Originally Posted by DRANGED' post='521611' date='Jan 22 2008, 11:42 PM

Nice work Phil :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='521604' date='Jan 22 2008, 11:23 PM

So 7,160 miles just ticked over on the odometer of our 08 535i, and since we intend to keep the car a long while I felt a mid interval oil change was in order. (BMW does one every 15,000 mls. under their 'free' maintainance plan.) I called my local SA and was told $110+tax which was fine with me, the only issue was finding the time to bring it in. But last week I came accross a post from member B767capt who did an oil change on his 535i, so I PM'ed him to inquire about the process, as I had done oil changes on all my other cars and felt up to the challenge. He told me it was easy so today I decided to do it, and share the knowledge with the forum.
Edit: Oil Filter =$11.08
7Qts Oil =$40.53
Tax=$3.10
Total=$54.71
Not paying the dealership $62 to sit & wait for 2hrs.......priceless. :D

Tools & Part

1) Phillips head screwdriver
2) 8mm scoket & driver
3) 17mm wrench
4) Filter pulling tool
5) BMW Oil Filter
6) O-rings (included with filter)
7) Synthetic SAE 5w30 BMW oil (7 quarts)
8) Car jack
9) Wheel Block
10) Oil catch pan
11) Funnel

Attachment 43372 Attachment 43373


The Process

1) Park the car on a level surface, start the engine and let it idle for 5 min. if car is cold, or cool down if hot.
2) Make sure the park brake is applied (manual trans. also engage 1st gear).
3) Wedge wheel block at the rear passenger side wheel.

Attachment 43359

4) Jack the car up on the front driver side. (best for good oil drainage)
5) Place jack stand under car (if you have one) for added safety.
6) Locate the small trianglar pannel in the (second from the front) air management undertray.

Attachment 43360

7) Using the 8mm socket, unscrew the 3 hex screws and remove the pannel, exposing the drain plug.

Attachment 43362
Attachment 43363
Attachment 43364

8) Place oil catch pan on old news papers (in case you missplace said oil pan like I did :D ) under drain plug and remove it with the closed end of the 17mm wrench.
9) Locate oil filter cap, round black plastic, top right of engine forward of air box.

Attachment 43365

10) Place paper towel or rag around filter cap to contain any spills while removing the oil filter.

Attachment 43366

11) Using filter wrench, unscrew the filter cap/holder, remove the old filter & O-rings then clean out the cap.

12) Locate the 2 new O-rings (supplied with new filter) & place them on the cap,

Attachment 43367
Attachment 43368
Attachment 43369

......then place the new filter in the cap.

Attachment 43370

13) Apply a thin film of oil to the O-rings then screw the filter cap back in place, thighten. (Note, you should be able the screw the cap all the way down by hand, if not it could be cross threaded & will leak. Undo cap the all the way off then screw it on again.)
14) Replace & tighten the drain plug, taking care not to cross thread as above.
15) Add new oil.

Attachment 43371

16) Replace the small panel (from #6), let the car off the jack.
17) Start the car & check for oil leaks (both at the filter & underneath at the drain plug.)
18) You are done!!

Please be responsible and dispose of the used oil in the proper way, (most auto parts stores will take & recycle your used motor oil) never throw it away in the trash.
I hope this helps....good look.

Originally Posted by westcoast550' post='521945' date='Jan 23 2008, 04:50 PM

Phill ! You have a career opportunity as a hand model............. watch out George Costanza !

ps. nice write up !

Cheers

Originally Posted by subarashi' post='523118' date='Jan 26 2008, 01:31 PM

Great write up there! Quick question though -- does this reset your iDrive for the service/oil change required message??? I realize you did this in between reccomended oil changes [kudos to you for that, btw], but I wonder if that would change the interval of time you would need between your next "due" oil change? I guess to answer this you would have to know if the iDrive senses oil quality or simply mileage [in which case it would not change].....

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='523150' date='Jan 26 2008, 02:52 PM

No I don't think so, when the 'oil service required' message comes up merely changing the oil will not reset the interval....... that, I am sure requires some sort deliberate electronic reset at the dealer.

