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      04-27-2011, 01:26 PM   #177
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After only having the dealer change the oil over the first 35k miles...I decided to give it a try. Noticed two annoying things...

1. The bolt on the rear sump was nearly stripped...so chances are the dealer over torque one or more times.

2. The bolt on the front sump was immaculate...which led me to believe my dealer didn't ever bother draining the front sump.

Since I didn't have the greatest experience with the 6mm allen hex bit during my DIY oil change...I went searching for alternative oil drain plugs...hoping to find a magnetic one that wasn't an allen hex. I too noticed Turner had something of the sort but it didn't fit my 08. Ultimately, I did find one though. It's been purchased but not installed at this point.

http://www.bavauto.com/ - search for "Magnetic Oil Drain Plug"

Last edited by dbacon; 04-27-2011 at 03:30 PM..
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      04-27-2011, 07:28 PM   #178
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbacon View Post
http://www.bavauto.com/ - search for "Magnetic Oil Drain Plug"
The second one seems the right size. But that head is big man. Make sure it doesn't stick out of the protective skid plate; you DO NOT want it hitting something on the road first.

By the way, the best way to loosen a stubborn bolt is with impact, like hitting the ratchet with your palm, rather than exerting ever increasing force. The 6mm allen bolt is plenty strong, but not if you tighten it to hell. Oh, and don't forget to coat the oil cap's gasket with a film of oil, so it doesn't bunch up when turned. I'm also doing all my maintenance; better pay for fluids and filters than letting dealer touch my car. Good luck, and please keep us posted if the magnetic plug's head doesn't protrude past the skid plate. Thanks.
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      04-27-2011, 08:38 PM   #179
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Yeah, I used the palm of the hand, quick impact method to bust it loose...but because the dealer had mildly stripped the drain plug...my allen hex bit was very much lodged into the drain plug...big time! Had a very difficult time separating the allen hex bit from the drain plug and ultimately had to damage the drain plug to get them separated.

Of course this was all done over a weekend, so dealers were closed and my car sat for two days in my garage...until I could buy a new drain plug. Silver lining, certainly got a thorough draining of the used oil though. The dealer 5 miles north of me had the drain plug listed at $8 but was out of stock. The dealer 5 miles south of me had it in stock but for $18. So ridiculous. Had no choice at the time...so I had to eat the overage.

I eventually bought the magnetic ones from BavAuto. The picture is very blown up. The size of the drain plug is comparable to the OEM one and the head of the plug you speak of does not present a ground clearance issue. It stays recessed within the skid plate.

Last edited by dbacon; 04-28-2011 at 02:56 PM..
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      05-10-2011, 02:47 AM   #180
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These magnetic plugs need a slight design enhancement, I have emailed the original manufacturer and recommended making the heads of the bolts longer. The front will not work at all and I am concerned that if you tighten the head you may not get it off. Even if you took off the pan, which would be a PITA. The rear bolt I have installed, however if the edges round in the slightest this bolt may be difficult to remove also.
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      05-13-2011, 11:40 PM   #181
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2000gsr View Post
Is it possible to change the oil just by driving up some ramps and leaving the rear wheels on the ground, i guess the only negative is that all the oil wouldn't come out. Is this correct?
I tried that today. You'll get most of the oil out and 90% comes out the back drain. But I decided to see what would happen if I jacked up the back end... more oil came out. Probably about 1/2 quart.

Anyone else get oil coming out of the top of the filter cap when you pulled it off? Kind of annoyed me since it spilled some oil. I also had a lot on the bottom of the filter housing and sucked it out. I took about 1/4 quart to replace it.

My drain plugs were a BITCH to get loose. I had to improvise. I'll get a proper secket next time.
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      06-05-2011, 05:47 PM   #182
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Thanks for the DIY.

Did an oil change yesterday. Ramps for the rear and jack stands for the front, and drained both pans. Also took the excess oil left at the filter pan. I added 8.75liters of fresh oil, and the car still things (after 150 miles) I need to add a quart. I honestly don't believe it, since the engine also sounds OK. Funny thing is, I first added 8.25liters, and the car said add a quart... Go figure.

Hopefully in a day or two I will get correct reading.
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      06-06-2011, 01:13 PM   #183
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erhanh View Post
Funny thing is, I first added 8.25liters, and the car said add a quart... Go figure.
In case you missed my post, I also raised rear to fully drain rear sump (drain plug is in front), plus sucked filter housing dry, and my car took 9.5L to bring mark to full. Next time will just put the 9.5L, since it took me a while to play the game of adding a bit of oil at a time until full (you can read my posts on how I check oil level, if interested). I always like to have my cars topped off, since carrying a bottle of oil in the trunk is ridiculous IMO .

