[GTony]

You will see that mine is a diesel. My BMW recommended from new was every 2 years or 24 to 30,000 Km's because of the high standard of oil they use. I understand they have now lowered this. I rang Castrol Tech. Dept. long time back and even though they agreed oil was good for 2 years they said it would be better to change yearly. Sales pitch or not I've always had mine changed at yearly service, around 12,000 Km's.
Oil used on BMW Invoice showed 5.2 LTRS and charged around AUD$200. Out of Service Oil Change is AUD$350.
My Warranty runs out end of this year and I will be doing my own changes.
Q.) Next I will be doing less Km's and I believe if your car isn't driven much, You should change your oil even more frequently.

Of all the oil change forums I've seen when they say drain oil, presumably on level surface or ramps etc.
Stupid or not my Questions are.
1) Via Dipstick, how is the best way to check oil, presume level surface.
A. Engine cold.
B. Engine warm or hot.
2) What is the 1'st thing done.
A. Do you just change the oil when cold, OR
B. Do you warm the engine up 1'st. I realize that if you use ramps that oil will be mixed through and warm. Do you warm it up a bit more or wait for it to cool on ramp before changing.
The above Questions might be funny to some but I want to make sure I drain the Maximum amount of oil.
Don't be to hard on me Guy's.