2012 35i Oil Change DIY - N55B30M0 Engine

[D3a5v1e]

An oil change is a pretty easy procedure, but I always enjoy reading multiple DIY write-ups before doing something, so hopefully this will help someone out there looking to change their oil for the first time. I am trying to write this for someone who has never changed their oil before, so please excuse any explanations of the obvious.

I purchased a 2012 35i a couple of days ago and plan to do everything I can to avoid powertrain/drivetrain failures, which I believe starts with proper fluid change intervals. My plan is to keep this vehicle on the road for many years to come. I am at 37k miles right now and plan to replace the oil every 7.5k miles. I'll be addressing the transmission, transfer case, and differential lubricants next spring.

My boss was nice enough to let me use his heated garage/shop for the oil change. I have a nice over-sized, three-car garage, but is not heated. It's pretty cold here in Wisconsin and I wanted the block to stay warm to help drain as much fluid as possible.



I went with Redline 5W-40. The HTHS tests showed good protection, it is BMW LL-01 approved, it is a Group 5 ester-based fully-synthetic oil, and Redline appears to be a reputable manufacturer. This is my first time using a Redline product, and if all goes well, I may use their products in all of my vehicles. I have been running Mobil 1 0W-40 in my ZHP and 5W-30 in my Pontiac Vibe for years (I just inherited the vibe as my new winter vehicle; ZHP is parked during the winter. Wifey gets the X5).



The oil was changed per the maintenance records about 3000 miles ago. I'm sure the factory oil is still fine, but I'm a little OCD and want my preferred oil in the engine sooner than later. My hope is that this will be one way to flush some gunk out of the engine by replacing the oil before it has a chance to contribute any more sludge to the mixture. Maybe this is crazy, but I'll sleep better at night.

When changing the oil, it is best to have the engine as close to the highest normal operating temperature as possible. This should help the oil drain quickly and thoroughly. Running the engine prior to draining the oil will also stir up any sediment in the oil that should be drained. I usually go for a five minute drive to warm things up and try to start the oil change shortly after parking the vehicle.

1. Engage the parking brake and turn off the car...

2. Loosen the oil filling cap, but keep the cap loosely over the opening or cover the opening with something clean to avoid dust/bugs from entering the engine. You can also loosen the oil filter cover. It's usually a good idea to blow around the cap/cover with compressed air before loosening it to clear out any debris that could fall into the hole. I loosen the cap/cover to help the oil drain without air-locking any oil lines, but I'm not sure if that is a real concern. Regardless, I think it helps the oil drain faster.

I purchased an oil-filter cover removal camp from Amazon for about $10.







3. Remove the oil drain plug using a 17mm socket. There should be a little cover that you have to remove to expose the drain plug, but of course, it was missing from my CPO X5. Make sure your drain pan is below the plug to catch the draining oil right away. Remember that you are draining 7 quarts of oil, so make sure your drain pan is big enough. I did no need to elevate the X5 to access the drain plug. I'm 6'1" and could easily reach the drain plug with a socket by laying on my back under the front of the car. If you do raise the vehicle to remove the plug, it looks like you will want to lower the vehicle again to help all of the oil drain out of the oil pan. Obviously, you cannot do this using ramps.









4. Let the oil drain as long as possible. Ideally, the oil should drain until it stops dripping. This could take around an hour. Every drop of dirty oil you drain is one less drop in your engine. While the oil is draining, you can replace the oil filter. Using your tool of choice, loosen the oil filter housing cover and pull the cover off, which should also remove the filter element. I usually put the filter in a plastic bag for transporting to a recycling facility.

I used a Mann filter. Mann has produced OEM filters for BMW in the past, and they have always worked well for me. The model number is HU-816-x. The filter comes with two oil-filter cover gaskets and a copper crush washer for the oil drain plug.



Here is the oil filter cover with new gaskets installed. Use a clean finger and some new oil to coat these gaskets before reinstalling with the new filter.



The new filter should fit snugly onto the oil filter cap stem. There are varying opinions on pre-soaking the filter with oil. I think it helps push oil through the filter quicker when you first start the engine after adding new oil. Even if it doesn't actually help, it certainly isn't doing any harm.