Oh, and yes, you need to remove oil cap carefully. Remember intake cam gear shoots oil right at the cap; that's why if gasket is not lubed on 'old' caps, it can bunch up when rotated to lock it, create a gap, and make a royal mess, so don't forget that step folks . Take care gang.
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      06-06-2011, 03:10 PM   #184
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elp_jc View Post
In case you missed my post, I also raised rear to fully drain rear sump (drain plug is in front), plus sucked filter housing dry, and my car took 9.5L to bring mark to full. Next time will just put the 9.5L, since it took me a while to play the game of adding a bit of oil at a time until full (you can read my posts on how I check oil level, if interested). I always like to have my cars topped off, since carrying a bottle of oil in the trunk is ridiculous IMO .

Oh, and yes, you need to remove oil cap carefully. Remember intake cam gear shoots oil right at the cap; that's why if gasket is not lubed on 'old' caps, it can bunch up when rotated to lock it, create a gap, and make a royal mess, so don't forget that step folks . Take care gang.
I raised the car equally front & rear. When you say you raised the rear, do you mean the car was tilted forward?

I also sucked the oil in the filter housing. I will see what the car says tomorrow, and maybe get another bottle and keep adding up in 0.25liter steps...
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      06-06-2011, 03:27 PM   #185
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My experience:

1. BACK the rear tires onto my ramps as there is more clearance from the rear.
2. Use two low profile jacks to lift the front so that the car is absolutely level.
3. Drain the oil and let it drip for about an hour and then replace and torque the plugs.
4. Siphon all of the oil from the filter canister and then refill the canister with the same amount of clean oil and replaced the filter.
5. Refill the engine with oil. I used exactly 9 quarts total including the amount that I refilled the filter canister.
6. Remove the jacks, ramps and cleanup.

I brought the car up to operating temp, reset the oil sensor and went for a drive. After about 20 minutes it was indicating exactly the max amount of oil on a level surface. I've also reset and checked a few times without leaving the garage and the reading is spot on.
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      06-06-2011, 03:46 PM   #186
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Quote:
Originally Posted by disapr View Post
My experience:

1. BACK the rear tires onto my ramps as there is more clearance from the rear.
2. Use two low profile jacks to lift the front so that the car is absolutely level.
3. Drain the oil and let it drip for about an hour and then replace and torque the plugs.
4. Siphon all of the oil from the filter canister and then refill the canister with the same amount of clean oil and replaced the filter.
5. Refill the engine with oil. I used exactly 9 quarts total including the amount that I refilled the filter canister.
6. Remove the jacks, ramps and cleanup.

I brought the car up to operating temp, reset the oil sensor and went for a drive. After about 20 minutes it was indicating exactly the max amount of oil on a level surface. I've also reset and checked a few times without leaving the garage and the reading is spot on.
I did pretty much that same. Except, for the front, I jacked up one side at a time, and placed jack stands under the suspension arm pivot points. It is very dangerous to keep the car on floor jack(s). Use floor jacks in addition to jack stands.

Did you put 9 quarts, or 9 liters. Because each bottle is 1 liters, which is 1.05quarts. I put 8.75liters so far, and the car is still asking for another quart.
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      06-06-2011, 05:37 PM   #187
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I used jack stands under the A-Arm pivot points just for safety but kept the car on the jacks.

Correction - I used 9 bottles.
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      06-07-2011, 07:57 PM   #188
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Update: So I ended up adding 0.5 bottle more, and now the grand total is 9.25bottle (liters). And the car is happy, the oil level is at max.

I added oil in 0.25liter increments, and even when I was at 9.0liter level, the car was asking me to add another quart... Such a poor system.
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Last edited by Erhan; 06-08-2011 at 09:12 AM..
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      06-09-2011, 07:26 PM   #189
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Why are you guys going through all this trouble tilting, jacking the back wheels, front wheels etc?
Just slide a heavy duty jack under the front jacking point (the black plastic one between drain plugs) and lift, put a safety jack under one or both front sides, then drain the oil. Lower the car back to the floor while the oil drains. Get a cooking pan to catch the oil, they have a low profile. Change the filter while the oil is draining, then jack back up and install the drain bolts. All you need is one big jack and a safety jack. No ramps or multiple jacks.

Also, I forgot to mention, change the oil about 6 months from a year since last change, not so much the mileage. BMW will replace your oil after 365 days or the mileage of the computer, whichever comes first. So, for example, if you drive about 10k per year, do it at 5k.
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      09-12-2011, 01:02 PM   #190
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I got my oil kit over the weekend. I want to change my oil. At the biggining of this post there are two drain plugs, M6 & M8, with different torque values. I bought two drain plugs, just in case mine are screwed. Mine are M12??? Anybody on here can confirm what the real torque for these drain plugs are?

