first oil change, what a headache...

[uisim]

SO i decided to change my oil in my 09 m3. I did as others instructed. Had the nose of the car up in the air and drained the oil for about 8 hours, even siphoned out what was left in the filter housing. Then I added 8 1.05qt bottles of 10w60 and reset the oil service. I put the key in, pressed the start button once. When the beeping and lights stopped I put my foot on the brake and held the trip reset in the dash till I saw the triangle. I let go of the brake and trip and scroll to the oil symbol and held the BC button till I got the reset check mark appear in the cluster. I then pressed the brake and took the key out. I assume it went as planned because it now says 15000K till oil service is due. Finally I started the car and after it warmed up the reading was at the bottom arrow telling me to add a quart. I also saw A yellow oil symbol in the gauge cluster lcd upon starting the car. SO I did what was suggested and added about less then half... NOthing still at the bottom upon restarting the car. So I added just about the rest of the bottle( only about 2/5ths left in the bottle at his point). Now the oil level was right in the middle and the car said OIL level ok. I wanted it to be right at the top arrow so I poured the rest in but nothing changed. I drove 60 miles after this, car runs great but still the oil level is just at ok and not at the max like it was before. Am I missing something here? I poured in 9 bottles and from what I gather there's no way I can still be short is there? If anyting I over filled by a little bit... Someone on here mentioned it may take a few days to get a truly accurate reading or I can drain some oil and see what happens but I don't see the latter working. Wouldn't the ECM let me know if i over filled?

[Yvette]

I would just wait and see.
Dont add more oils

[e92zero]

my car is at over 90k now and I have done 11 oil changes myself. My routine is pretty much settled down to this:

- with the car warm, I get the car up, level the car off front to back.
- open up the oil filter housing, remove oil filter, remove the 2 drain plugs, suck out all the oil in the filter housing.
- have lunch. come back 2 hrs later. Car should pretty much stop dripping at this point.
- put the 2 drain plugs back in, put in oil filter.
- 'slowly' pour 2 liters of oil on the oil filter so it's soaked and that the filter housing is pretty much filled. Be careful not to overflow and make a mess here. I noticed that this step help stop that knock/rattling sound on the first start after the oil change.
- fill in the rest of oil into the engine.

In total, I put in 9.5 L of oil. I get the oil level meter right on the top mark every single time. Never have to add oil in between oil change. Believe it or not, due to this stupid electronic oil dipsticks, I have tried 9.75L and 9.25L. 9.75L give the over fill warning. 9.25L is one notch below the top mark. 9.5L works out perfectly for me. YMMV but just a point of reference for you.

Something to note here is when you open up the oil filter, more oil will drain down to the pan and come out at the bottom. So if you put the 2 plugs back in and then move on to remove the oil filter, you won't drain out as much oil and if you try to put 9L back in you will over fill.

[M3AG]

^ Good tips.

[apecush]

If you're stressing this much over having to add a half quart of oil (and an oil change that appears to have been straightforward), I hate to see what a legitamite problem with the car would do to you...

Also, 8 hours draining is waaaaaay too long. The little bit of residual old oil is getting diluted by 9 litres of oil, it isn't an issue. 15 minutes is more than enough on a warm engine.

[M3 Esq]

If the oil reads at the mid point that's fine. Don't add any more unless it tells you to.

[antoniomg43]

8 Hours dang that is a looooong time! lol Never thought i'd miss a dipstick so much, my 08 did the same thing after putting in the exact recommended amount of oil got the "Engine Oil Level Too High" I drove the car for about 15 minutes the message went away and got the nice "Engine Oil Level is Ok" I think you should be fine.

[Flying Ace]

Don't add any more oil, sometimes it takes the reader a few more miles and it'll readjust the level reading again. Half way mark doesn't indicate low oil by any stretch.

At end of the day, I found the easiest way to put the correct amount of oil in is to measure how much you've drain vs how much you put in. When I did mine last time, after I put in new oil, I poured the old oil back into my bottles, measured it with the bottles and topped off the engine oil that way. It helps to have a few extra bottles laying around to fill the old oil.

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

Don't add any more oil, sometimes it takes the reader a few more miles and it'll readjust the level reading again. Half way mark doesn't indicate low oil by any stretch.

At end of the day, I found the easiest way to put the correct amount of oil in is to measure how much you've drain vs how much you put in. When I did mine last time, after I put in new oil, I poured the old oil back into my bottles, measured it with the bottles and topped off the engine oil that way. It helps to have a few extra bottles laying around to fill the old oil.

