MiamiPhill

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.
Oil Filter =$11.08
7Qts BMW Oil =$40.53
Tax=$3.10
Total=$54.71
Not paying the dealership $62 to sit & wait for 2hrs.......priceless.

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




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.



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.



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





8) Place oil catch pan on old news papers (in case you missplace said oil pan like I did ) 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.



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



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,





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



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.



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.

DRANGED

Nice work Phil

MiamiPhill

Thanks D..!!

solidbmw

Well done.

keith84_uk

Thanks for the write up!!

Heloha

Nice detailed steps! Can you do a write up on replacing the back up bulb on a 07 Suburban!

lcc014

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.

westcoast550

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

ps. nice write up !

Cheers

beaker

Thanks for the detailed writeup. I was going to post the same in a few thousand miles, and now I don't have to!

MiamiPhill