Did you ever do an audit of how much the oil and filters and free labor (free is never actually free) cost you? You could be ahead by probably at least $500, and still have less internal engine wear had you gone with a by pass filter system. You could also double the miles on it you currently have. Obviously by your own words, your not completely confident the engine is going to last to your projected 500,000 miles.
If your changing oil and filter at 3,000 miles, I'm getting a minimum 10 times that mileage between oil changes. I typically change oil every 3-4 years 30-40,000 miles. My engine wear is many times less than yours is.
Many times there are 2 ways to arrive at an end result, YOU have to figure out what makes the most sense to your situation. I've been fortunate to have done the research on by pass filtering (6 months of my free time) and with the background I have, I arrived at what makes the most sense for my needs. I'll never rely on a factory designed filter system on any vehicle I intend to keep, It's much cheaper overall to safely extend oil changes while lessening overall engine wear.
GM already has done 2 well funded studies to get the results of filtering motor oil to 5 microns, and SAE has written papers on by pass oil filtration. It mirrors GMs findings of their studies, there is plenty of information available to anyone that wants to educate themselves.
Blackstone (one of the top oil analysis labs in the US) labs fully endorses by pass filters if you want to lessen engine wear and safely extend oil changes. You can't just go longer between oil changes using the standard oil and filter, you'll just end up causing premature engine wear. The by pass filter is the key.
If you want to read their take on the matter here it is:
https://www.blackstone-labs.com/by-p...filtration.php
There is no down side to by pass filtering your oil, it's just people are set in their ways that won't move from what Detroit, and oil companies have ingrained in their minds over years about oil, filters, and intervals.
My father started in the automotive world working on the grease rack in a Pontiac dealer in the late 30s, and moved up to a line mechanic at the dealer. He was schooled to change oil every 1000 miles and never varied from that until in his late 80s when could no longer do his own oil changes. My mother then took over the car maintenance and the mechanic she took the car to told her it was a waste to be changing oil every 1000 miles. She started taking it in at 3000 mile intervals and my father was livid, and insisted that the oil needed to be changed at 1000 miles, no ifs, ands, or buts. I see that attitude here a lot...……...LOL
Heck, when I first started working on cars I was under 16 YO and I watched and listened to my Dad about oil changes. I changed my oil every 1000 miles because my father told me it was what I should be doing if I wanted my car to be trouble free. I worked up to 2000 miles, then 3000 miles, then 5000 miles, and now I'm over 30,000 miles, however to go from 5000, to 30,000 and more I had to make a major change in filter type, and I'm damn glad I did...…..
It's kind of like Pontiac guys, needing iron cylinder heads, Ram Air camshafts and never revving their engines over 5800 RPM, over time someone breaks outside of the box and proves there are better alternatives. How does that old Pontiac slogan go? Ahhh yes, "Break Away"!!!!
In the end, it's your engine, your wallet, and your free time, you have to decide what you want to do. If you want to do it the way it's been done for over 100 years, go for it.
