[TurboWeasel]

It's a doddle for diesel owners, but not so much the petrols! Gotta climb underneath with a drain pan on those.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

It's a doddle for diesel owners, but not so much the petrols! Gotta climb underneath with a drain pan on those.

That I'm grateful for...!

Gone are my days of crawling around under the car changing oil & filters etc

I remember having a mare with one of my Honda's that the filter decided to weld itself against the housing

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by danb1979

That I'm grateful for...!

Gone are my days of crawling around under the car changing oil & filters etc

I remember having a mare with one of my Honda's that the filter decided to weld itself against the housing

I keep telling my VAG mates that BMWs are quicker and easier to work on, but they don't believe me

Unlike a lot of other cars, you do actually get the full sumps worth out of the suction pump

[J3OEF]

Originally Posted by Kermit

I felt the same as you but it really is a doddle and very satisfying once done!

Would this be pretty much the correct way to go about it?

https://youtu.be/UwNNptRt1ig?si=4ZEXLdiO3BMxODsl

The only thing I don’t have it a jack/axle stands which is what will make it annoying.

[Eddamoo]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

I keep telling my VAG mates that BMWs are quicker and easier to work on, but they don't believe me

Unlike a lot of other cars, you do actually get the full sumps worth out of the suction pump

VAG's are terrible. I have friends with the 2.0 petrol and diesels and they are terribly designed. I could literally do 3x refills and 10x air filters on mine in the time it takes to do 1 on theirs. It goes to show that BMW thought about their dealerships and service margins when designing the cars.

Just some of the annoyances:

• Poor approach angle means we need to drive onto chocks before we drive onto ramps.
• Full manky undertray has to come off (14+ bolts)
• Oil filter has a pre-drain hole, which seizes doesn't work after the first service.
• Oil filter housing is upside down, under the car with cables and pipes in the way. Oil goes everywhere.
• Side mounted sump plugs also do my head in, trying to guess how far sideways the oil is gonna fly.

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by Eddamoo

VAG's are terrible. I have friends with the 2.0 petrol and diesels and they are terribly designed. I could literally do 3x refills and 10x air filters on mine in the time it takes to do 1 on theirs. It goes to show that BMW thought about their dealerships and service margins when designing the cars.

Just some of the annoyances:

• Poor approach angle means we need to drive onto chocks before we drive onto ramps.
• Full manky undertray has to come off (14+ bolts)
• Oil filter has a pre-drain hole, which seizes doesn't work after the first service.
• Oil filter housing is upside down, under the car with cables and pipes in the way. Oil goes everywhere.
• Side mounted sump plugs also do my head in, trying to guess how far sideways the oil is gonna fly.

Try a Focus cmax 1.8 tdci for poor design!

To take the inlet manifold off involved taking off the undertray, cat, turbo and exhaust manifold in that order, simply because the inlet manifold bolts were inaccessible.

I enjoy working on my 335d, it's quite straightforward although some of the instructions in TIS are contradictory. If I had a spacious garage & equipment I wouldn't be afraid of doing tasks such as a timing chain replacement/taking the head off, etc.

However since I can only work on the drive and therefore at the mercy of the weather I know my limits.

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by Eddamoo

VAG's are terrible. I have friends with the 2.0 petrol and diesels and they are terribly designed. I could literally do 3x refills and 10x air filters on mine in the time it takes to do 1 on theirs. It goes to show that BMW thought about their dealerships and service margins when designing the cars.

Just some of the annoyances:

• Poor approach angle means we need to drive onto chocks before we drive onto ramps.
• Full manky undertray has to come off (14+ bolts)
• Oil filter has a pre-drain hole, which seizes doesn't work after the first service.
• Oil filter housing is upside down, under the car with cables and pipes in the way. Oil goes everywhere.
• Side mounted sump plugs also do my head in, trying to guess how far sideways the oil is gonna fly.

A grand list indeed, and one I fully agree with Stupid, non DIY friendly designs.

My old MK5 GTI had the most ridiculous air box known to man. Mounted on top of the engine on stand off pegs, which are mega tight. So the airbox casing ends up snapping, or the rubber mountings rip out of the air box and stay on the pegs At £450 a pop, busting the airbox is an expensive mistake.

And after you have wrestled the airbox off, you then have to undo about 10 screws to separate the two halves like a clam shell, and then of course, they don't want to go back together again properly afterwards, ffs

And lets not go there with mounting a filter/intake right above a scorching hot turbo

The Xenons on that car have to come out to change the bulbs. No way I could get my shovel hands in those tight gaps.

No jacking points other than the pinch welds, so you can't use axle stands unless you trolley jack onto something you really shouldn't.

Bundy fittings on the fuel filter, which is by the rear wheel and exposed to mud, crud and everything else. So they corrode in nicely. As does the clamp holding the filter to the petrol tank, meaning a whole new tank is the fix.

Etc etc.

I've never seen a German car quite as DIY friendly as a modern BMW. Everything is easy to get to, the car is easy to get off the ground and onto stands.....they're just great to work on! Even the plastic jacking points on the sills are so unmissable, you'd have to be a complete moron to miss them, unlike VAGs with vague arrows on the sill covers pointing at an equally vague pinch weld designed for widow maker jacks.

