New to BMW, after a severals months, some ?

[Florida-X3]

All,

We bought our first ever BMW a few months ago (CPO 2014 x35i) and love the car. A few more creaks and rattles than what I would expect from a $$$ vehicle. Now that I have lived with it for a while I have a few newb questions:

1. No dipstick? Oil level is strictly measured via iDrive system?
2. In one section of the manual it recommends for oil BMW Longlife-01 or BMW Longlife-01 FE, what's the difference?
3. Yet in another section of the manual and in the engine bay it says "BMW Recommends Castrol" .... what vicosity? (I live in hot climate, FL).
4. Charge the battery through the starting aid terminals or go directly to the battery?
5. In my manuals, there was no hardcopy maintenance schedule. Does BMW provide one and if so is that downloadable or do I need to ask my dealer?
6. I get a message that my car is due for service in 4k miles. Digging through iDrive it talks about brakes. I assume that is just a guesstimate based on mileage and not an actual wear sensor?
7. Can you adjust intervals in the iDrive maintenance system?
8. I'm old school and have a hard time personally allowing my oil (any oil of type) go 10k miles before changing. Does everyone stick to the 10k or go with intervals they are comfortable with?
9. My center rear seat headrest won't raise, appears to have been put on backwards. Any suggestions to get it out? (I have pushed the lever, pulled the crap out of it, don't push the lever and pulled the crap out of it .... won't budge)
10. I see new BMW's come with a period of free maintenance and some mention here their CPO did as well. Does a CPO automatically get some free maintenance or is that optional built into every CPO deal?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Flying Ace]

1. only the diesels have the dipstick
2. FE stands for fuel economy. I'm not an expert but one would think it's a thinner oil.

BMW's newest TwinPower Turbo engine oil is LL01 FE+ certified. It meets BMW's standards for LongLife 2001 ("LL01") and improved fuel economy ("FE+"). The new 0W30 replaces the previous 5W30 oil used in some 4-cylinder, 6-cylinder, and V8 BMW models. As of December 2015, BMW has not backdated the 0W30 for any other engines but the LL01 rating might indicate it will be the new approved oil for most engines (and replace #83212365946 5W30 oil).

Beginning with July 2015 production, new models came with 0W20 or 0W30 BMW oil. However, BMW dealerships continued to sell 5W30 until that stock was depleted. The 5W30 is an acceptable alternative to the 0W20 and 0W30 BMW oil per BMW's service bulletin. 0W30 oil is to be released in 2016.

So this is why it says FE or standard LL01.

3. You don't have to do Castrol. Castrol was the old OE factory fill. BMW now contracts with Pennzoil for factory fill. There's a list out there for 0-30 LL-01 oil and pros and cons of each type. If you don't want to think about it, then just buy OEM dealer oil, that's what I would do.

4. engine bay terminal is fine. I do this for both my M3 and E70 X5.

5. Check again. There should be a warranty/servicing booklet that gives you some base schedule. Ultimately, CBS computer will tell you what you need done. There's also general best practices out there to follow. Also, at any time, you can go into the service department, have them scan your key and they'll give you a detailed readout of what's coming up.

6. It's based on CBS. While it's a guess, based on my 7 years of various ownership, it's pretty accurate. For example, my E70 X5 gave me the big read brake warning last year. Had the rotors, sensors and pads changed, and lord and behold, rotors measured at minimum thickness. Yes, it's that good.

7. hell no. This is the minimum maintenance the car will need to go by to even qualify for CPO. The only thing you could adjust IIRC was the "emissions check date". If you don't have one in your state, don't bother.

8. you're going to get 10k different answers. Some do it at the once-a-year factory marker, others do it at halfway around 7500. The N55 motor is fine, no known cases of internal issues for high mileage cars.

9. Try pulling harder, I also had a hard time on my E70. Check manual to ensure it's designed to be removed. Some restraint systems are not designed to be removed.

10. nope. CPO=extended warranty. There's an extended maintenance plan they'll love to anally ream you on if you so choose.

[Florida-X3]

Thank you "Flying Ace"

Regarding Item 7, what I mean by that is, can I do my oil at 5k miles and reset the reminder? Or does the reminder always stay at 10k miles and now I need to keep track on my own (which I do anyhow)?

[Flying Ace]

When you do your own oil change, you can reset the oil change counter. General short OCI convention has the counter coincide with every 2nd oil change.