N20 Oil change thread

[0w40X1]

Originally Posted by elfhearse

Changed my oil today @ 3000 miles...SUPER EASY. Drove up on RaceRamps, slide underneath, dropped the access panel and drained the oil. (17mm socket for the aluminum plug on the x28i) I like how the drain plug is on the rear of oil pan, so you can be on an angle/ramp and drain out all the oil vs. trying to level it.

I measured just over 5 quarts drained out, so only added 5 1/2 quarts of Castrol Edge 0W30. OBC measured full after start-up. Probably the easiest change of the six BMW's I've owned over the years.

** I did notice some metallic sparkles in the drained oil pan, so it wasn't premature to change it IMO.

I changed my S28i at 4810 miles with one track day up to 110 mph and top out of 145 actual adjusted mph.

I saw no metal in oil filter or oil, and the oil sample report from Blackstone labs showed very little wear; especially good since you expect some metal until 20k miles.

I'm a former fuel and oil distributor, and just wanted to find out oil quality.

With that info, I know I'll take all the free oil changes as long as they use the BMW oil.

[whoop72]

Does anyone have the torque spec for the metal drain plug?

[FrozenInCND]

Originally Posted by whoop72

Does anyone have the torque spec for the metal drain plug?

im still looking, too. Anyone?

[x1-2012]

Just my 2 cents...
For the first oil change my dealer has used BMW longlife 5w30 oil with kit #11-42-7-566-327, see attached picture.

[Carlin/14/E84]

[QUOTE=mabrahams;14832877]When you take your car in for it's reg. oil change, let me know how many quarts they use.

Mileage: 16K...6qt by dealer.

[1friendly]

First O/C at 6000 miles for my sDrive28i. Five liters Lubro-Moly 5W40 with factory filter. Filled precisely according to electronic gauge. Old oil seemed fine. I've always followed BMW recommendations to the letter in the past but serious coking of the turbo and intake deposits have lead me to a far more frequent change interval with this vehicle. Not that this will help the intake problems...

[waldron80]

Noticed you guys are using different types of oil. Is 5w30 not recommended? Why are you all using different types ie 0w40 etc?

Thanks.

Also, I just picked up a xdrive28i today. I'll try to confirm the above statement about the plastic vs metal pan.

[Twix]

Different driving styles and climates. If I were to go to the track, I'd change my 5W30 out in favour of something with more weight, say a 20W50 or something. It all depends on what you're doing with the car. If you're just driving it, use whatever BMW fills it with.

[Kevman]

50k miles on my X1, now going to start changing my own oil. My car has never shown anything other than 100% oil fill. This cant be right....wondering if this computer works properly. Has anyone ever seen the level showing as low on computer? i really miss having a dip stick...

[Twix]

I've seen low a couple of times. The system works very well. It showed half a quart low once and a full quart. Both times I added what it said was low and both times the system showed full.

[FrozenInCND]

Originally Posted by xyz100

Most likely it is the same. For half the price.
http://www.amazon.com/Mann-Filter-HU...dp/B001DRHMRI/

How much are you guys paying for filters? When I went to buy the filter the tech could not tell me which kit I needed, so I bought both, then returned the one with the plastic plug. But they where the same price $18 if I remember right? So if its $18 for a filter and $40-$50 for the oil why is it $200 for the service?

[Twix]

Labour, disposal, environmental fees. When they change your oil at the dealer, they do complete a check list of other things to look at besides the oil.

Checking my bill for my last oil change, the filter was $21.50, the labour was 1/2 hour at $65.00. Plus taxes $4.59 and environmental fees $5.20, my bill came out to $96.29.

That's about what I was paying at Ford for my Ranger and my T-bird.

[1friendly]

@FIC see post #20
I usually buy oil filters 6 at a time. I think that Mann filters are similar if not identical to OEM filters. The n20 engine takes five liters with a filter. Five liters is fairly standard for most European car oil changes. Is that why oil comes in five liter bottles?
In my experience the electronic oil gauge works fine, and it sure beats a dip stick in the rain!

[BAMF]

So, this may sound retarded but i need to change my oil this weekend. could someone please post a pic of where the drain plug is located?

[cncmastr]

Originally Posted by whoop72

Does anyone have the torque spec for the metal drain plug?

Originally Posted by FrozenInCND

im still looking, too. Anyone?

Metal drain plug is 25nm / 18 lb/ft.

Plastic is 8nm.

Here is a DIY video for an N20/N26 Oil change that I just finished filming.

[vstolpner]

That's really awesome! Thanks for that!

[Gamb1t]

Thanks for creating this thread. I took a look at the under carriage of the x1 and determined that you don't really need to get the car up ramps or jack stands.

Just crank the wheel to the left.
Lie down by driver's side.
Unhinged the flap and remove the drain plug.

It's similar style to my RX8 but with even more ground clearance to work with!

[khemmerl]

Last fall my wife's X1 reported "Oil at minimum level". The only synthetic oil I had was an open bottle with less than half a liter which I added to the engine. Once the car was started, the dash display showed the oil to be at the full level. When I had the oil changed, I had the garage collect the dirty oil to see how much came out and the engine was actually low on oil so the low oil message I saw was not caused by a faulty oil level sensor.

The staff at the garage that did the oil change (which specializes in European cars) told me that the vehicle gives the "oil is at minimum" message, I should add 1.5 liters. Based on this, it appears that the oil level sensor is not so much a sensor that shows you the actual amount of oil in the engine but rather an on/off switch that shows when the minimum oil level is reached. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

Ken

[Seagull]

Originally Posted by khemmerl

Last fall my wife's X1 reported "Oil at minimum level". The only synthetic oil I had was an open bottle with less than half a liter which I added to the engine. Once the car was started, the dash display showed the oil to be at the full level. When I had the oil changed, I had the garage collect the dirty oil to see how much came out and the engine was actually low on oil so the low oil message I saw was not caused by a faulty oil level sensor.

The staff at the garage that did the oil change (which specializes in European cars) told me that the vehicle gives the "oil is at minimum" message, I should add 1.5 liters. Based on this, it appears that the oil level sensor is not so much a sensor that shows you the actual amount of oil in the engine but rather an on/off switch that shows when the minimum oil level is reached. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

Ken

In all my other BMW's I always added 1L when the sensor indicted the level was at minimum and that always did the trick ( back up to max ).

[mreric]

Just wanted to add a bit of info to this post and my experience since i just changed the oil

i think how must to add might have something to do with how the oil is drained.

I have to add 6qt to be a the full, when i added 5qt it was in between min and max. which is ok level. then i added 5.5 and still showed 5.5.

i did drain the oil with all 4 wheel up vs just jacking up the front end

[luisantia]

X1 2015 58,000 MILES
0W-40 0W-30 5W-40 or 5W-30 which one is the recommended grade

[Gamb1t]

I've used all of the above and it's fine.

Since you're in Lebanon, you should probably go with 5w40 due to the mid-east heat.