Thanks,

Eric
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      09-12-2011, 05:59 PM   #191
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I would like to make a correction on the drain plug. It is not an M6 nor M8, it is actually an M12 bolt. The correct torque is 25nm or 18ft/lbs. I actually bought two and confirmed this with one of the tech at the dealership. Just making sure that everybody that is doing their own oil change is doing the correct torque on the drain plugs.

Eric
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      09-12-2011, 09:55 PM   #192
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillK View Post
Why are you guys going through all this trouble tilting, jacking the back wheels, front wheels etc?
Just slide a heavy duty jack under the front jacking point (the black plastic one between drain plugs) and lift, put a safety jack under one or both front sides, then drain the oil. Lower the car back to the floor while the oil drains. Get a cooking pan to catch the oil, they have a low profile. Change the filter while the oil is draining, then jack back up and install the drain bolts. All you need is one big jack and a safety jack. No ramps or multiple jacks.

Also, I forgot to mention, change the oil about 6 months from a year since last change, not so much the mileage. BMW will replace your oil after 365 days or the mileage of the computer, whichever comes first. So, for example, if you drive about 10k per year, do it at 5k.
you cant use the front jack point with most jacks... i have a pretty low profile jack and there's no way of getting the jack to reach the front jack point without hitting the front bumper with the jack.
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      09-12-2011, 09:58 PM   #193
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elm3 View Post
I got my oil kit over the weekend. I want to change my oil. At the biggining of this post there are two drain plugs, M6 & M8, with different torque values. I bought two drain plugs, just in case mine are screwed. Mine are M12??? Anybody on here can confirm what the real torque for these drain plugs are?

Thanks,

Eric
btw, where did you buy your drain plugs? i bought mine from the dealer because they stripped my plug by mistake the last time they did my oil change. i no doubt got screwed on the price of the plug, but i had no choice because my car was sitting in my garage without any oil. i needed the new plugs before i could finish my oil change.
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      09-13-2011, 06:46 AM   #194
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Quote:
Originally Posted by montreal red View Post
btw, where did you buy your drain plugs? i bought mine from the dealer because they stripped my plug by mistake the last time they did my oil change. i no doubt got screwed on the price of the plug, but i had no choice because my car was sitting in my garage without any oil. i needed the new plugs before i could finish my oil change.
I bought mine at the dealership too. Yeah were expensive, but I wanted to have the correct part.
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      09-13-2011, 02:05 PM   #195
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Folks, remember to 'whack' the ratchet, rather than applying steady force. Much easier to strip a fastener with the latter.
But IMO, there's no reason to torque a drain plug to hell unless the pan surface is not perfectly flat, which has happened to me ONCE. On that car I tightened the drain plug by feel, as always, and after checking it a few hundred miles later (I always do on new cars for that reason), had to apply more pressure. It kept dripping, so finally had to apply the spec torque (lower end of the range), and that took care of it, by deforming the crush washer enough to close any gaps (which is not needed in most cases). But on all my other cars and motorcycles, and after 3+ decades of doing all my oil changes, never a drop, nor a stripped plug/threads. I view those specs as MAX torque, not what you want to initially put, but manufacturers want to simplify things... just like adding oil until you're a quart low, which is stupid IMO (and I obviously don't do, because I know how the sensor works).

Anyway, on weaker hex-head drain plugs, as evidenced by the last few posts, you either have to apply less torque, or have a supply of extra drain plugs . But my main worry of keep using the recommended gorilla torque would be eventually stripping the pan; that'd be fun . By the way, I can't describe what I know to be the right torque by feel, but my guess is I put around 15 lb/ft, rather than the 25 lb/ft typically recommended. And no, I'm not encouraging anybody to use less torque than recommended, especially those not mechanically inclined who don't understand what I'm talking about, but simply relaying my observations and personal experience . Good day gang.

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      09-17-2011, 03:44 PM   #196
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Just did my oil change. It is pretty straight forward. The onlything that went wrong was, that when I opened the oil filter cap, I didn't have an oil pan to catch the oil under the front sump. So when I looked under to see if it quit dripping, I saw a huge mess. So please don't forget to have an oil pan under both sumps, especially before opening the oil filter cap. Other than that, pretty easy to do. My car actually took all 9L of oil and after taking it for a drive, it is readin right at MAX. Thank you eveybody for the input on this post. It was very helpful.

Eric
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      09-19-2011, 03:40 PM   #197
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Anybody try using Redline's 10w60 oil?
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      09-29-2011, 11:40 AM   #198
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Does anyone know if we can use Mityvac for oil change on our cars? Used it on my fathers e500 Merc. yesterday and it was so easy and fast, no lifting, no mess. Modern Merc. cars are desined for sucking oil trough oil dipstick hole in the engine bay. What about e9x m3?
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