I thought for my next post I’d write up the oil change procedure for the X3. Turns out it was easier than I thought it would be, the most important part was that I planned ahead and had the correct tools available before starting. I found similar procedures elsewhere online, but none had the complete BMW X3 oil change procedure.
Total time: About 40 minutes my first time and taking pictures.
Tools & Parts needed:
1. Ramps
2. 6-7 quarts of Mobil 1 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil
3. A BMW oil filter wrench
4. A socket set with a 17mm socket
5. BMW oil change kit, number 11427566327 (contains oil filter, large O ring, small O ring, 1 crush washer) available here
6. Gloves, oil pan, towels- small flat head screwdriver to pry on and off O rings
Here’s a link to the oil filter change kit on Amazon, it’s the best price shipped I could find.
Step-by-step procedure:
Before you begin: Have everything you need and make sure your BMW oil filter wrench
1. Drive the X3 up onto the ramps. Make sure to put it in park, engage the emergency brake, and put a wheel block behind one of the rear tires. I tried to rock my car off the ramps just to be sure it was solid and didn’t move. Turn the engine off…
2. Loosen the oil filter cover with the oil filter wrench. My 2008 needed an 86mm, 16 flat oil filter wrench – best to check yours before getting started to see what you need.
3. Remove the oil filter assembly. I had the drain pan in one hand, and put it underneath the oil filter assembly as I removed it to prevent any oil from dripping on the car. Set aside.
4. Go under the car and begin draining the oil. Note in the photo the brown arrow points to the trap door that hides the oil drain bolt. I used a small screwdriver to pop the door off, then loosened the drain plug with a 17mm socket. Make sure you position the oil pan to catch the oil, I had a little spill out but nothing more than what one paper towel could handle. The 2 blue arrows point to the oil sensor trap door I believe, you don’t need to do anything with this.
5. Swap the filters while the oil drains. The old filter slides right off, and it doesn’t appear to matter which side of the new filter you slide on first. It’s easier to change the O rings with the old filter off and before installing the new filter. I pried both O rings off with the small flat head screwdriver. Before re-installing the new O rings, dab some Mobil-1 on your gloves and generously apply it to both O rings – this will help seal the system properly and help prevent against oil gasket leaks. Push the new filter onto the assembly and pour some oil in, I filled it up enough to cover about half the height of the filter. Another oil change procedure says to use a rag to clean up the oil filter engine compartment, but I didn’t bother doing this. It seemed like a lot of oil to soak up and the oil that was there wasn’t visibly dirty or black.
6. Screw the oil filter assembly back in with the new filter and O rings installed. For my car, it said to tighten to 25.5 Newton/meters. Always use a torque wrench when required. I didn’t have a torque wrench so I tightened it a bit more than hand tight. There was still more I could tighten the assembly, but you want to compress the O ring, not crush it completely.
8. Add oil. For my X3 I added 5.5 quarts, closed the oil door, and then started the vehicle. I moved it onto level ground and checked the computer oil level (there is no dipstick, only a computer reading). I didn’t get any oil level reading (click right button under the instrument cluster with the car warmed up and running on level ground) after running the car for about a minute so I stopped the engine and added 0.5 more quarts. After starting the engine and checking the oil level again, it then said I was at full capacity and the oil level was OK. You can always add more oil, but it’s hard to remove once it’s in there, it seems my X3 took 6 quarts total of Mobil-1 5W-30 synthetic for the oil change.
Tech tip:
Since I had already used about half a bottle of Mobil-1 on the oil filter assembly, I put the rest in the engine and then cut the bottle to create a cheap bastard funnel.
9. Reset the service maintenance computer. Get in and close the door. For my 2008 X3, I started with the key in position 0 (everything off).
– Press and hold “S/R” button (on the left).
– While still holding on “S/R” button, insert and turn your key to position 1 but DO NOT start the car.
– Keep on holding till “RESET” appears.
– Release “S/R” button. Now press and hold it again till “RESET” starts flashing.
– Release “S/R” button. Now press once again but don’t hold it, just click it.
– You should see 15500 miles to go.
Update:
After driving around a bit, the oil level indicator now shows my oil is about half of MAX. When I get home I’ll try adding another 0.5 quarts, this should get me right to full. Even at half the MAX amount, the computer still gives me an OK for oil level.
This was a pretty simple and clean procedure to do to my 2008 BMW X3 3.0si, and I’m sure it saved me some money doing it myself.
Comments or Questions? Let me know, thanks for your interest in this post. Another note from the legal guys: I take no responsibility if you injure yourself or anyone else by following the instructions in this article. If this procedure was helpful, please comment, Facebook like, or Google+ this article so others can find it. Also, bookmark this article so it’s available for future oil changes.
