Great write up.

This should be added to the rest of the oil change threads.


Don't you need to warm up the car to operating temps before changing the oil?

Also, how much oil did you end up putting in?

 

mdyaman, yes, engine needs to be run until it reaches full operating temp (oil temp is greater than 70 degrees C.) Since the shop is 25 miles from my home...no problem with this. Actually, I have to be careful not to fry my fingers when working on it.

I put in 8 L and then checked the oil level using the on board computer. The initial reading was low so I added another liter.

 

Great write-up! Definitely should be added to the DIY for everyone with the 2 drain plugs.

 

Yup, very helpful post.

Thanks.

 

About to my diff and transmission oil. Looking forward to seeing your progress

 

Subscribed !

 

subbin

 

Funny, I was under mine yesterday (also at Air Force auto hobby shop!) for an inspection, and noted some damage. That block you referred to (a jack pad, I presume) is totally sheared off on mine! Also, there's quite a bit of damage to the driver's side lower panel in front of tire, and it appears they also tried to enlarge the brake cooling duct in a crude way. Passenger side appears normal. This was all from the original owner, BTW. I guess I also need to remove that front access panel to inspect oil cooler, but I've got no leaks, thankfully.

 

SilberGrauE60, I understand why someone may want to enlarge the hole to allow more air to reach the brakes....seems like the liner blocks some of the air flow from the duct. I noticed this on my M5 and was curious as to why they blocked it from the factory with the small cutout. However, as you stated, that job was crude at best and I would want to do more research on the brake cooling system before I endeavored it. Looks like your car ran over something it shouldn't have

 

Thanks, i'll add this as the primary oil change DIY on the sticky.

Can you upload the pictures here instead of photobucket so we don't have the same problem as the original oil change post?

 

Very helpful thanks

 

More on the oil change. Most will want to reset the oil service indicator after doing the oil change. I found a you tube video that helps with this...check the LINK.

And of course, if you learn by reading, the CBS reset procedure is below:


CBS reset in the vehicle

CBS service items in the instrument cluster and deadlines for legally stipulated vehicle inspections or emissions tests can be reset or entered in the Control Display in the vehicle. Generally it is recommended that the CBS items are reset using the diagnosis system (see "CBS reset with diagnosis system").

Resetting the service items

Observe the following process for resetting:

1. Switch on the ignition (terminal 15)
2. Press the trip odometer for approximately 10 seconds until the first CBS item appears.
(The next item is reached by briefly pressing the button again)
3. If the value is to be reset, press the button again for approximately 3 seconds until "Reset?" appears.
4. Reset is confirmed by pressing the button again for 3 seconds.

Note:
• The reset process is cancelled by waiting for too long or by replacing the terminals.
• CBS items are arranged chronologically. The most critical item is displayed first.
• Every reset causes the service counter of the respective item to be increased by one. The service counters are used in the item-specific SAM to monitor additional work.


Important:
• It is only possible to carry out a reset in the vehicle if the service life of the item is below 80%; if however it is necessary to carry out a reset, this must be done in the diagnosis system (see "CBS reset with the diagnosis system"). The reset lock is displayed in the menu with the text "O.K.".
• The values should only ever be reset after the service measure has been carried out.
• Every time CBS items are reset, it must be ensured that the on-board date is set correctly. The on-board date is the reference for defining the target date for the time-dependent CBS items.
• If the on-board date needs to be corrected, the service order must be checked again.
• It is only possible to reset the front and rear brake pad displays if the brake pad sensor is working.

 

DIFF Oil Change

Continuing on.....with the Diff Oil Change.

I used this fluid as a refill (takes 2 bottles and most of a 3rd) and yes, it is expensive – what isn’t with these cars. The pull out spout makes it relatively easy to fill using the top plug on the diff. My mileage is about 38K and figured it was about time.



