E90 Oil Change (DIY)

I would like to share my experience of changing the oil in my 2006 BMW 325i (e90) with sport package. My car has only 2300 miles on it, but I thought I should do a post break-in period oil change. ...

Today I called my dealer to get the price quotes of oil and filter. The oil is $8/qt., and $15 for the filter. Is this too expensive? How much do you guys pay for oil and filter?

And the part person told me if I change the oil by myself it would avoid the warranty.

Is this true?

I paid $4.99/qt for oil at the local dealer, but I'm told that this is a very good deal. $15 for the oil filter sounds about right.

I think the parts guy is being disingenuous. Changing your own oil will not void the warranty.

My dealer quoted me $4.90 a quart and around $15 for the filter.

$4.95 quart
$25 filter

$4.95/quart for oil
$10.50 filte

As far as the warranty, I think it's illegal (in the US) to tie the warranty exclusively to their service. They would need to show that you (or whoever else did a change for you) did something wrong which resulted in a future problem. And even then, they could only exclude that problem from the warranty.

I was told by the owner of a reputable local shop that does A LOT of work on BMWs (http://www.landsharkautomotive.com/) to stick with changing the oil at dealers. He said these are new engines and I don't want to risk being excluded from some potential recall/repair on these engines because I wanted to do my oil changes on the cheap. He basically turned away my business for that reason and I respected them for it.

I think this was good advice. All I'll be saving doing it myself with BMW parts is about $40 every 15,000 miles (assuming I'm doing them midway between factory-recommended changes). It is hardly worth it.

I called up another dealer, and they quoted me $6/qt, and $8/filter. I asked the parts guy about the warranty, and he said as long as I do it right BMW won't even notice.

I gotta disagree about BMW not noticing. My drain plug had been painted at the factory along with the oil pan, so when I removed it, the paint "seal" was broken...so it will be obvious during the "official" oil change at 15K miles to whichever tech performs the work (if they care to look) that the plug has been removed.

I do recall my sales told me if I am planning to keep the car for longer time then better to have an initial oil change at 7500 miles. I bet the oil change technician won't even care if the oil was changed once.

Any way, I changed the oil today at 4,500 miles. The oil color was acceptable, but could tell there were a lot of materials in the oil. I filled with 6.7qt. and the oil meter showed 1/4 lower than max at the beginning, then show at max after a 20 mins driving. The driving was smoother than before the oil change, and I think it was well worth the $60 I paid.

Check the mileage for your next oil change. What is the reading: 15,000 or 20,000 miles? The oil sensor may detect the good oil, and will reset the mileage. I guess your dealer never has to change oil for you if you keep changing oil before the recommended mileage.

It says 13000miles.

Technically, BMW recommends their own 5w-30, but considers Mobil 1 5w-30 as an acceptable alternative...Royal Purple 5w-30 would be fine but Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w-30 would be a more easily obtainable oil that should last longer, while being less expensive.

That oil is basically a 0w-30...as it shears a lot during use....btw, BMW recommends Mobil 1 5w-30; Mobil 1 5w-30 doesn't shear during use and retains its viscosity and would work fine.

There is NO Mobil 1 5w-30 on BMW's Approved oil list ( except for the brand new europe only ESP LL04)

The ONLY USA available approved mobil 1 is the 0w-40 LL01 one

Thanks for the heads up on bolt. Isn't the BMW oil just Castrol in disguise?

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Thanks for the helpful instructions. I just finished a major service on my '03 Saab and couldn't have done it w/o someone on their board giving me the info I needed. These Euro cars never make it obvious how to do it and where to find everything. I'm not going to do a breakin oil change, but I will keep this info for when my E90 is out of warranty and I'm changing it myself.

Thank you so much for this nice write-up.

I am waiting for my 330i to arrive.

Surprised to see the oil filter right on the top of the engine. How wonderful! I'm so used to getting under the car, to unscrew the oil filter that invariably makes a mess all over my arms, my face, my suspension parts, my engine, and ultimately, the ground.

Thanks for the DIY on topic "oil change." I've changed oil on my last BMW, but this new E90 has a totally different system (no dipstick, computer analyzed). I was affraid to do it myself thinking that I might damage my own car if I did not have BMW Services take care of it. Thanks for clearing my doubt about reseting the computer. Thats right! I'll have BMW do it when its time for the free oil change. Another thanks goes out to E90Fleet for specifying the right oil to use for our cars.

In the BMW maintenance guide, it lists Mobil 1 5-30W and 5-40w as the BMW approved and they're both available in Costco for 27/6qt.

The write-up is great, but I would add one additional step.

Lubricate the new o-rings before tightening the filter element cap

I forgot to do this and there was a lot of friction while I was tightening the cap.

yep!

i've been a long time user of mobil-1, so i'm going to be sticking with it.

think i'm going to do my first oil change at 7500.

thanks for the nice write up!