DIY: 50i Oil Change

[Maverik259]

Ok as mentioned a few days ago get there isn't a single good DIY for us V8 bubbas so hopefully this can put everything in one place for the future searchers!

Parts Needed: easy to medium. 45-60 min of work.

-9.5qt of oil (I use Mobil 1 0w-40 cuz I have a ton left over from my AMG and I love it)
-Either a Mann HU8007 (eBay is the only real place I could find this) or OEM Mahle 353/7D ECO (MAHLE Original OX 353/7D ECO Oil Filter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFVT5OQ..._Uq6DBb32N4G5B). Both come with the o ring and crush washer.
-oil filter wrench (I used this awesome one from BMS http://www.burgertuning.com/billet_b...tall_tool.html) you can use a 3/8" wrench or a 21mm socket
-3" 3/8" extension
-8mm Allen wrench
-minimum 10L oil catch
-large piece of card board
-Rhino ramps

[Maverik259]

1) drive to 7-11 and get a 6 pack or big gulp of your favorite beverage (this is also used to get the engine up to temp, the warmer the better)

2) place the ramps in front of the tires and makes sure their aligned and straight. Carefully drive up the ramp until you feel the car level off and then apply the brake. If able use a spotter.

3) loosen the oil cap located passenger side of engine bay.

4) place cardboard under car and put oil catch on top. Oil drain and filter are about 3' back from front of car. The oil drain is the smaller middle circle cut out and the filter is the larger passenger side cut out.

[Maverik259]

5) next use the 8mm Allen wrench on the drain plug. It's jammed pretty tight in their so I had to use a extension bar to get needed leverage. Once loose you can hand loosen the rest of the way. Be careful and make sure you have a firm grip on the bolt cuz that oil will come fast and furious and if caught me a bit off guard. At this point is why I recommend using a big piece of cardboard to put under the catch cuz combine with the speed and design of my oil catch it splattered all over at first.

[Maverik259]

6) once the oil has finished I removed the oil filter to prevent myself getting covered in oil. Didn't need to use the 3" extension but I wanted better leverage on the filter and more room for my hand under the car. It came loose pretty easy but took a lot of turns before I could use my hand to loosen. Make sure the oil catch is still under the housing because a good amount is trapped up inside. Once off I immediately placed it upside down on the top of my oil catch to let it drain out before trying to pull the filter out of the house. It snaps in place and thus needs some force to remove the filter from the housing.

[Maverik259]

7) wipe the bolt and area around the oil pan clean. Replace the crush washer from the oil filter package And screw back into oil pan. I hand tightened for now and came back later to torque.

[Maverik259]

8) once filter has drained gently but forcefully separate it from the housing. Use a small flat blade to pry off the o ring on the outside of the oil filter housing. Coat new O ring with fresh oil and place on the oil filter housing. (It's the larger of the two o rings in the package). Snap new filter into the housing and hand tighten after wiping clean the area around when it is housed.

9) with both of those now installed torque them down.

Drain plug: 25 N-m
Oil filter: 40 N-m (tighten to 30 N-m initially then back off 180deg then tighten to 40 N-m)

[Maverik259]

10) fully remove the oil cap. Insert your favorite funnel (I have a fancy one that locks into place using the two slots that the cap uses to lock in place). Pour in your chosen oil (9.5 Qt).

I wasn't sure exactly how much I emptied and I didn't want to over fill and have to drain so I only filled about 9Qt. Start the car back it off the ramps and park it on a flat surface. Let it run for several minutes until it reaches operating temp about 185 degrees. Then you can go into your settings and measure the oil level and add however much more you need based on what it says. For me I was smack dab in the middle of min and max at 9Qt so I added the remaining 1/2 qt of oil and shut the hood.

Hope I didn't forget anything.

[joyride]

Nice! This is perfect for anyone doing this. I'll add this, be careful with 8mm drain plug! It is made to strip the head vs. damaging the pan threads if it's over tightened. Previous owner had rounded it out at some point so getting it out was a PITA!

[Duke I]

Well done Mav. It took me 10q to get to the top fill line on the PIA electronic oil gage. I replace the Au plug every other oil service.

I did a 100 mile oil change to get the engine machining tailings out and was surprised to find quite a bit trapped by the filter and at the bottom of the filter housing.

I am a Mobil 1 fan too, I use 5w50 in my other car. Annoying that it's not approved by Bmw any more but I will switch to it (0w40) once I have gone through the Castrol euro -- excellent UOA's for Mobil 1 reported by the Porsche forum.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by Duke I

Well done Mav. It took me 10q to get to the top fill line on the PIA electronic oil gage. I replace the Au plug every other oil service.

I did a 100 mile oil change to get the engine machining tailings out and was surprised to find quite a bit trapped by the filter and at the bottom of the filter housing.

I am a Mobil 1 fan too, I use 5w50 in my other car. Annoying that it's not approved by Bmw any more but I will switch to it (0w40) once I have gone through the Castrol euro -- excellent UOA's for Mobil 1 reported by the Porsche forum.

Good idea with replacing the actually screw itself. Wish they would have just used a 10 or 12 mm bolt instead. Much easier to use without stripping.

[aracka]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

Good idea with replacing the actually screw itself. Wish they would have just used a 10 or 12 mm bolt instead. Much easier to use without stripping.

where does one get another bolt? i may have stripped mine this past weekend

Edit: found it, pretty cheap to replace

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...g/07119905428/

[anon1000]

I tried to do the oil change yesterday and with my ramps and how deep the plug and filter are, had to call it quits.

