Another stripped oil pan thread

[kyippee]

People who've done time serts, how many oil changes did it last before wearing down? I hear 4-5 is typical. I just had a time sert done at EAS last month.

[deansbimmer]

Time serts are permanent. If they’re failing after a few oil chanes then they weren’t installed correctly.

[kshaikh]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

Order from FCP Euro and do the change yourself. Takes 30 minutes from start to finish.

Quick question for you...did you hand tighten the drain plugs during the oil change? I'm planning on doing an oil change today and am leaning towards that route.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by kshaikh

Quick question for you...did you hand tighten the drain plugs during the oil change? I'm planning on doing an oil change today and am leaning towards that route.

I hand tightened. If you have a torque wrench by all means do it correctly.

[kshaikh]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

I hand tightened. If you have a torque wrench by all means do it correctly.

No leaks for you? I dont have one. I would have to buy one. I'm just afraid of stripping the oil pan. I've read that some hand tighten it with a ratchet. No leaks and more importantly no stripping.

[bigjae1976]

Tighten with a stubby or small 1/4" ratchet. You'd have to try to over tighten the drain plugs.

[DetroitP]

Question;
After installing the serts, is the oem drain plug expected to go thru the whole length of the sert and bottom out? I am currently facing this situation, and wonder if I add more torque to it, then it could potentially expand the bottom of the serts (may be it is supposed to work as such?)?

[eduardomi]

[EDIT]: I just noticed this is a post from 2017, lol ignore my message below.

I just went through a similar experience. This was the first time I personally changed the oil since I bought the car. After draining the plug would just spin, never bite. I had to buy a timesert and do the same you did. All worked. One word of advise though...I spent A LOT of time getting those shards out, I did take a whole bunch from drilling, I used bent qtips to reach in and try to get them out. If you didnt do anything to clean up after drilling, you have metal in the pan. Your filter should catch most but still...

Change the oil one more time and you will see the metal for sure.

Best of luck

[pbonsalb]

Is that pan insert for the plug hole a steel that has magnetic? If so you could use a magnetic drain plug. Not a bad idea to use one anyway. Actually use 2.

[DetroitP]

The sert is steal and nonmagnetic. I wouldn't suggest performing the time sert job on the pan while its on the engine. There is quite a bit of shavings produced during the process. Here are some pics from my setup.
Note the red marks on the sert are red loctite.

[pingping]

I replaced my oil pan due to a leak and the mechanic "found" a bolt inside. I have no idea how it got there, and now there are charging me 1100 to pull out valve covers and front trimming case covers. Not sure if this has happened to anybody else, or if I'm getting conned.

[330volts]

I did my first oil change yesterday on my 2008 E93 and found the front oil drain bolt stripped. This car was always serviced at BMW dealership - I guess the screwed it up at some point. I went ahead and drained the oil from the rear oil drain and refilled 8.4 liters of Liquid Moly 10W-60. I replaced the rear oil drain with a new set of washer and bolt. I am planning to go to my mechanic to try and remove the stripped bolt.

I guess once the mechanic is able to remove the front oil drain bolt I will have to refill .5 liters of oil.

Appreciate any inputs/feedback. Thank you!

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by 330volts

I did my first oil change yesterday on my 2008 E93 and found the front oil drain bolt stripped. This car was always serviced at BMW dealership - I guess the screwed it up at some point. I went ahead and drained the oil from the rear oil drain and refilled 8.4 liters of Liquid Moly 10W-60. I replaced the rear oil drain with a new set of washer and bolt. I am planning to go to my mechanic to try and remove the stripped bolt.

I guess once the mechanic is able to remove the front oil drain bolt I will have to refill .5 liters of oil.

Appreciate any inputs/feedback. Thank you!

I would have guessed the front drain more than 0.5 liters, at least one (?) but haven't thought too much about it when changing oil. Now, if it is less than a liter, maybe even no red alert to get it fixed but instead increase the oil change frequency a little mean while?

[sperkins]

If anyone needs a Time Sert kit, i have one for sale- used one time. Worked flawlessly. Actually amazed how easy it was.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...7#post28971057

[330volts]

Thanks for the responses.

I took it to my local guy and had him remove the front drain bolt and replace it with a new one. He said 0.5 liters of oil drained and he put it back.

Phew!

[drrust]

Originally Posted by 330volts

Thanks for the responses.

I took it to my local guy and had him remove the front drain bolt and replace it with a new one. He said 0.5 liters of oil drained and he put it back.

Phew!

Having the Allen Key recess round out and not be able to remove us significantly easier to deal with as compared to stripped/damaged threads in the pan. Glad you were able to have it addressed successfully.

[darren p.]

Does anyone know what size the drill bit is that comes with the Time Sert kit?

My rear drain plug was stripped at some point prior to my ownership and a larger threaded bolt was used instead of fixing it properly with a Time Sert and using a factory drain plug. The head of the bolt is small enough to fit in the recessed opening on the rear of the pan but only a little bit of the head sticks out past the recess. I rounded out that bolt and used an extractor to remove it but now I see the hole is a larger diameter than the factory plug and am curious how big the bit is to make the new hole for the Time Sert.

[TycoM3]

So I am now a member of the seemingly inevitable "Stripped Drain Plug Club", I currently have a TimeSert kit shipped and on its way to me. I am trying to figure out the best way to go about this, I've spoken to a few people that have done this exact repair and they've told me that dropping the oil pan is NOT needed but something in the back of my mind has me worried about the metal filings that will be created. I plan on doing it with the pan on the engine still and just profusely flushing it with fresh oil after every stage as well as coating the end of the drill bit in grease to help in catching filings.

Anyone care to weigh in? Maybe some more pointers in filing management?
(words of encouragement will also be appreciated 😅&#128517

[deansbimmer]

The most important aspect of performing a Timesert in-car is making sure it's drilled, tapped, and installed straight. Be certain that you properly use the guide sleeves that come with the kit to drill and tap the hole to receive the Timesert.

After you've drilled and tapped you can run some fresh oil through to flush it out if you'd like. You need to let it completely drain and dry, brake clean the threads and ensure they're not oily when you apply loctite or JB weld to the insert threads.

Afterwards, take a drain pug and a copper crush washer, torque it down, remove it and check to make sure it's making a crush contact all the way around its perimeter, otherwise it will leak.