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Oil Change and Service Interval

60K views 39 replies 22 participants last post by  Col  
#1 ·
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding variable servicing. The A5 has an Oil Change interval and a Service Interval. the difference in the 2 seems to be only a few thousand miles, so why have the 2. Is it that Audi wants you in the workshop more often or is there a valid engineering reason for this. My previous A4 had just one interval that equated to the Service interval on my A5.
I have had different dealers tell me to ignore the Oil Change and just go off the Service Interval and others have said the opposite. It just seems to be a backward step if you have an Oil change and then have to go back a couple of months later for the Main service
Is there and Audi Tech out there that can give us the definative answer to this
 
#2 ·
Oil change - between 15000 km to 30000 km (counted, depending on ride conditions) - only oil change, nothing else

Service - every 24 months, service work specified in service book
 
#3 ·
Just had my first service at around 19000 miles.

Service interval screen on MMI after service showed next oil change in 9100 miles and full service in 18900 miles.

I asked about this and the dealer stated that the oil change frequency at 9100 miles may step out slightlly as this is controlled by sensors monitoring oil condition so the 9100 to the next oil change is a worst case scenario. i.e it may not count down 1 mile for evry mile I do.

As it happens it seems to be counting down on a mile per mile basis and i'll be due an oil change within 4 months!

G
 
#4 ·
The first oil change is typically shown at around 9000 miles on variable with around 18k being the service.
 
#6 ·
The point is it is variable based on driving style and conditions. 19K miles between oil changes is possible in my experience and currently my MMI is showing same mileage for both oil and service. Obviously if the oil becomes due and the service is showing as due in, say, 2k miles or so then it makes sense to get the done together.
 
#8 ·
Hashluck
yep.....this seem right. Before my 1st service oil change and service interval were within 400 miles of eachother..........

however

...............after the first service was complete the MMI states next oil change is due at 9100 miles with service in 18900 miles.

Will be interested to hear what others have experienced after first service.
Why would the original oil be capable of nearly 19000 miles, and after first service when the oil should have been changed, you can only get 9000 miles before next oil change. It does not make sense to me! Surely it should be 19000 again!!!

Anything obvious im missing or am I just thick:no:
G
 
#7 ·
Stick to the Oil Change interval if it is a tad sooner than the Service milestone. I wouldn't risk running the engine on oil that is no good anymore. Moreover, if your oil change indication is later than the Servive do not break the Service milestone because you may have warranty issues.

Just my 2p
Regards
George
 
#9 ·
...............after the first service was complete the MMI states next oil change is due at 9100 miles with service in 18900 miles.
There was an error in the software on some A/S5s which equalised the first oil service with the main service. I believe a TSB was issued to correct this but unless your car had been in for something, it wouldnt have got done.

The first oil change is at around 9000 and service around 18000. This is why you get the confusion. Some show the 18000 and some show the 9000.
 
#10 ·
I believe you are quoting the Fixed Service intervals. On LongLife Service regime the oil change is still variable and can go out to 20K miles. I quote directly from Audi on the LongLife Service Regime

Service Intervals:
Oil-change Service Variable to a maximum of every 20,000*
miles/2 years
Inspection Service Fixed to every 20,000* miles/3 years, then
every 20,000* miles/2 years thereafter

*as indicated by the service display

So it is entirely possible the oil change and inspection service could arrive at the same time depending on driving style and conditions. LongLife regime is only recommended with the following style:

Mileage: More than 30 miles per day
Type of journey: Motorway and main road driving. Mainly
longer distance journeys. Constant speeds
Conditions: Normal engine loading – e.g. with little or no
towing, with little or no hill climbs. Normal
vehicle loading
Driving style: Moderate acceleration, moderate braking,
engine revs mainly below 3,000

Which happens to exactly match mine hence my variable indicator still showing oil change will be aroind 19K miles.
 
#11 ·
Now I'm confused. My car has done nearly 11000 miles in 9 months. MMI showing next service due in 810 days and oil in 445 days both showing due in 9100 miles.

Seems good to me especially as I have a free service!!

|Cheers

RG:cheers:
 
#12 ·
Well thats all clear (as mud) now :thumbsup:
I'm just going to go for smewhere in between the two figures
 
#13 ·
Can anyone tell me how much a 20k service will cost me?
 
