First Oil Change on the "Beast" - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

firehire · 7th August 2009, 08:51

Well, I have changed the oil on most of the cars I have owned, but with all of the horror stories of stripped pan bolts and other issues, I paid my indie for the first couple of oil changes on my "Beast".

After lots of research, I decided to buy a Mityvac 7300 and give it the old college try and attempt a DIY oil change. Well, first off I couldn't find a socket big enough to loosen the oil filter cap. I borrowed my neighbors strap wrench and got it off. I then hooked up the Mityvac through the dipstick tube and plugged my compressor in and opened the valve on the Mityvac.

I was pretty impressed, it started filling up the container and steadily extracted the oil. It has a 8.8L capacity, but I didn't find that out until the container was getting close to being full.

I actually ran into the house and checked the manual on the capacity of the unit.

Once it was finished, (you can tell by the extraction tube because the oil was thinning out inside the tube) I replaced the oil filter and "o" ring. Now comes the tricky part. It states right on the top of the oil filter cap to torque to 25NM. I have a conversion table on my torque wrench, so that wasn't a problem converting it to ft-lbs. The problem was I didn't have a 36mm socket to use on my wrench.

I took a little trip down to AutoZone to see if the had a 36mm 3/8" drive socket. Unfortunately, they did not. They do have a wonderful tool loaner program. I was able to borrow a 36mm 1/2 drive socket. So, I went home and used my 1/2" -> 3/8" reducer and torqued the filter cap on.

I then added 7L of TWS, started it up, drove it around until the oil temperature was appropriate, came home and checked the level. Bada bing, job done. No leaks.

I will have to say that I didn't have to buy ramps or a low profile jack. I will say that this was the easiest oil change I have ever done. I just have to go and buy me a 36mm 3/8" drive socket before my next oil change.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

chowdah · 7th August 2009, 10:01

Hand tight, aided by a rim of oil on the o-ring, should suffice on the filter cap. If you use a big adjustable wrench or other tool there, go slow and steady, brace the housing with your free hand, and minimize transferring the torque to the mounts.

Suro · 7th August 2009, 14:39

+1, I had to replace my mounts a few days ago... about $30 and a pain in the *** to remove due to the bushings being broken.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chowdah

Hand tight, aided by a rim of oil on the o-ring, should suffice on the filter cap. If you use a big adjustable wrench or other tool there, go slow and steady, brace the housing with your free hand, and minimize transferring the torque to the mounts.

TMcNasty · 7th August 2009, 16:58

Nice one fire...I did notice while repairing my own oil pan that the diptick tube does come down right over the low spot of the oil pan. Just behind that larger side bolt some people use. So I think you're right on target doing it this way. Sears has that 36mm socket you need by the way. Just so happens my R32 oil filter housing uses that same size. Was nice to see when I got the M that for once I didn't need to buy a new tool just to change the oil!

BTW is compressor mandatory w/ a MityVac?

firehire · 7th August 2009, 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMcNasty

Nice one fire...I did notice while repairing my own oil pan that the diptick tube does come down right over the low spot of the oil pan. Just behind that larger side bolt some people use. So I think you're right on target doing it this way. Sears has that 36mm socket you need by the way. Just so happens my R32 oil filter housing uses that same size. Was nice to see when I got the M that for once I didn't need to buy a new tool just to change the oil!

BTW is compressor mandatory w/ a MityVac?

The compressor is mandatory on the 7300. Mityvac does make a manual extractor with a "T" handle that you pump instead of using the compressor. The compressor just makes it easier.

Nabio · 7th August 2009, 17:36

I would honestly unscrew your filter cap and redo it by hand. If you put it too tight then good luck getting it off next time around without breaking the mounts.

max95se · 7th August 2009, 17:45

how is this compared to draining it though the drain plug? this is definitely easier and faster..
but can we get all the junk at the bottom of the oil pan?

firehire · 7th August 2009, 19:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by max95se

how is this compared to draining it though the drain plug? this is definitely easier and faster..
but can we get all the junk at the bottom of the oil pan?

I did a lot of research before buying the extractor. There were members of this board who have utilized both methods (extractor and drain plug). The information that I gathered from them is that there is negligible (if any) difference from extracting vs. standard method of draining oil.