first MK4 TDI's in the country, so in my opinion, oil change more frequently is definately not required!!


----------



## TTRTWO (Dec 9, 2006)

Do you know whether you will get to the 19k miles between oil changes in any case? People seem to have different experiences depending on driving style and annual miles. My S3 only manages 12k between oil services which is about 15 months. My TT only does 3.5k miles pa (used infrequently rather than lots of short runs) but refused to do more than about 14 months on AVS so I converted to annual servicing and use mineral oil - cheaper option in the circumstances.

Let us know how you get on with miles/time before you make a decision.


----------



## phil3012 (Jul 25, 2008)

TTRTWO said:


> Do you know whether you will get to the 19k miles between oil changes in any case? People seem to have different experiences depending on driving style and annual miles. My S3 only manages 12k between oil services which is about 15 months. My TT only does 3.5k miles pa (used infrequently rather than lots of short runs) but refused to do more than about 14 months on AVS so I converted to annual servicing and use mineral oil - cheaper option in the circumstances.
> 
> Let us know how you get on with miles/time before you make a decision.


The TDi does get about 19K between oil changes, at least mine does anyway. Most of my miles are motorway though, so the ideal conditions really for maximising the life of the oil.

In the OPs original post it mentions the gearbox being sealed for life and the oil not needing to be changed. I'd be tempted not to mess with something that's 'sealed for life', if it isn't meant to be serviceable then my motto would be best leave well alone. Might do more harm than good.

I also found out recently that the DPF is a replaceable item at 125K IIRC, this will be a big bill that the OP will need to take into account.


----------



## TT-driver (Sep 14, 2010)

I don't know about these sealed for life claims. Thing is, they never tell you what life is to be expected. 150k miles? 200k miles?

Another forum member did mention changing the oil of his manual transmission and he claimed the box was better afterwards. Less noise and easier shifting if I remember correctly.

I had the oil of my mx-5 gearbox changed after 8 years and indeed, shifting improved a lot. I want to have the gearbox oil changed on my TT as part of the next service. But will have to be the original oil. I read about people using the wrong oil and shifting getting worse.

My gearbox is 'singing/whining' a bit already. (78000k km)


----------

