First Oil change?
 

I know that this must have been asked before, but I could not find it when I tried to search so please forgive the re post (if I am in fact). I was just curious what most of you had done for your first oil changes. By that I mean when would you think it is recommended to change my oil first. WIth all my previous cars, it was recommended at about 1000 to 1500 miles, but the dealership said that 3000 is OK for the 8. Since they did not seem to know anything at all about this car, I doubt their information is correct about this. I am approaching 1200 miles and have just had to add my first quart of oil so I am curious if 1500 is a good time to do my first oil change, or is ti best to wait.

Dave

I'd wait for 2k. Its a personal preference though. Some say the oil it comes with is special in some way.

I did mine at 1500 - mostly out of convenience. I was planning on doing it between 1500 and 2000, and it just so happened that I hit 1500 on a decent weekend, and I had the time to do it.

I changed mine at 1500KM ( 950ish Miles), and every 5,000KM since.

Oil is CHEAP....engines aren't :D

I did mine at 2500 mi. I went on a trip to San Diego and my oil low light came on. I ran to put some oil in that Sat., and the Monday after that I brought it in to get the oil changed. I now bought 2 quarts of 5W-20 Castrol to have on hand just in case.

2500 for my first, and every 2500 after.

500 miles
2500 miles
5000 miles
10000 miles

Staying on the every 5000 miles. 5w-30 (which is the recommended oil everywhere but the U.S.) Doesn't affect the mileage.

Thanks for all the information, I think just to be on the safe side I will change it at 1500 miles..

Dave

Well, we have the same issue about oil, type, when to change, myths and facts about sync and dino in the BMW M/C world. We BMW riders are very anal about oil and it looks like it is not exclusive to those folks.

Did I miss the boat on this one? If you read chapter 8 of the RX-8 owners manual and I direct you to page 8-3, 8-4 and 8-5. Why on earth would you want to change oil at 1500 miles , 3000 or sooner than 5000 miles or 8000km or 4 months time and that is if you drive in conditions as explained in 8-3 or live in one of the regions noted. Under normal driving conditions, intervals recommended are 7500 miles or 12,000 km or 6 month period. Oh, by the way that would be using dino oil. Hey, this is what you need to do to meet maintenance requirements for protecting your RX-8 warranty.

Now if I choose to use sync oil then I would at least double the duration.

In addition, if you read 8-10, it provides you the recommended oil weght 5w-20 and if you forget, you can find the same information on your oil filler cap.

PS- This same information is repeated in the Repair Manual for the Rx-8 as well

For some of us, merely meeting the maintenance requirements isn't enough. I sleep much better at night knowing that at any time there's less than 2500 miles on my oil, so the next time I want to rev it to redline over and over on a hard run through the countryside I KNOW I'm protected. Maybe if I drove it like an average driver in a Toyota Camry then the recommended period is fine... but I don't, so it's not.

Also take into account that when changing the oil the normal way (level) with the 6MT RX8, only about half of it comes out. So if you follow the 7500 mile periodic change, you're running some really old, dirty oil most of the time. For me, spending 20 minutes changing the oil every couple thousand miles is well worth the peace of mind... and it's good bonding time between man and machine :)

I did mine at 1000km. It's worth just 20 bucks considering how you break in your engine is the most important part of its life. I also changed the transmission and diff fluids at 8000km, made a TON of difference in shift quality!
and umm.... interesting avatar lol

I just bought my XR8 Monday. I am planning on oil change intervals of 1500 miles with the oil filter every other time. This is the same routine I use on my motorcycles and my RX8 to mee seems a bit more like my bikes (Honda RC51 & GSXR1000) than my F150. It may a bit overkill but it sur cannot hurt! I also plan on using the Mobil 1 longer oil filter I have read about and will change over to full synthetic around 3000 miles.

Yah im sure it won't hurt to change it that offen...

I actually changed mine more frequently during the break in. I did it at 500 and 1500 and will do it at 2500 soon. And since I'm going to be autocrossing i'll stick to every 2500. But it's all just personal preference and depends on how you drive. The manual is just a guideline.

I just changed mine @ about 1500 miles. I figure better safe than sorry..
Thanks for all the helpful input..

Dave

I am taking mine in Wednesday for the free service. I know they won't put in 5W20 even if I request it. Can't figure out why they don't go by the manual for their cars.