Originally Posted by lcc014' post='521936' date='Jan 23 2008, 04:31 PM

There were 2 difference between your car and my 05 530i.
First is the plastic shield under the engine. Mine is held by 2 clips and 1 philips screw. Once the philips screw is undone, pull the shield down. The shield is still attached to the big plastic cover under the engine.
Second is the drain plug, same size 17mm but is not pointing downard. It points kind of horizontal. So there is a chance of having used oil shooting to the big plastic shield under the engine.

Otherwise, the procedure is the same excepted that I drive the car onto ramp to do oil change.

Originally Posted by DrLev99' post='523376' date='Jan 27 2008, 02:20 AM

Phill...great write up and DIY pics!

So, just how dirty was the old oil?

Originally Posted by bimmerluuvr' post='523496' date='Jan 27 2008, 03:13 PM

Hey guys wass' up, Question: I too have a 530 (2006 M.Y.) and I also have an older Toyota camry (please don't castigate me for having th b*lls to mention the word "camry" in this discussion) but if the oil filter is located on the top of the engine on my 06' like it is on your 05', then what I would do is let the car sit unused for a couple of hours, which I assume would allow all the oil to drain from the filter, then when I go to remove it, there will be no oil spillage. This is what I used to do all of the time with my Camry which also has the oil filter positioned on top of the motor. Changing the oil in that car took me five minutes with my eyes closed! I hope this one will be just as easy, looks like it will.

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='523666' date='Jan 28 2008, 12:56 AM

I don't know if the 530 is like my 535 but the oil did not drain from the filter until I unscrewed it...which I thought was weird, so keep the drain plug open & pan in place until you do that part, just in case.

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='523150' date='Jan 26 2008, 01:52 PM

No I don't think so, when the 'oil service required' message comes up merely changing the oil will not reset the interval....... that, I am sure requires some sort deliberate electronic reset at the dealer.

Originally Posted by bimmerluuvr' post='523825' date='Jan 28 2008, 10:56 AM

did you allow the car to sit idle for a couple of hours before unscrewing the filter? If you do not start the engine for a few hours, then unscrew the filter, there should not be any oil in it to spill out because it will all have drained down to the pan, if you start the engine, even for a minute, you will restart the circulation process again and oil will be carried right back up to the filter again, which is what we are trying to avoid. I just like to do things as neat and clean as possible, and this was something I found to be very useful on my Toyota. But anyway, let me ask you: I noticed what looks like a torque setting on the filter housing, do you know if it applies to the filter housing, and if so, did you use it and how? I've never seen a torque wrench that could be used to tighten something like that

Originally Posted by hstan545i' post='523836' date='Jan 28 2008, 11:16 AM

Did you note the next oil change mileage in the idrive before and after the oil change? I noticed on my Benz if you change the oil before the computer told you so, it will sense the new oil and automactically extend the next oil change interval, but will not completely reset it.
Example:
Before oil change, computer said 4000mi before next oil change
After oil change, it will said may be 7000mi before next oil change.
If reset manually, it will said 10K before next oil change.

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='523839' date='Jan 28 2008, 11:22 AM

On your first point......the car sat for about 45min. (while I went over to the dealer to get the oil & filter) so I don't think letting the car sit for any length of time would have made any difference. I suspect that is because the filter/housing is a part of some sort of pump or oil cooler Attachment 43604 and there was a distinct 'hiss' when I unscrewed the cap, suggesting negative pressure holding oil in the filter.

2nd. the I hand tightened the cap then gave it a slight extra turn with the cap pulling tool.

Originally Posted by bimmerluuvr' post='523932' date='Jan 28 2008, 04:02 PM

I gotcha MP, (by the way my name is Phil also!) What you say makes sense because if the filter housing is part of a pressurized system (which might be indicated by the "hissing" sound you describe) then it would not matter how long the car sat cold, because gravity would be taken out of the equation, so I guess I'll just wrap some rags around the housing to control the spillage, "it is what it is".

MP, the cap pulling tool you describe, is that the filter "strap" wrench used to loosen the cap, or is it something else?