Seems complicated and messy. Just pour till it comes out the top?

[W///]

I usually let it drain for about 15 mins. Then pour a bit into the engine (you can see the oil coming out of plug is not 100% new right away).

Suck oil out of filter housing and fill it up with fresh oil. Button that up.

I go ahead and put 9.1 quarts in right away. Then take the car for a drive, and add if necessary. I do 2 readings though. First one will usually say 1/3. Did another reading right after and it was almost at Max.

[X5-User]

Originally Posted by W///

I usually let it drain for about 15 mins. Then pour a bit into the engine (you can see the oil coming out of plug is not 100% new right away).

Suck oil out of filter housing and fill it up with fresh oil. Button that up.

I go ahead and put 9.1 quarts in right away. Then take the car for a drive, and add if necessary. I do 2 readings though. First one will usually say 1/3. Did another reading right after and it was almost at Max.

How do you suck oil out of oil filter?

[spiderspider]

RTFM

there is nothing in the manual that says anything about topping off the oil level. oil level okay = oil level is okay

[e92zero]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-M3

How do you suck oil out of oil filter?

turkey basters

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-5898-St...=turkey+baster

[Properstyle]

Originally Posted by W///

I usually let it drain for about 15 mins. Then pour a bit into the engine (you can see the oil coming out of plug is not 100% new right away).

Suck oil out of filter housing and fill it up with fresh oil. Button that up.

I go ahead and put 9.1 quarts in right away. Then take the car for a drive, and add if necessary. I do 2 readings though. First one will usually say 1/3. Did another reading right after and it was almost at Max.

I noramlly do the same except I just use a clean micro fiber to wipe up the extra oil left in the tree. 15mins is more than a enough. I normally get to the full mark on the first start up after about 2-3 ins of idle time.

[Craigy]

The electronic dipstick is pretty temperamental. I wonder what the specific algorithm is for measurement, because it doesn't seem to give a fresh reading every time. More of a this is what your oil level is based on your past few measurements.

After a change and a good few oil readings and adding a little to get the measurement near the top, all of a sudden a week later I got +1qt warnings. After the +1qt warnings I'd force another measurement which would indicate about half way, but the +1qt would come back a couple times.

That night I added another quarter quart and bam, reading has been perfectly at the top for a couple months now. If I had added a whole quart or even half a quart I wonder if I'd have gotten an overfill. I'm glad I had read a lot of y'all's advice never to add a full qt, but it seems like the car literally wants you to overfill it.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-M3

How do you suck oil out of oil filter?

people use turkey basters (Important! do not reuse turkey baster on turkeys!)

I use super absorbent paper towels, about 3-4 squares of bounty usually sucks it all up as well.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by spiderspider

RTFM

there is nothing in the manual that says anything about topping off the oil level. oil level okay = oil level is okay

yeah, but M3 owners all have crippling OCD and our anxieties have its own anxieties.

[burtonsbs5114]

shitttt..... 'Ive always just done this: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1097919 Works like a charm, every time!

[Law]

Some good advice in this thread, especially from e92zero

[Rat3d ///M]

I am a little late, but I just did my first oil change the other day. A couple points I noticed:

1. After draining the oil for about 30 mins, it took about 8.6 liters and still said it was a qt low. DO NOT ADD MORE OIL, because..

2. After a day of driving, it leveled off, and read just below the middle mark and was "OK".

3. When it says to add a qt, that really means add a half a qt. I added half a liter once when it said to add a qt, and it was all the way at the upper mark after a day of driving. Good thing I didn't put more in as it takes about 24 hours or so to readjust itself to the proper level. If I had more than a half a liter in, it would have been overfilled for sure.

Just put in 8.5 liters and wait a couple days. It should adjust itself. If it doesn't after a day or two, add a little more oil. Where you only put in 8 liters, it may actually be a little low.

[uisim]

Originally Posted by antoniomg43

8 Hours dang that is a looooong time! lol Never thought i'd miss a dipstick so much, my 08 did the same thing after putting in the exact recommended amount of oil got the "Engine Oil Level Too High" I drove the car for about 15 minutes the message went away and got the nice "Engine Oil Level is Ok" I think you should be fine.

Haha i was busy i didnt plan on waiting 8 hours i just mentioned it because otheres drain their car over night, usualy i wait 30 mins if im not ina hurry

[uisim]

lol

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

Seems complicated and messy. Just pour till it comes out the top?