I'm so over VAGs

[Eddamoo]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

No jacking points other than the pinch welds, so you can't use axle stands unless you trolley jack onto something you really shouldn't.

Omg yeah how did i forget this one! Ive taken our lovely jacking points for granted

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by Eddamoo

Omg yeah how did i forget this one! Ive taken our lovely jacking points for granted

They are a god send after decades of VAGness

VAGs do come with normal tyres and a spare wheel though, just for balance

[J3OEF]

Well well well, first dry day in sometime and I’ve gone ahead and changed the oil/filter.

Glad I did it now as it was a piece of piss. Hardest thing was getting under the car with no jack or ramps. Had to position it on the kerb to give me about room to get under.

No idea when the filter was changed last but it looks well past it’s best.

I’ve put 6.5L in but as you’ll see from the attached images, it’s not showing max? Should I put the rest of the 500ml in that I’ve got?

Also, just over 5L come out??? Is that normal if oil has not been changed for some time.

Thanks

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by J3OEF

Well well well, first dry day in sometime and I’ve gone ahead and changed the oil/filter.

Glad I did it now as it was a piece of piss. Hardest thing was getting under the car with no jack or ramps. Had to position it on the kerb to give me about room to get under.

No idea when the filter was changed last but it looks well past it’s best.

I’ve put 6.5L in but as you’ll see from the attached images, it’s not showing max? Should I put the rest of the 500ml in that I’ve got?

Also, just over 5L come out??? Is that normal if oil has not been changed for some time.

Thanks

Hang on

'Just over' 5l came out, but you've put 6.5l in?

Am I reading that right?

Was your car level when you did the oil change?

You put in what came out (ie I do an oil change, 5l comes out / 5l goes back in)...

[J3OEF]

Unless I spilt it when pouring in the container???

The bowl was an 8LTR one and looked quite full to me, going off the picture.

Yet when I poured it in the bottles to dispose of, I only managed to fill one of the 5L containers.

Car was not completely level but wasn’t extremely off. There was a small drip every now and then when I went to screw to bolt back on.

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Hang on

'Just over' 5l came out, but you've put 6.5l in?

Am I reading that right?

Was your car level when you did the oil change?

You put in what came out (ie I do an oil change, 5l comes out / 5l goes back in)...

Perhaps the oil level was low to begin with?

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

Perhaps the oil level was low to begin with?

That'd be very low, running dangerously low wouldn't it?

[bishbosh]

Yeah, seems odd I admit.

[J3OEF]

Just filled the bowl I used to drain the oil and filled with 6.5L of water. I think I must of filled the 5L tub to the brim which would be more than 5 and then spilt some/wiped a lot away with rags from the bowl as the level was pretty much the same as the pic below.

You can see the oil level in the earlier pic around the rim where it’s settled. It’s just come away from that level due to being on a slope.

[J3OEF]

New cabin filter put in today. Surprisingly easy and took 10 minutes at most.

Old one has seen better days!

Really happy I done it myself as now I’ll never need to take it to a garage for an oil/filter changes.

Saved myself about £200 once parts/oil is knocked off as garage quoted me £279 for an oil change, filter and cabin filter.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by J3OEF

New cabin filter put in today. Surprisingly easy and took 10 minutes at most.

Old one has seen better days!

Really happy I done it myself as now I’ll never need to take it to a garage for an oil/filter changes.

Saved myself about £200 once parts/oil is knocked off as garage quoted me £279 for an oil change, filter and cabin filter.

Can't beat a bit of footwell gymnastics

[Misschief]

Originally Posted by J3OEF

New cabin filter put in today. Surprisingly easy and took 10 minutes at most.

Old one has seen better days!

Really happy I done it myself as now I’ll never need to take it to a garage for an oil/filter changes.

Saved myself about £200 once parts/oil is knocked off as garage quoted me £279 for an oil change, filter and cabin filter.

Which side is the cabin air filter on please? I have one sitting in the boot of my car and will look to change it when the weather warms up a bit. I changed the engine air filter in the summer of last year already. As you said it was easy.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Misschief

Which side is the cabin air filter on please? I have one sitting in the boot of my car and will look to change it when the weather warms up a bit. I changed the engine air filter in the summer of last year already. As you said it was easy.

Should be passenger side under the glovebox

Get stretching

[Wazman999]

I changed my oil today (2016 F31 335d)

Bought the car in June with 50k on the clock & 5 main dealer oil services.

What I drained out was clearly 0w30 as it was just black water

Refilled with 5w30 for the win

(Previous car was a 2009 E91 with 300,000 on the clock & 6k oil changes - 5w30 / 5w40 weather dependent)

[Jon TDI]

I’m planning to do an oil change soon on my 335d.

The stupid BMW service intervals are far too infrequent for my liking.
So far I’ve bought:
9L Oil suction pump from amazon £40
2x 4L bottles of Castrol Edge 5W-30 Long Life oil from opieoils £70
Mahle oil filter from opieoils £15

Total cost £125.

Might replace the air filter while I’m at it.