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='523976' date='Jan 28 2008, 05:42 PM

yep I used thisAttachment 43610

Originally Posted by Allen' post='524823' date='Jan 30 2008, 03:02 PM

Can this be found at most Automotive stores...or it some kind of special BMW tool? Even better....can you get the filter case loose with just your hands? And is tightening it as tight as you can with your hands tight enough??? With the old screw-on filters, I used to just tighten them as tight as hands could get it and it worked great.

Originally Posted by bimmerluuvr' post='525079' date='Jan 30 2008, 09:44 PM

the "strap" as it is called used to be one of those "t.v." order things, you know "CALL RIGHT KNOW AND WE'LL SEND YOU TWO!", but now you can buy them at most automotive stores, I got mine at Pep Boys.

Originally Posted by Allen' post='524823' date='Jan 30 2008, 03:02 PM

Can this be found at most Automotive stores...or it some kind of special BMW tool? Even better....can you get the filter case loose with just your hands? And is tightening it as tight as you can with your hands tight enough??? With the old screw-on filters, I used to just tighten them as tight as hands could get it and it worked great.

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='525095' date='Jan 30 2008, 07:07 PM

Hand tight is good for most filters, but because of that structure the filter is in, (..and I'm not so sure of the pressures) I gave it a very slight extra twist after tightening by hand. Don't over do it though.

Originally Posted by ITNurse' post='525104' date='Jan 30 2008, 10:40 PM

Nice write up MP. I'm at 5200 miles and will change the oil in the next 1000 miles or so.
This will help greatly - Thanks

IT

Originally Posted by HotLap' post='526591' date='Feb 3 2008, 11:35 AM

MP - nice write up and thanks - you helped a lot as I'm going to be doing my 1st oil change soon as well. Great to see that only the smaller panel has to be removed and not major underbody parts. Also cool that the drain plug is poionting downwards...will keep the mess to a minimum. Was wondering though about the oil filter/housing tightening procedure...is there a torque number...or is it like most other filters hand tighten then an extra 1/4 - 1/2 turn?

Good work - your write up is now part of my BMW "technical manual" :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by Rudy' post='526605' date='Feb 3 2008, 11:58 AM

Nice writeup Phill...thanks for taking the time to post the steps and photos!! :thumbsup:

Now, because I'm completely anal, I'd like to share a little-known secret about how to use those plastic bottles that oil and other automotive fluids are packaged in...

For ease of use and less chance of spilling, these bottles are designed to be tilted with the spout at the top, not at the bottom (as Phill incorrectly demonstrates in his photo below.) If you tilt the bottle with the spout at the top, you're able to tilt the bottle much further before any oil comes out allowing you to aim a little better (very helpful if you don't have a funnel) and, because the nozzle is at the top, if you tilt it slowly air can enter the bottle as the oil flows out so you don't get any "glug, glug, glugging" as the oil pours.

Attachment 43805

What's funny is that there's usually a little diagram right on the bottle that illustrates how to do this but I rarely see anyone actually following these instructions. You can even see the diagram on the bottle Phill is holding... ;)

That's all, happy pouring!! :P

Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='526615' date='Feb 3 2008, 12:11 PM

:lol: .......the spout on those oil bottles is as counterintuitive as the car's shifter. :P

Originally Posted by Rudy' post='526620' date='Feb 3 2008, 01:17 PM

Exactly...which is why it's always a good idea to :rtfm: :D

Originally Posted by westcoast550' post='526624' date='Feb 3 2008, 12:20 PM

L M A O !!! Rudy you cracked me up ! :lol: :lol: I'll bet you been dying to post this response for weeks now , you're not anal ..... your Obsessed......... in a caring nurturing way !! Too funny man ! Where would we all be without you !!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Many Cheers

Originally Posted by bimmerluuvr' post='527464' date='Feb 5 2008, 09:58 AM

speaking of the oil containers: the 530i owners manual calls for 6.9 quarts to properly refill the engine. Obviously I will have to purchase 7 quarts since its sold by the quart, how have you guy's been accounting for that .9 since you do not want to overfill by using the FULL 7 quarts, and there is no dipstick to pull out and visually check the level. :think: