Engine oil capacity.

[Rafolian]

Hi all, have just changed the engine oil and filter on my 2.8. The handbook quotes 6.5 litres and I have put in approx 6.75 litres and the reading is just over the lower mark on the dipstick which would indicate a capacity of closer to 7 litres?
Any info appreciated!

[Trevsky]

Have you run the engine so that some of the oil goes into the filter

[Rafolian]

Of course!!

[Rafolian]

Filled the filter housing before putting in the new filter also.

[mrscalex]

Isn't there a mechanism on the filter housing that discharges the oil into the sump as the filter is moved around?

Or does this only work on the way out to clear the oil out of the filter for draining?

[Mike Fishwick]

How can you fill the filter housing? As soon as you partially unscrew the cover the 'stick' on the inside of the cover lifts, and opens a gallery to drain the oil back into the sump, making filter changing a fairly clean job, and getting ride of the oil in the filter housing too.

Always put about 6 litres of oil in after replacing the filter and its cover, then turn the engine on the starter in short bursts - with the fuel pump fuses removed - until the warning lamp goes out. Then run the engine for a wile and check the level again, topping up as necessary.



By trying to fill the filter bowl you have put too much oil into the engine. I bet you didn't replace the small 'O' rings, either! These seal the drain gallery, and so prevent loss of oil to the bearings.

[Rafolian]

When i partially filled the the filter housing the oil was so slow in draining that when I immediately fitted the filter and cap most of the oil was still in the filter housing which is better on initial start up than none!
If the original query was that the level on the dipstick was "low" how can I have put too much oil in?
I put in approx 6.75 litres in STAGES each time waiting a while before checking (the handbook specifying 6.5 litres) and afer running the motor, switching off and waiting half an hour it came to just over the lower level mark on the dipstick.
Anyway I left the car overnight and checked this morning and it's bang on the upper level (tho' still a quarter of a litre more than BMW specify).
I didn't replace the small O rings because non came with the Mann filter and other makes of filter and I researched other BMW sites for info and no one else has any problems by not renewing them (and some very high milers!)

[lightning]

Heavens this is all a bit complicated lol

I drain the oil, change the filter, refill with the recommended amount of oil, start the engine and let it idle for a minute, stop the engine, check the level and top up if required.

[deni2s]

I am not changing the oil by myself, but it was always been exactly 6.5 liters.

[Rafolian]

Faulty markings on ELF oil containers?? (Not!)

[unclebob]

Hi , just to let folks know on the oil filter front , I used a Halfords own brand filter last week on my 1.9 and it came with the three necessary O rings in the box .

[Mike Fishwick]

Ah - so you did not just dump the 6.5 litres intothe engine, which is what it originally sounded like, but thought the engine had required 6.75 litres to reach the 'Max' mark. If you were measuring the oil by means of the markings on the oil container, then it is probable that you have put 6.5 litres into the engine after all - oil container markings are not intended to be more than a rough guide. I fill the engine using a 1 litre plastic kitchen measuring jug, which is more accurate, and gives 6.5 litres from empty to the 'Max' mark.

Pouring oil around the new filter before fitting the lid is a good idea, but there will still be quite a lot of air left in the oil system back to the sump, hence my preference for cranking a dead engine a few times to attain pressure.

The BMW manual on their TIS CD states that the small 'O' rings must be replaced when the filter is changed - why they are not included in the 6 cylinder filter kit is a mystery. Some dealers claim that they are 'Long Life' rings, and never need to be changed, but this is the type of glib comment they come up with to excuse their shoddy work!

They are available for a few pence each from BMW dealers, but you will have to order them, as they only come in the BMW filter kit for the M and M44 1.9 140 bhp engines etc, which use the aluminium-lid type of filter housing. Why skimp on such an important item? People would never think of re-using the large 'O' ring on the fiter housing cap, but the small rings are equally important.

I have heard of people who, after an expensive oil change at a dealership, have heard the death rattle of their engine soon afterwards, in one case the crankshaft bearings siezing ontothe crank and roatating in their housings, so wrecking the block and connecting rods. The dealer, of course, claimed that it was 'One of those things.'

As the poet said, 'For want of a nail the battle was lost . . .'

[Rafolian]

Calibrated measuring jug next time, and going to order a dozen O rings!

[Badman gee]

It's best to buy the original BMW oil filters.

They are not a lot more and come with all the required seals.

Mark

[lightning]

You can buy the rubber 0 rings from BMW.

Wben l bought mine it was "the first time they'd ever sold any" lol

[Mike Fishwick]

While you can buy a filter kit for an M3 or 1.9 engine with the small 'O' ring, you do not get any when buying a filter kit for the non-M six cylinder engines. I once order a load of the small rings from my local dealer, and after explaining tothe parts man what they were for he told me that they were in the filter kit.

When I did not believ him he opened a new filter box, and found no small 'O' rings, so he opened another, with the same result. Then he checked usage, and found that in the last year Ocean BMW had ordered 1,000 filter kits, but only 8 small 'O' rings . . . which had been ordered for me!

You can usually get away with re-using these rings - but if they leak you do not know, and as even a small leakage will starve the bearings, why bother to gamble?