I may have roasted my beloved's X5!

[X5only]

I did one extremely stupid thing this morning while changing engine oil on my '05 4.4 X5- I started her up before confirming the oil filter canister was properly screwed in. As soon as I started her up after filling her with fresh fluid and filter, she pucked all the oil on my garage floor! Unfortunately I didn't switch her off immediately when I heard some weired sounds while I was wondering what the heck was that sound.

I believe she ran for a minute or two without oil having circulated into the engine system. I refilled her again making sure the oil canister was sitted properly and screwed in all the way. I test drove her the whole day today and she seems to be happy. But my main fear is that i saw some metal chippings in the oil she had puked. I haven't yet told my wife about it as I'll get my ass roasted in ultra heat! It's her car even though it was my gift to her and she's been warning me not to do anythng on her car although I've fixed many issues on my BMW 5 series.

Am I sitting on a timebomb and, as Mr Crabs would say, should be having a sinking feeling in the pit of me wallet ( read new engine)? What would be the first sign of trouble with the car? What should I expect? I'm planning to drain and refill with new filter ater a couple of days- those metal chipings I saw send shivers down my spine!

'05 X5 4.4 sports 52k miles, E39 '97 528ia 138k miles.

[KingCon]

Damn, you better buy mine just in case...break it to her easy!

No, seriously. I hope nothing's wrong with her!

Best of luck.

[rastaFarai]

bring it for a professional oil change. If anything goes wrong down the road.. tell your wife it's their fault. LOL


This is why i pay my $100 for the oil change.

[HPIA4v2]

Originally Posted by X5only

I did one extremely stupid thing this morning while changing engine oil on my '05 4.4 X5- I started her up before confirming the oil filter canister was properly screwed in. As soon as I started her up after filling her with fresh fluid and filter, she pucked all the oil on my garage floor! Unfortunately I didn't switch her off immediately when I heard some weired sounds while I was wondering what the heck was that sound.

I believe she ran for a minute or two without oil having circulated into the engine system. I refilled her again making sure the oil canister was sitted properly and screwed in all the way. I test drove her the whole day today and she seems to be happy. But my main fear is that i saw some metal chippings in the oil she had puked. I haven't yet told my wife about it as I'll get my ass roasted in ultra heat! It's her car even though it was my gift to her and she's been warning me not to do anythng on her car although I've fixed many issues on my BMW 5 series.

Am I sitting on a timebomb and, as Mr Crabs would say, should be having a sinking feeling in the pit of me wallet ( read new engine)? What would be the first sign of trouble with the car? What should I expect? I'm planning to drain and refill with new filter ater a couple of days- those metal chipings I saw send shivers down my spine!

'05 X5 4.4 sports 52k miles, E39 '97 528ia 138k miles.

At this time you should do engine flush. I'll contact those shops with special machine to flush engine (to rid the sludge problem on many cars).
It may not completely work but cheaper than engine overhaul. Main concern for me is having metal shavings recirculating in there "sand-papering" out anything if you don't flush it out.
Good luck.

[primetime]

I say..re do it..Do another oil change...See if there are any more of those metal shavings that come out when you change the oil change again...

[Tomaz]

When Mobile 1 first came out with a synthetic oil their advertizement was to drain the oil out of a cars engine and drive it 25 miles. I personally drove my 500E Mercedes about 5 miles with zero oil pressure (oil pump failure) with no damage. I am betting you have done no harm to your engine at all. Good luck

[X5only]

Originally Posted by Tomaz

When Mobile 1 first came out with a synthetic oil their advertizement was to drain the oil out of a cars engine and drive it 25 miles. I personally drove my 500E Mercedes about 5 miles with zero oil pressure (oil pump failure) with no damage. I am betting you have done no harm to your engine at all. Good luck

Thank you Tomaz, that is re-assuring. I've also spent a lot of time researching similar experiences on the web and the closest to mine is an incident at a Toyota dealership (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3245182 ) the difference being that I never drove the car at all. I was surprised this happens quiet a number of times at dealerships and quick lubes from the number of hits I got from my search. So, people, make sure you check for oil level after an oil change has been done. Of course, there's the chance the tech may realize the error and fix it and, naturally, the customer wouldn't know what happened! At least in my case I know since I did it myself!

Today I'll drain and refill. I'll do this one more time and keep some of the drained oil to send to http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ for further analysis. I'll also have compression tests done to make sure all's fine. So far the car seems behave just fine if not better as a result of the fresh oil. The old oil was very dark and the filter almost gone.

[ThrasherFan]

I also recommend that you send a sample of oil from your next oil change to Blackstone Laboratories http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

The analysis will let you know the levels of things like lead and aluminum which might indicate unusual wear of engine components. Cost is about $25 per sample and they will send you collection bottles that can be mailed via US Postal Service.

Hopefully you'll have no issues.

[JCL]

A standard oil sample test will only show dissolved solids. If you want to test for visible particles you would need to order a large particle analysis, or particle count, test. It is usually an additional cost, approximately equal to the original sample. If the oil is fairly new, you won't get much information from a simple oil analysis.

A side question: What will you do as a result of the oil analysis? If you are not planning to tear the engine down based solely on the sample, then save your money and don't do one.

If it is running fine and not knocking, I suggest you leave it alone and thank the engine gods that nothing was harmed. Not much point in changing the oil again, as anything in the oil will be taken out by the filter. If anything, you should change the filter again, cut the old one open, and look for particles. When you change the oil next time, you should always have the hood open and be watching when you start it up. That is because of potential oil drain plug leaks, filter leaks, fill caps left off, and so on.

[X5only]

Originally Posted by JCL

A standard oil sample test will only show dissolved solids. If you want to test for visible particles you would need to order a large particle analysis, or particle count, test. It is usually an additional cost, approximately equal to the original sample. If the oil is fairly new, you won't get much information from a simple oil analysis.

A side question: What will you do as a result of the oil analysis? If you are not planning to tear the engine down based solely on the sample, then save your money and don't do one.

If it is running fine and not knocking, I suggest you leave it alone and thank the engine gods that nothing was harmed. Not much point in changing the oil again, as anything in the oil will be taken out by the filter. If anything, you should change the filter again, cut the old one open, and look for particles. When you change the oil next time, you should always have the hood open and be watching when you start it up. That is because of potential oil drain plug leaks, filter leaks, fill caps left off, and so on.

Thank you for your sobering question and suggestions. This evening I changed the oil anyhow out of curiosity and for filter inspection. Yes, you're right, there was no point in changing the oil. I deeped two strongs magnets in the drained oil container and there was no metal particles caught. I also cut open the old filter and ran the magnet through it's entire length. There were quite a few tiny metal shavings. I did the same with the old filter that I'd removed initially before the fiasco and, to my surprise, that too had quite a few metal shavings- but that's 15k miles interval against 40 or so miles. I'll post pics soon.

In any case, the car is purring like a kitten and so far so good. In fact, it feels to run better evidently due to the fresh oil. Yes, I've thanked the engine gods so much for the mercy. I also finally gathered courage to confess to my lovely wife and survived the ordeal