E60 (545i) Oil Service.
Tools you will need
Means to support the car so that it is level but high enough for you to access underneath it.
Small and medium flat blade screwdrivers
6mm Allen key for oil filter housing drain plug
8mm Allen key for engine sump drain plug
24mm socket for oil filter housing
Torque wrench to measure between 10Nm and 35NmNo. 2 Pozidrive screwdriver for access hatch
8 litres of your chosen flavour of engine oil
A container big enough to catch 8 litres of used engine oil
Loads of pairs of disposable gloves and wipes.
And as usual my dad to help.
Unlike the 6 pot engines the V8 has its oil filter tucked far away underneath the engine at the rear. It is only just in front of the bellhousing on the centre line of the engine. The oil filter is located onto the rear of the http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=NB32&mospid=47756&btnr=11_3271&hg=11&fg=30" rel="nofollow - oil pump and the http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=NB32&mospid=47756&btnr=11_3255&hg=11&fg=10" rel="nofollow - sump pan which is kidney shaped curls around the oil filter housing.
I drove my car up onto wooden ramps which were placed on the sloping pavement in front of my driveway. This allows the car to remain level (to allow the sump to drain) and provided enough access to crawl underneath. I had driven the car for about 15 mins to make sure the oil was up to temperature and more likely to flow out easier and with hopefully any sludge.
Oil service please!
New parts laid out on boot floor. The BMW oil filter comes with a replacement sump copper O ring, a new rubber O ring for the oil filter housing drain plug and the large new rubber O ring for the oil filter housing to oil pump seal. I bought a new sump plug also.
The oil filter is a cylinder of concertinaed paper sandwiched between two plastic discs. More on this later!
The oil filter housing and sump drain plug are accessed via small hatch in the rear engine belly tray. Slacken off the pozidrive screw and unclip to two forward clips. The hatch will now hang down vertically exposing the filter and sump drain plug.
Access hatch
Oil filter housing showing central drain plug (6mm Allen key)
Undo and remove the oil filter housing drain plug and be prepared to catch about 1 litre of engine oil. Using a 24mm socket undo and remove the oil filter housing, this now exposed the oil filter left stuck to the underside of the oil pump.
Oil filter was pulled off from the oil pump which left stuck around the spigot of the oil pump feed the top plastic disc that was on to the top of the oil filter.
Edit following the next oil service! Grip the paper oil filter element and twist anti-clockwise, i.e. unscrew the filter. The paper element sits over the oil pump/filter feed pipe which is screwed into the oil pump. Unscrewing the oil pump/filter feed pipe with the paper element still on it was so much easier this time!
Oh dear or words very similar.
I had to now remove the top of the old oil filter which was stuck around the oil pump/filter feed pump spigot. Swallowed a brave pill and after 15 mins of burning my fingers on the rather hot oil pump, prising and levering the disc was removed. What made life easier was to unscrew the oil pump/filter feed pipe. http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=NB32&mospid=47756&btnr=11_3273&hg=11&fg=30" rel="nofollow - (part #2)
You can now see the old oil filter, old O rings and the top black disc that had separated from the filter and was left on the oil pump. Be warned this common size of oil drain pan is not big enough to catch all 8 litres of sump oil.
Looking up to the oil pump where the oil filter sits. The central threads are for the oil pump/filter feed pipe. You can read that the manufacture date of the oil pump was April 2004 which ties in nicely with the cars build date.
Using the 8mm Allen key I removed the sump plug and caught about 7 litres of used engine oil.
The oil filter housing was cleaned up, new O rings were lubricated with new engine oil and fitted to both the oil filter housing and the oil filter housings drain plug. A new sump plug and sealing washer were also lubricated with new engine oil and then torqued to 35Nm. The oil filter housing drain plug was torqued by hand (10Nm) and then the new filter was clipped into the inside of the oil filter housing and then the oil filter housing containing the new filter was fitted to the oil pump. Torque to 25Nm.
Pour in 8 litres of your chosen engine oil. I used Castrol Edge FST 5W-30 which meets BMW longlife 04 spec. Should be longlife 01 but that oil spec is being done away with and BMW will pour Castrol Edge FST 5W-30 into the sumps of all BMW engines except M models so that was good enough for me.
After checking the oil level, start the engine. I was expecting the oil pressure warning light/message to appear as I had read that from TIS but all was well on start up. Engine sounded smooth and quiet. Ran engine for 5 minutes and checked for leaks and then checked oil level. All good.
After cleaning hands and tools I reset the iDrive and filled out my service book.
Result.
BMW charged me in July 2010, £202 for an oil service. Their oil prices are significantly higher as they only sell oil per litre and not in 4 litre bottles.
Oil filter incl seals from BMW £18.90. Oil from EuroCar Parts £77.12. (2 x 4 litres at £38.56 per 4 litres) So done for less than £100 and saved over £100.
Result again.
I would guess that the newer E60 540i and 550i will be similar.
Andrew
Edited 28.04.14 to make clear how the remove the oil filter paper element without leaving a bit of the filter stuck to the oil pump! See post below from 27.04.14!
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