5. Reinstall the oil filter cover with new filter element. Be careful not to spill oil all over the engine compartment if you pre-soaked the filter element. Torque the cover to the specified rating listed on the cover. It should read 25 + 5 Nm. I tightened mine to 25 ft-lbs using a not-so-accurate torque wrench. Yes, I'm a torque wrench guy most of the time.



6. Once the oil stops dripping from the drain hole, you can reinstall the drain plug. Be sure to discard the old copper crush washer and use the new one provided with the oil filter. Torque the drain plug to 20-25 ft-lbs. Be careful not to over tighten. Stripping the oil pan threads will put your X5 our of commission for a while.

I save screw-top, plastic containers in my garage for transporting oil to the recycling facility. I don't like driving with a drain pan in the back of my car. The screw-top containers should keep things clean if I have to slam on the brakes and they tip over.

7. I like to do a mental check at this point. I think through what I did to make sure I installed the new filter, reinstalled the drain plug, and torqued both to spec.

8. Pour 7 quarts of new oil into the fill hole. The hole is sunken down a bit into the engine bay and angled, so I suggest using a funnel. Old oil bottles can usually be cut in half to form a funnel if you don't have one. Use all 7 quarts, and allow each quart to sit vertical for 2-3 minutes to ensure most of it drains into the engine. I like to line the full bottles of oil up in one location and move them one-by-one to another location as I empty each of them. This helps me keep track of how many bottles I already poured into the engine. I usually have more than 7 quarts with me, so I have to keep track of how many I pour into the engine. If using specialty oil like Redline, which cannot be purchased at the major auto parts stores around the country (e.g. Autozone), then you should buy at least one extra quart to keep in the car in case you need some on short notice.



9. Once all seven quarts have been poured into the engine, reinstall the oil fill hole cover. Start the engine, navigate to the vehicle status menu using the iDrive system, and select the the oil level screen. The oil level should be grayed out, and it will indicate that the oil level is being measured. The engine needs to be running for the oil level to be measured. It takes about a minute and you should see the oil level indicated on the screen. For me, using 7 quarts of oil measured right at the maximum fill level.



Please let me know if I missed anything or gave any incorrect information, and I'll update the writeup.

UPDATE: 2015-03-05
************************************************** *******
I finally got around to sending in my oil sample. It looks like things were mostly normal. I plan to run another test after my next change to see how the new oil did.


Dave

[Pierce330]

Great write up Dave...nice and detailed...

[ard]

Nice write up...so, damn, I hate doing this...

How will you handle BMW and the fact that you arent using the correct oil? (Per BMW) Curious if you will just skip the rest of the maintenance plan, and if you are concerned that BMW might have you on a technicality.

Also, the stuff about gunk/sludge, etc, is kinda crazy talk.... Unless you've run a UOA and they found something there....


If this turns into an oil thread, can we all agree to delete the posts????

[D3a5v1e]

Originally Posted by ard

Nice write up...so, damn, I hate doing this...

How will you handle BMW and the fact that you arent using the correct oil? (Per BMW) Curious if you will just skip the rest of the maintenance plan, and if you are concerned that BMW might have you on a technicality.

Also, the stuff about gunk/sludge, etc, is kinda crazy talk.... Unless you've run a UOA and they found something there....


If this turns into an oil thread, can we all agree to delete the posts????

All good questions. I'm glad you asked.

As far as not using BMW oil, there may be some risk there, but I read the specific CPO warranty that I signed and there is nothing indicating loss of coverage based on the use of non-OEM fluids or parts. Maybe I should add some clarification that I was not intending to convince anyone to use a specific product. I was just trying to avoid posts questioning why I used what I did. To avoid a negligence claim, I would definitely bring my BMW in if the vehicle was at a maintenance interval or requested maintenance, but based on mileage, I will be out of the maintenance plan before I am anywhere close to the next 15k mile oil change.

