[gatoman39]

1100 miles, time for a oil change.

Parts:

• Fully Synthetic Oil 7 Quarts BMW High Performance Full Synthetic 5W30* (BMW P/N: 07 51 0 017 866), Mobil 1 0W40, or Castrol Syntec European Formula 0W30.
• Oil Filter (BMW P/N: 11 42 7 566 327) - Comes with 2 o-ring washers (1 big black, 1 small green), and 1 copper crush washer.
• Oil Filter Wrench, there are several on the market. I used my hand but this might be too hard for you paper pushers.
• Floor Jack (I used 2) with jack stands
• Oil Drain Pan.
• 17 mm socket (1/2" drive wrench).
• Torque Wrench
• Rags / paper towels.
• Disposable rubber gloves.
• Funnel.
• Needle nose pliers.
• Goggles.
• Beer for after.

Make sure oil is at operating temp before doing this.
1. On a level surface, engage parking brake and chock rear wheels
2. Lift front of car, I used two floor jacks with plastic pads to keep from damaging plastic jack points on the F10.
3. Use jacks stands in case floor jacks malfunction (this is VERY IMPORTANT) Never get under a car without proper safety backup.
4. Remove small bolt that holds trap door in place, remove trap door.
5. Using 17mm socket and wrench loosen drain plug. (Bolt faces down, so no mess with angle draining)
6. Lower car back down to ensure even oil draining. This will take a while, I made a sandwich during the time.
7. Remove oil filter, I did it by hand but if your kung fu grip isn't strong enough buy the filter wrench. With needle nose pliers remove green gasket and large black gasket on oil filter housing. Pull oil filter out. Install new filter, the writing was facing out or down. Put new gaskets on the filter housing. I soaked the new filter in a little oil and rubbed some oil on the new gaskets. I sucked out all the residual oil in the filter seat with a turkey baster. Screw filter back into the base. Match the green alignment marks (thanks for that Dingolfing!)
8. Jack Car back up, place jacks stands in position again, make sure the rear chocks haven't moved around. Put copper crush washer onto new bolt, put a little oil on the threads of the bolt, and tighten bolt back by hand at first then use the 17mm socket and torque the bolt back to 25-30lbs/ft, don't over tighten.
9. Put trap door back in place (or leave open to check for leaks later, I skipped this as I am confident in my DIY skills, if you're not, triple check everything).
10. Place car back on level ground, and fill with 7 qts of oil. I list the 3 grades and brands above because they are the most common in N. America and can be found easily, don't send me PM's about how great Amsoil or Redline is, most people don't want to deal with the hassle of getting that stuff.
11. Drive car around until oil level appears on IDrive (this took forever, and pissed me off. My kingdom for a dipstick!!!)
12. Bask in your glory by consuming beer or adult beverage of choice.

Castrol Syntec European Formula 0W30


chock rear wheels




I used two floor jacks with plastic pads to keep from damaging plastic jack points on the F103.


Use jacks stands in case floor jacks malfunction (this is VERY IMPORTANT) Never get under a car without proper safety backup.


Remove small bolt that holds trap door in place, remove trap door.


5. Using 17mm socket and wrench loosen drain plug. (Bolt faces down, so no mess with angle draining)






I sucked out all the residual oil in the filter seat with a turkey baster.



Match the green alignment marks (thanks for that Dingolfing!)





Early and often for the first year. I own this car, it's not rented.:
Planned schedule:
Total Vehicle Mileage
1. 1,200 Miles (Owner)
2. 7,500 miles (Owner)
3. 15,000 miles (Dealer)
4. 22,500 miles (Owner)
5. 30,000 miles (Dealer)

[Jason]

Our first DIY! And a great one at that. Thank you for sharing.

[LACSTER]

Awesome write up but all i'm capable of doing is drinking the beers at the end

[Robin_NL]

What's 'Heineken'?

[ogrady]

Does BMW recommend a post-break-in oil change or you did the 1100 mile oil change just to be safe?

[gatoman39]

Originally Posted by ogrady

Does BMW recommend a post-break-in oil change or you did the 1100 mile oil change just to be safe?

From Mike Miller:
Old School BMW Maintenance Schedule:
Break-in Service for New Cars
Traditionally, BMW performed a break-in service at 1,200 miles on new cars, which included changing the engine oil and filter, manual gearbox oil or automatic transmission fluid, and differential oil. With the advent of Free Scheduled Maintenance, BMW stopped performing break-in services except on M cars.
I have seen that the engine and driveline oils in new modern BMWs are literally full of metal at 1,200 miles – as has always been the case with any new car. For this reason, I recommend a 1,200-mile break-in service.

