[richie_s]

This is the first car I've purchased and cared for by myself. I've had my 335i xdrive 6 speed manual for a year and two months now, and it's only had ONE oil change at 14,000 miles...
Yes, just one. I know it's bad, but I was honestly afraid of voiding my warranty by getting an oil change done at 7,000 miles or so. I now know that that's not the case.
Since the oil change, I've driven about 3,000 miles. My car now has 17,000 miles on it.
I feel incredibly stupid for letting my car go that long without an oil change, especially since we had such a rough winter up here in the northeast. Temperatures reached as low as -5 degrees F. (-20 C)

My driving style is pretty easy on the oil though. I let the car warm up before I even think about getting it anywhere near 3,000 rpm and most of my driving is cruising in 6th gear. Very minimal stop and go traffic. I'm stuck in stop and go traffic for about 15 minutes on weekdays.

I opened the oil filler cap today and wiped it with a paper towel just to check up on the oil. It was mostly muddy brown liquid with a little bit of burnt powdery ash. I didn't find any sludge from the small bit of engine I saw through the oil cap.

I also noticed that my car feels a bit more sluggish than usual. I rarely floor my car, so I could tell that it felt different from when it was brand new when I did it recently.

Anyone know what's up with my engine? Is it all sludged up?
Help me out! I feel like shit. This is my very first car that I purchased and I don't want it to sludge up just because I didn't care for it the right way.