While you ordering the diff oil, order two diff drain plugs. The sealing rings are made into the plug and you will not want to take a chance with re-installing the old ones. MFG Part # 33117525064. I ordered them from ECS Tuning at $ 5.78 ea. It is a "real" BMW part.



Pretty dang simple…just release the bottom drain plug and out it comes. Replace with the new plug and then fill using the opening created by removing the top plug. It has enough new oil when it starts to run out of the top opening. Replace with a new diff plug and you are set.



Ordered my new spark plugs....so, guess that is next.....

 

Did you do the 10 tight-radius circles in both directions after changing the diff fluid?

 

No, I did not.

 

SMG Transmission Fluid Change

SMG Transmission Fluid change.

Who wants to crawl around under a car on jack stands….no one. So, off to the nearest drive-on lift. As has been discussed, it is possible to do this job on jack stands, but IMO, it would be a bit of a pain to move the tranny cooler and gain access to the fill plug.


For the transmission fluid, I use MTF LT-2: Part number: 83220309031


This job requires 3 washers (one for the fill and drain plugs and one for the filter). Part number: 07119963300

You can clean the filter and reuse, but I decided to use a new filter. Another shot of this filter, part number: 17212283111



Before you get started with the project ensure you have a fluid transfer method (pump, hand crank something to move the new fluid from the container into the side of the tranny. Given the location of the fill plug, it is damn near impossible to fill the tranny without this. I picked up this cheap one at AutoZone.



1. You DO NOT have to remove the foremost underbody panel. You only have to remove the four aft screws of that panel that connect w/ the Panel under the Tranny.

2. You will need to remove this panel:



3. A 5mm allen head bolt secures the cooler. See pic below with protection panel removed. Black arrow points to the allen bolt that secures the cooler. However, before loosening and removing the 5mm bolt, go ahead and loosen the 22mm hex nut on the cylindrical filter and then lightly re-snug. This just helps with the removal of the filter later when the cooler is swung to the rear of the car and not secured tightly to anything.



Pic below shows the 22mm hex nut for the tranny filter



Once the 22mm hex nut is lightly put back in place, remove the 5 mm allen bolt that secures the cooler. Don’t worry; it will not fall on your head. It is held in place by pins that slide thru castings in the cooler brackets. Once the 5mm bolt is out, disconnect one electrical connection. See pic below:



With this cable disconnected, the cooler can be swung out of the way. Time now to get the zip ties, string, or wire to suspend the cooler – this keeps pressure off the connections. All that is left is to slide the cooler to the rear of the car, notice the pins as they slide thru the castings on the cooler bracket, ensure they are clear of the castings and then position the cooler down and to the rear of the car. Takes a bit of turning, but it is easy enough.



Now the fill plug on the tranny is clearly visible.



4. Break the fill plug first, should be fairly easy. No use going to the drain plug if you cannot break the fill plug free (never heard of this, but in that rare case 1: 100,000). Position your oil catch can and break the drain plug and let it rip. While there, remove the filter (22mm hex nut) on the cooler and drain that bit of oil as well. Good time to replace the filter with the new one. It will require torqueing once the cooler is mounted back in place so you have leverage.

5. Replace the crush washers on each of the tranny plugs before re-securing. It takes approx. 3 liters to fill it. Some will recommend measuring what comes out and refilling with same amount. That may work presuming you did not have a leak or some other issue that consumed your oil. The manual doesn’t specify as it supposed to be a lifetime oil... :cool2: Perhaps, it is in some tech bulletin? As with the diff, I filled it until it ran out of the top plug.

Cheers, Enjoy the M5 Wrenching !

 

Awesome work black hawk!

One thing i would do is after filling the tranny oil.. Go for a drive to heat everything up, come back put it back on the lift and check the oil level, i am almost 100% sure it will need adding, as the pump and cooler will ingest some oil..

When you empty the fluids, specifically when removing the mesh filter, all the oil from the lines, cooler, oil pump are drained aswell.

