[Unspec]

For those who still have the hydraulic power steering, this should be changed out every 30,000 miles or so. I initially thought about using the turkey baster method, but it felt so wasteful that I wanted to see if there were better options.

• 6mm hex
• Some kind of fluid extractor
• 2 liters of CHF-11S
• Bucket of warm water and ideally some kind of thermometer
• [Optional] One of those skinny funnels and some duct tape
• [Optional] A normal funnel if you have bad aim while pouring

1. Put the power steering fluid in the warm water to let it warm up. Needs to be at least 20*C (68*Freedom Units)
   
   
2. Extract as much as you can out of the reservoir, and leave the cap off for the entire process. Raise the car and make sure the wheels are free to rotate.
   
   
3. Locate bolt and position drain bucket under the bolt. Bolt:
   
   
   
   
4. Crack open the bolt with a 6mm hex and let it drain for a bit. For me, it was on REALLY tight, though I'm not sure if that's just due to age or if the actual torque specs are silly high. I had to extend my hex key with a pipe to open it up. If you're willing to undo the sway bar brackets, you can get a proper torque wrench and breaker bar up there, but I didn't want to do that since the sway bar bracket bolts need to be replaced every time they're taken out according to TIS. So the only option you have that don't involve removing the sway bars is to use a hex key or stubby hex.
   
   
5. Once it's mostly just a dribble, take out the bolt completely. Now, this is where it gets messy. The "drain" is located right on top of the edge of the stiffening plate, and tends to really squirt fluid when you're turning the wheels, so it gets all over the place. On hoses, on the sway bar, on the stiffening plate, it even somehow managed to get on my intercooler and front control arms. In hindsight, it would have been way cleaner to just duct tape one of those skinny funnels over the "drain" so that it catches all the fluids.
   
   
6. Get in the car, DO NOT turn the car on. Just unlock the car and the steering wheel lock will disengage. Turn the steering wheel from lock to lock until you don't hear any more fluid coming out.
   
   
7. Tighten up the "drain". I couldn't find the torque specs, if anyone knows it please let me know, it's bugging the crap out of me. I just made it gudd'en tight.
   
   
8. Once that is done, add fluid to the reservoir, don't worry about how much yet, just fill it up like 7/8 of the way full. Still don't turn the car on. You'll need to prime the lines by turning the steering wheel from lock to lock. I did this for a solid 2-3 minutes because I didn't want to starve the pump for even a second.
   
   
9. Now you check the fluid level with the cap. Add it so that it's about 10% past the minimum level. Turn the engine on, turn steering wheel lock to lock a couple of times. BMW says to do it twice in each direction, but I did it more like 10-15 times because I hate myself. Check your fluid level. Make sure it's at least above the minimum mark
   
   
10. Let engine get to operating temp and check the fluid level. Adjust as needed.
    
    
11. Check for leaks, specifically around the "drain" bolt area. Clean up, button everything back up, you're done.

I took out almost exactly how much I put in (1.1 liters or so), so this definitely seems to drain the entire system or close to it. Good luck!