My sludge removal comment may be a complete non issue, but there could be other contents such as fine metal particilate, filter mateial (unlikely), who knows what else that could be removed. My whole thought process is to remove as much of whatever is in there and replace it with clean oil. I changed the "lifetime" differential and transmission fluids in my ZHP at 60k, and I could see a metal streak follow my finger when I swirled it around in the fluid. Scary. According to my X5's maintenance records, the oil was changed at about 12k-13k mile intervals. I cannot say right now whether or not that allowed for any excessive wear or the buildup of "gunk", but I personally sleep a little better doing a couple extra things to drain as much oil as possible and change the oil at lower intervals (7.5k miles) than BMW recommends (15k miles).

Like I said in the original post, I'm sure the existing oil in the engine was still able to protect it, but it made me feel better to change it. I was again just sharing my thought process, which in retrospect, did nothing to help the DIY writeup.

I did save a sample of oil that I will be sending in for analysis just so I know what I'm working with. I'll try to include the results in the original post.

And I agree, there is no need to discuss oil here. Plenty of those threads already.

Dave

[ard]

Sounds good.

Once the free maintenance ends BMW cannot require BMW oil, so you'll be fine.

Sounds like you will do the ATF once things thaw... Good plan. You may be able to get a brake fluid flush from BMW if your timing is right...I dont think the CBS will prompt for that so you need to ask.

[D3a5v1e]

Originally Posted by ard

Sounds good.

Once the free maintenance ends BMW cannot require BMW oil, so you'll be fine.

Sounds like you will do the ATF once things thaw... Good plan. You may be able to get a brake fluid flush from BMW if your timing is right...I dont think the CBS will prompt for that so you need to ask.

Yup, that's the plan. And I lucked out with the brake fluid because they changed it about 2,000 miles ago. I'm not sure what prompted the replacement, but at least I won't have to deal with that fluid for a while.

[motordavid]

Titz DIY post with good pics and commentary...
If I had a newer model X, our granddaughter could do the oil/filter change with those quality pics/instructions.
GL, mD

[D3a5v1e]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Titz DIY post with good pics and commentary...
If I had a newer model X, our granddaughter could do the oil/filter change with those quality pics/instructions.
GL, mD

I wish my grandpa used the word, "Titz" as an adjective. I know I will when my kids are dads . And please let me know if your granddaughter ever uses this when working on your next X5, unless you go straight to the F15. That would make my day.

I'm just happy to see the constructive comments and positive feedback. I will try to keep updating the writeup to make it as useful as possible for everyone.

[edco]

Thank you for a detailed write up!

Like you, no matter how simple or how many times I have done a DIY, I always check the boards for any new ideas/approaches.

My 2011 X5 SUPPOSEDLY had the oil (and all the other maintenance) changed as part of the PDI, but ironically the service light came on the other day. I am going to assume that they intentionally didn't reset it, just so I could be motivated to come in for a service appointment I don't really need.

So, while it's still warm here in NJ (was over 70 today!), I'm going to change the oil and filter. I only use BMW filters, but I do prefer Castrol Edge to any of the other brands. Castrol has served me well over many years, and many BMWs.

Thanks again,
ed

[D3a5v1e]

Originally Posted by edco

Thank you for a detailed write up!

Like you, no matter how simple or how many times I have done a DIY, I always check the boards for any new ideas/approaches.

My 2011 X5 SUPPOSEDLY had the oil (and all the other maintenance) changed as part of the PDI, but ironically the service light came on the other day. I am going to assume that they intentionally didn't reset it, just so I could be motivated to come in for a service appointment I don't really need.

So, while it's still warm here in NJ (was over 70 today!), I'm going to change the oil and filter. I only use BMW filters, but I do prefer Castrol Edge to any of the other brands. Castrol has served me well over many years, and many BMWs.

Thanks again,
ed

That sounds like a good idea to me. At least then you KNOW when the last oil change was, and it's an inexpensive procedure.

No one can fault you for going with what worked for you in the past. For me, the HTHS tests pushed me to the group 5 oil in hopes of extending turbocharger life in addition to the rest of the associated mechanicals, but I am far from an expert on the intricacies of motor oil application.

I was initially driven to Mobil 1 0W-40 after seeing the squeaky-clean internals of a 330i head after 200,000 miles of work with that oil. It's always hard to argue with what works.