The bmw tis says to drain the oil, activate the oil pump via dis, this will drain all oil in the lines, pump and cooler ( which isnt much anyways) but this isnt needed as most people lower the cooler on an angel and all the oil from the cooler, pump and lines seems to get drained when the filter is removed..

When refilling, bmw states 2L and then activate the pump, this way the pump, cooler and lines have oil in them and you can get a true reading of the oil level after you prime the pump..

In our case, driving for a minute or two would in theory do the same as a activating the pump via dis. Just more time consuming then activating it via dis on the lift..

This is just theory, but i think if you filled, went for a short drive, came back, shut the car off and put it on the lift, you would need to add a bit more oil..

 

nice writeup. nice to see a visual for people that want to DIY.

 

Awesome thanks!

 

Thanks guys for the good words. I have learned a lot through the forum and thought I could make a contribution back to the community. Good points 5soko, I will be back in the shop very soon and will check the level again. I have the spark plugs to do next.....looking fwd to that bit of wrenching. Cheers.

 

S85 Spark Plug Change

Did the dreaded spark plug change yesterday. The best resource for this DIY project is THIS THREAD:

What's missing?

After reading the horror stories of how difficult the plug swap is for the two rear most cylinders (5) on bank one and (10) on bank 2, I decided to get a few new tools to help with the job. I even bought two ignition coils in case I managed to break/snap one on trying to remove it and a few extra locking caps for the ignition coils. I used BWM replacement parts.

A socket extension run thru the ignition coil lock provides just the right leverage to extract the coils. To ensure I pulled straight out, I used both hands on each side of the socket extension and straight back. This method works for all but the two rear cylinders, where space just doesn’t allow this method. A large socket placed to the rear of the cylinder and using the same extension run thru the locking cap (using the socket as a pry point) will provide sufficient leverage to pop out the ignition coil. Just be careful and take it slowly.

To my surprise, removing the coils was not that difficult. I was prepared for the worst, but the S85 decided to be friendly this day. The old coils were not even in bad shape…not brittle, nor showing any of significant deterioration.

The biggest challenge was removing the rear most spark plugs - not the ignition coils, which is where the flexible extension came in handy. It wasn’t that the plugs were torqued too tight; it was just difficult to extract the dang plugs. Using combinations of a regular plug socket (not the extended one in the photo, and different size extensions and the flex adapter, I managed to get them out and the new ones back in. All in all, not that bad, just time consuming.

Only bit of advice on this DIY that has not been already covered in other threads is the ignition coil covers have several rubber pieces around the edges. It is part number: 11127835720. These tiny pieces become frail with age and will easily slide or fall off when handling the coil covers…so be careful not to lose them. Or, a better option is to order some new ones and replace them while doing the plugs…they are only about a 1.25 each.
Real OEM page for coil covers LINK

Until the next installment

Cheers.

 

Did you go with OEM plugs or the NGK variety?

 

OEM is NGK. Lol


Sent from AutoGuide.com App

 

NGK is what you get if ordered thru the BMW dealer. It is OEM in other words. They go for about 24.16 each at my dealer....kinda proud of em. Needless to say, I found another source.

 

$115 total from Amazon!

 

Next DIY installment will be replacing the Vanos Solenoids. Ordered 4 of these bad boys from Bimmerzone for $165.95 each. If any the pros have helpful tips or recommendations on this project, chime in. Cheers.

 

Next DIY installment will be replacing the Vanos Solenoids. Ordered 4 of these bad boys from Bimmerzone for $165.95 each. If any the pros have helpful tips or recommendations on this project, chime in. Cheers.

NICE! How many miles on your car? Any symptoms or reason for changing them out?

 

5soko,

Approx 40K.

No codes thrown
But, fails the vanos test
Mostly doing for PM: Preventative Maintenance

 

5soko,

Approx 40K.

No codes thrown
But, fails the vanos test
Mostly doing for PM: Preventative Maintenance

Gotcha! Looking forward to the DIY! Good Luck

 

Awesome post, thank you sir.