Oil Filter

Get yourself a Bentley manual, its the best for your car:

We don't want a manual. We just want somebody to give us a clue as to where the oil filter is located. Cannot see it.

"BMWKGR" wrote

You need 7 quarts of oil (Castrol or Mobil synthetic). The filter canister is on the front/top of the engine, just behind the fan. You need a 36 mm socket to remove the canister top. There is an o-ring for the canister, and washer for the drain plug - they should be in the oil filter box. Mahle is OEM, Bosch and Purolator also good. You need to remove the bottom engine cover - phillips screws at the corners.

FloydR

OK, look here, its in the cannister on the left, next to the power steering reservior:

PS - I think you'll need a 36mm socket.

On Wed, 9 Aug 2006 09:50:45 -0700, "Floyd Rogers" waffled on about something:

Just poking my nose in, and was curious... Do you need to remove the entire under engine tray on the newer models? My old '96 E36 has a little panel held in with a single 10mm (I think) self tapper, to allow access to the drain plug.

Bit of a backward step if such little nice touches were missing on newer cars.

Dodgy.

"Dodgy" wrote

You have to remove the entire *front* cover - you can leave the back cover (transmission) on. It's about 4'x3'.

It's actually a step *forward*, as it smoothes the airflow to give you better aerodynamics and, therefore, economy. Of course, it gets pieces of gravel on top of it and rattles unmercilessly if you drive - like I do - on gravel.

FloydR

Thank you so very much. I will be back if he cannot resolve something.

If he can't, a dealer should do it for about $75.00~80.00. Be sure to specify an oil/filter change, not an oil service (which costs about $200.00).

Tom K.

Filter Kit ~$10

The question you need to ask yourself is: How long is your husband willing to work and how dirty will he get, for $50.

Personally, I do it because I like to. It's recreational wrenching. But then, I do a lot of other repair type things to my cars too.

Y(Husband's)MMV

Same here Fred!!! BTW, I know it's done correctly and it's usually finished at the time I want it done. Joe

The dealer wants $135 plus tax and have called about ten independent mechanics, and the lowest total price was $90 plus tax.

Any bets? ...her husband's next question is, "How do I reset the service indicator?"

If you gotta ask ...

Sorry.

The filter is in a can that lives right on the front of the motor, just aft of where the huge coolant hose goes into the motor (it really comes OUT of the motor at that point, but I digress). There is a 13mm bolt in the lid that you will remove. The lid comes off, the filter comes out, the new filter drops in, then it gets hard.

The filter is in kit form, and includes two steel washers and two o-rings. The very tiny o-ring goes on the bottom end of the long bolt (the 13mm that holds the lid on), and the very large o-ring goes around the top of the can to seal where the lid fits. The two steel washers are a bit tricky, they "look" to be the same, but if you look closer you will see that they are different. One of them goes on the 13mm bolt between the bolt head and the lid of the can, the other goes on the drain plug at the very bottom of the engine.

Your engine takes 7 quarts of motor oil, most oil change places advertise prices based on 5 quarts. You must be sure they actually use 7 quarts, or you need to use 7 quarts if you change the oil on your own.

$100 to change 7 quarts of oil is a bit steep, at $2 per quart, you need 14 bucks, and the filter costs about $15. Materials run around $30 (filter and basic motor oil), and reasonable labor for 15 minutes of work is another $15, tops. Anything more than $45 to change the oil is highway robbery.

Here's what I would do -- assuming you guys really haven't the skills or time or whatever to change the oil. I would pull out my Yellow Pages and see if there is an independent BMW Service Center in your town. I would let that guy do the oil changes, and then also use him for any other service you may require that is not covered by the factory warranty.

If you gotta ask, you really need the manual.

Seriously, go to Barnes & Nobel and get the manual.

$90 is not a bad price considering that the oil and filter alone would cost you almost $50. Certainly dont take it to a fast lube shop...

Yeah, and if it's not, I like the waiting room a lot better. ;-)