The following items have been replaced or repaired under the BMW warranty:

• Driver and passenger window regulators - known problem with 3 series
• Muffler - Something was rattling
• Passenger seat leather - had a defect from the factory so I had them replace the leather
• Pulley tensioner. It would squeak when the car was first started in the morning. It wouldn't bother most people, but it bothered me.

The car just went in for it's 30k mile service and the dealer performed the following:

• Oil change
• New front brakes
• Flushed the brake system
• Replaced the pulley tensioner

Here's a picture of the board I use to keep track of what service/detail needs to be done and when.

The tires have been rotated front to back every 5,000 miles. I would personally do this to ensure it was done. None of the tires have ever gone flat so there are no plugs in the tires. As you can see from the pictures on the photo page the tires have worn evenly and have a good amount of tread left. These are the original tires that came with the car. They have 29,000 miles on them and are still in good condition. This is another testament to how I have driven and treated this car.

BMW recommends changing the oil every 15,000 miles. I changed it every 7,500 miles with Mobil 1 synthetic. To me this is just another measure to ensure the longevity of the engine.

Below is my write up of the product use to change the oil in my cars.

So you want to know about an oil extractor. This is an ingenious tool! I saw it in Griot's Garage catalog, and at their website: Griotsgarage.com and thought I'd give it a shot. Here is the link to the product on Griot's site - Oil Extractor You can also get them at Overtons.com or probably any boating supply store. I think there is only one company making them and everyone private labels them. The manufacturer is Pela, and their website is: Pelaproducts.com

But on with my story. For years I have been changing my own oil. Followed the typical process, jack up car, crawl under car, loosen drain plug, spill hot oil on hand when plug is removed, drop plug in hot oil, watch used oil miss the drain pan and get on garage floor, see oil splash off front suspension pieces, dig the drain plug out of the hot used oil, you know the rest of the saga. 

Enter the Oil Extractor. Incredible piece of equipment. The photo journal below tells of my tales. You can click on the images below to get a larger version.

Time: 10:20 AM Let the car run for 5 minutes so the oil would be warm and dirt/particles would be suspended
10:21AM Pulled dipstick out, noted the oil was about a quart low, inserted the oil extractor tube in to the dipstick tube.
10:22 AM Connected the oil extractor tube to the oil extractor. Gave it about 10 pumps, like a bicycle pump. Mind you, the pumping is not to pump the oil out, but to create a vacuum in the extraction chamber. It's the vacuum that you create that extracts the oil. Once the oil starts to flow you no longer need to pump and can move on to changing the filter, pouring a beer, lighting a cigar, kicking the dog....you get the idea.
10:23 AM Oil started flowing from the engine through the tube and in to the extractor reservoir
10:35 Am Reservoir filling with oil. Each ring on the reservoir represents a quart of oil
10:35 AM While the extractor is doing it's job, I pull the old filter out and replace it with a new one. No the K&N is not for my car, it's for my motorcycle.
10:40 AM Extractor pulled 5 quarts of oil (because I think I was a quart low) and was done. I pulled the tube and started to add new oil. Ended up adding 6 quarts to bring it to full.
10:45 AM Dumping old oil back in to the bottles the new oil was in so I can take it to a recycling center. The extractor even has a pour spout. Please do not dump your used oil, take it to a recycling center. Most will not charge you, and it's better for the environment!

By 10:50 everything was put away, no oil on me, my car, or the garage floor. If you are a DIY kind of person I would highly recommend this product!