Started to get major anxiety under the car

[aracka]

Originally Posted by anon1000

I tried to do the oil change yesterday and with my ramps and how deep the plug and filter are, had to call it quits.

Started to get major anxiety under the car

a

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by anon1000

I tried to do the oil change yesterday and with my ramps and how deep the plug and filter are, had to call it quits.

Started to get major anxiety under the car

Yea it's a tight fit. I used a creeper and I'm a bigger guy so my chest was touching the underside of the car when doing it. However I didn't spend much time there. Just enough to get the filter and bolt off. And then back on and to wipe the area clean. The rhino ramps are rated up to 5000 lbs and you're just lifting the front of the car so maybe 3000 max.

[alphaod]

Nice write up. I get my oil from my dealer. For $7/L for the BMW 5W40 vs $9/Qt on Amazon for Pennzoil 5W40 Euro, I only use 9 full L bottles instead of ending up with a 1/2 Qt otherwise. Filter I do get from Amazon.

The Mobil 1 0W40 is technically no longer BMW approved...

For the drain plug make sure it's straight before you screw it in. When my car was new I messed up during my first oil change at 1200 miles... I ended up getting a new oil pan.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by alphaod

Nice write up. I get my oil from my dealer. For $7/L for the BMW 5W40 vs $9/Qt on Amazon for Pennzoil 5W40 Euro, I only use 9 full L bottles instead of ending up with a 1/2 Qt otherwise. Filter I do get from Amazon.

The Mobil 1 0W40 is technically no longer BMW approved...

For the drain plug make sure it's straight before you screw it in. When my car was new I messed up during my first oil change at 1200 miles... I ended up getting a new oil pan.

I buy my 5qt bottles from Walmart when they go on same for super cheap ($20-25 a bottle) and just keep a couple 1 qt bottles for top offs over the life of the oil change.

And just to squash this hopefully once and for all (at least in this thread cuz I know no one likes to search these days) Mobil 1 is perfectly fine to use regardless of BMW "approval" but yes I know it's not anymore. The formula of The oil has not changed and it is still recommended by AMG etc. Not saying in all cases this is why but for this particular one it's all about castrol simply paying to be the recommended oil by BMW. But with all this said I am not encouraging anyone to use Mobil 1 cuz as I said I just happen to have a bunch left over from my AMG days and I'm not about to toss it out.

And yes the drain bolt is finicky.

On a side note, I found one from vivid racing that has a magnet built into it to help pull any shavings that may be in the oil. Sounds like an interesting idea for my next fill.

[mikew2069]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

I buy my 5qt bottles from Walmart when they go on same for super cheap ($20-25 a bottle) and just keep a couple 1 qt bottles for top offs over the life of the oil change.

And just to squash this hopefully once and for all (at least in this thread cuz I know no one likes to search these days) Mobil 1 is perfectly fine to use regardless of BMW "approval" but yes I know it's not anymore. The formula of The oil has not changed and it is still recommended by AMG etc. Not saying in all cases this is why but for this particular one it's all about castrol simply paying to be the recommended oil by BMW. But with all this said I am not encouraging anyone to use Mobil 1 cuz as I said I just happen to have a bunch left over from my AMG days and I'm not about to toss it out.

And yes the drain bolt is finicky.

On a side note, I found one from vivid racing that has a magnet built into it to help pull any shavings that may be in the oil. Sounds like an interesting idea for my next fill.

Doing my first change today. What is the small oring for?

[alphaod]

Originally Posted by mikew2069

Doing my first change today. What is the small oring for?

On the original N63 some of the original filter housings had a drain plug that you could remove to drain the oil in the filter housing before unscrewing the whole thing. The small O-ring was for that drain plug.

But since our current filter housings do not have this drain plug you can dispose of the small O-ring.

[mikew2069]

Originally Posted by alphaod

On the original N63 some of the original filter housings had a drain plug that you could remove to drain the oil in the filter housing before unscrewing the whole thing. The small O-ring was for that drain plug.

But since our current filter housings do not have this drain plug you can dispose of the small O-ring.

Thanks. I ended up reinstalling without that o-ring b/c it just wasn't adding up. Figured the filter is used on multiple engines or something. But now that you mention it, a filter drain would be amazing on this thing!

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by mikew2069

Thanks. I ended up reinstalling without that o-ring b/c it just wasn't adding up. Figured the filter is used on multiple engines or something. But now that you mention it, a filter drain would be amazing on this thing!

Yes. Yes it would lol

[alphaod]

Originally Posted by mikew2069

Thanks. I ended up reinstalling without that o-ring b/c it just wasn't adding up. Figured the filter is used on multiple engines or something. But now that you mention it, a filter drain would be amazing on this thing!

It sounds amazing until you strip the screw hole or crack the filter housing now you need a new housing.

When you unscrew the filter drain plug more than often you would end up unscrewing the whole cover from the oil pan or when putting the screw back in you would either not tighten the drain plug enough or end up over-tightening the filter housing (both bad).

[ponytuning]

Thank you for the detailed walkthrough.

I just changed oil in my wife’s 2015 x5 50i today following your instructions. I had the 10.5qt of bmw 0w-50 oil and the mahle kit from fcp euro but only ended up using 9.5qt after measuring the oil level and reading max level in idrive (attached). I drove the car for a little over 40 miles after the change and didn’t get any codes or oil leaks, oil temperature is still the same as before. The only thing I didn’t replace was the two air filters which I’m going to at the next interval in 7000 miles (that’s how long I’ve waited since the last change at the dealer). Car is now at 30k miles now.

Soon the oil change will be due for change on my 2016 x6 50i and will plan on diy again at 3000 miles before it’s due.