I have had my 99 C2 one year with only 43.7K on the clock. At the time of purchase, I had the oil changed. I have driven my P-car 4600 miles since. My E55 AMG was supposed to be my daily driver (to work and back; 15 miles). But, the P-car won every morning. The current P-car mileage does not warrant an oil change. But, it has been a year. Checking the oil; it is very clean or a light yellow in color. Should I wait until 7500 miles, or should I just change the oil. Keep in my mind, it isn't sitting in the driveway. I am running her 80% of the time on the road. Opinions please.

 

Change it, IMHO.

Why?

-- If you drive your car a lot on short-distance jaunts to and from work, the engine oil frequently never gets up to full operating temperature. As a result, it can slowly accumulate moisture and unburned fuel, which can reduce its overall lubricating qualities.

-- If you drive your car with gusto, or track it, the high heat in certain areas of the engine when under high load can cause breakdown of the some of the viscosity improvers, which can slowly degrade the oil's high-temperature lubricating qualities.

If you do a search in here and other P-car forums, the consensus seems to be to reduce oil change intervals to 5000 miles. FWIW, that's where I've landed--one year or 5000 miles, whichever comes first.

Doing it yourself, an oil change is less than $100 for parts (9 qts +/- of the full-synthetic oil of your choice plus a new filter) and an hour of your time...cheap insurance.

 

Agree...it's good practice and cheap compared to what could happen if you didn't do it.

 

996 oil change inteval is every 2 years or 10,000 miles I believe.

Changing more often obviously doesn't hurt. I usually change mine every 2 years since I drive it twice a week or more.

 

I would go ahead and change it man.
I do the same thing, my run to work and back is short and I dont put as quite as much miles on it a year (4955mi).
And I did it 4200

 

3000 miles for me...though that ends up being 1 time a year

 

Thanks guys. The owner's manual does recommend 2yrs or 10K. That is insane. I have decided to go every 5K or once a year in my case. After further research, I have concluded that though my dipstick indicates full and clear, it is partly due to condensation and unspent fuel particles in the current oil supply. Not acceptable.

 

Blackstone labs is awesome with oil analysis, helps build a safe change interval!

 

You should always change oil after a year.