[BimmerMat135]

Originally Posted by gatoman39

From Mike Miller:
Old School BMW Maintenance Schedule:
Break-in Service for New Cars
Traditionally, BMW performed a break-in service at 1,200 miles on new cars, which included changing the engine oil and filter, manual gearbox oil or automatic transmission fluid, and differential oil. With the advent of Free Scheduled Maintenance, BMW stopped performing break-in services except on M cars.
I have seen that the engine and driveline oils in new modern BMWs are literally full of metal at 1,200 miles – as has always been the case with any new car. For this reason, I recommend a 1,200-mile break-in service.

On all M cars they will perform an oil change at 1200miles part of the free scheduled maintenance?

[kinan_sleiman2006]

i preffer to do this in an offical bmw service workshop

[danniexi]

Originally Posted by Robin Hood

What's 'Heineken'?

fuel additive manufactured from the netherlands. add it to the fuel tank after every oil change. it'll clean the injectors and the entire fuel system. adds an extra 15+ whp. use heineken lite if you're not tuned.

btw, great diy. car looks great!

[gatoman39]

Originally Posted by BimmerMat135

On all M cars they will perform an oil change at 1200miles part of the free scheduled maintenance?

I honestly don't know, according to Mike Miller's article they did, or do. Can any recent M owners confirm or deny free 1200 mile oil change?

[bavarian19]

[Reznick]

A $65,000.00 car and a $35 jack. I see you've been shopping at Harbor Freight again............ I'm just bustin ya. Obviously I've been grabbin stuff from there too, or I won't know that "U.S. General" means Made in China. Good write up. Nice to know there are other BMW drivers out there that will get their hands dirty

[Malbolge]

Originally Posted by Robin Hood

What's 'Heineken'?

no way...


Op, well done and nice and clear diy.

[mtechnik3]

Great write-up, thanks for sharing! I've follow Mike Miller's guide for my E90 as well.

The last step is the best.

[eurotechnik]

Originally Posted by gatoman39

I honestly don't know, according to Mike Miller's article they did, or do. Can any recent M owners confirm or deny free 1200 mile oil change?

Yes! All M's and Alpina vehicles come with a 1200 mile break in oil change. Which includes a transmission (only on manual vehicles) and diff oil change.

[gatoman39]

Originally Posted by eurotechnik

Yes! All M's and Alpina vehicles come with a 1200 mile break in oil change. Which includes a transmission (only on manual vehicles) and diff oil change.

On a car I bot last year, what I concluded from Used Oil Analysis (and others like it) is that the early oil changes should not be extended due to the engine needing to break in. BTW, this car also uses the 6 speed ZF found in the E60 and cartridge oil filter housing made by Mahle.
Dumped factory fill at 1200 miles
Mobil 1 5W-30
10 months and 5600 miles later...

[SCPACKAGING]

Yes, prior to taking delivery of my '11 535 I had a 2008 M5 on a two year lease and as part of the maintenence program they did the break in service at 1200 miles.

[positiveions]

Thanks for the write-up.
I appreciate those engineers that design small simplistic items such as the trap door on the shield; Rather than taking the whole shield out to gain access to the Oil pan nut.

[joberon]

Originally Posted by gatoman39

From Mike Miller:
Old School BMW Maintenance Schedule:
Break-in Service for New Cars
Traditionally, BMW performed a break-in service at 1,200 miles on new cars, which included changing the engine oil and filter, manual gearbox oil or automatic transmission fluid, and differential oil. With the advent of Free Scheduled Maintenance, BMW stopped performing break-in services except on M cars.
I have seen that the engine and driveline oils in new modern BMWs are literally full of metal at 1,200 miles – as has always been the case with any new car. For this reason, I recommend a 1,200-mile break-in service.

Just curious: when you performed this oil change, did you actually see any metal or other foreign objects? From the pics it looks pretty clean...

[gatoman39]

Originally Posted by joberon

Just curious: when you performed this oil change, did you actually see any metal or other foreign objects? From the pics it looks pretty clean...

No, I surely did not see any metal, not that I was looking. I believe the metal and basic elements may be suspended in the oil, or in a form that is not clear to the naked eye. As you can see from the Used Oil Analysis, there are a lot of individual metals and elements they can test for. From what I could tell the oil looked clean and thin, not that you can tell much by simply looking at it.

[Oulixes]

Good report. The N55 uses the same filter and oil as N52 and N54.

[BMWPower06]

Great write up!