#16 ·
this long life service business, could I request it from audi then on my next service since I've just had the car done again today, averaging 9k between services. The miles I do I'll spend as much time in Oxford Audi as I will sat on the M1.
 
#17 ·
If yours is showing 9000 as the service interval then its wrong. Oil change at 9000 but service should be longer.
 
#19 ·
Mine's in today. Done 15K8 and oil service overdue by 7 days. As the full service was only 3K miles away, I asked Audi Sheffield (Gilders) if they would also do the 1st variable full service to which they agreed. Always been accommodating they have. :thumbsup:
 
#20 ·
I have come to the conclusion that having 2 schedules, Oil and Main is bol!o*ks. Both services include an oil change so why would the longlife oil need to be changed so often. the difference in Oil and Main seems to vary from about 9000 miles to just a few thousand. Longlife oil in modern Audis should be good for between 15000 and 20000 miles.
Just a cynical ploy to get more money out of us I think :thumbsdown: :mad:
 
#29 ·
How can you tell from the MMI whether the car has been set up for fixed or variable schedules.

Presently the MMI is showing a number of miles to next service / a number of days.

Did request a variable schedule, but have a worry that it has been set to the fixed, with the number of days being quoted also.

Can anyone clarify for me ?
 
#30 ·
No you can't changed it in MMI, only with VAS or VCDS.
 
#31 ·
Will happily get dealer to change, just not sure which service schedule is set at the moment, so was looking for clarification as to whether the variable schedule states days to next service, or just miles to service on the MMI
 
#33 ·
Im in ireland and cannot get this figured out either. Car can from factory with longlife oil. Service indicator brought in me at 10,000 miles for first service. I was then charged for longlife oil and thought I would now following 1st service yet the full 'variable' mileage until next service but no, counting from 10,000 again and not variable at all. Dealer then confirmed that they had set it to fixed interval although still were happy to charge for the more expensive oil required for longlife. Anyway, he agreed to set it to variable at following service and he says he did. Im not sure though. I believe that when on variable interval, there should be no such thing as oil service & seperate inspection service and that the service indicator should only show distance & time to next service.
My car currently shows 8000 miles to oil change having covered 7000 miles since service so at least now its 15000 between service BUT the other indicator is saying service in 3000 miles ever though at last service I had all works that were required at major service carried out. It can not possibly be due any further work until it needs its next oil change so either the dealers cannot set the system properly or they are scamming us into coming in for work way too often.
Do anyone have an A5 that is on variable service & only shows the one distance /time to service instead of having distance to oil change & distance to service?
 
#34 ·
I was checking out when my 1st service is due. The car is 18 months old now and on a long life service. The car tells me that the oil change is due in 2300 miles. Service is due in 4900 miles. Looking at my average mileage I probably hit 2 years before I hit 4900 miles.

On my average mileage the oil change and service will be months apart. Looking in the service manual, part of the service is an oil change. Now if I get the oil change done first (with long life oil again) I assume Audi will not change it again a few months later! Is this correct?
 
#35 ·
My first oil 'service' is due in 21 days.
I gather they do just that.with a filter change?
Anybody no uk price?
Seems daft really my car doesn't have old oil because it disappears and I have to fill it up with new oil,so I'm doing my own very regular oil change!!
Audi innovation!
 
#39 ·
My first oil 'service' is due in 21 days.
I gather they do just that.with a filter change?
Anybody no uk price?
Was told today by an Audi dealership that all they did was drain the oil and change the filter and add new (long life) oil. He then went on to quote that this would cost ÂŁ201.94 :yikes: Seems a lot for so little work. I know long life oil cost around ÂŁ10 a litre when I last bought a bottle from Halfords.

The 20K first service I was quoted ÂŁ345.99
 
#36 ·
Just had my first oil change sevice at approx 2 yrs old ( 8800 miles ) also had a recommended air con service ( or was it con service ? )
Anyway now MMI reading 365 days till next service so I assume that the dealership may have set the system to yearly servicing rather than variable also the MMI is reading less than 1/3 rd full of oil , its going back for a software ECU update and a check on the roof wear as their computer link was down .
Be interesting to see what they say about the servicing interval .