Oil Change Procedure X3 (F25) 2.8 liter

Oil Change on a 2011 BMW X3 (F25) , 2.8 liter

1. Get the front end lifted up so you can access the drain plug. Ramps or jack stands should work.
2. Remove the small plastic oil drain plug cover that is held in place by (2) 8mm screws
3. Remove the drain plug using a 17mm socket
4. Drain the oil into a drain pan that holds 8-10 quarts
5. Remove the oil filter cover. The cover has 16 flats and is 86.5mm. Found that Assenmacher Specialty Tools sells a 86.5 mm oil filter wrench (V410) that fits some Volvo’s and BMW’s.
6. Remove the old oil filter from the cover and firmly seat the new one
7. Replace the tiny “O” ring at the end of the filter assembly
8. Replace the large “O” ring on the upper portion of the filter assembly
9. Both “O” rings should be well lubed with oil
10. Soak up the remaining oil inside the oil filter canister
11. Install the oil filter & cover and tighten to 25nM of torque
12. Reinstall the drain plug
13. Refill with 7-quarts of 5W30 full synthetic
14. Start engine and check for leaks
15. Install drain plug cover

Some additional pics

Thanks for the write-up.

Is the drain plug located at the back of the oil pan so that lifting the front of the vehicle will still allow all of the oil to drain?

Originally Posted by Cactus

Thanks for the write-up.

Is the drain plug located at the back of the oil pan so that lifting the front of the vehicle will still allow all of the oil to drain?

It's in the back and I drained out a full 7 quarts. No need to lower the X3 for draining.

Wow an oil change already! Must have been a "precautionary" change after running in to get the manufacturing junk out of there. Either that or you are putting some serious miles on that new car!

Precautionary move. Have about 6,000 on it.

I only have 1020 miles on mine and it says it is due for service in 4,200 miles!

Hmm the first change one might want to do early after break in. However my salesman say oil change is every year? Since Canadian dealers offer 4 year of maintenance I don't plan to change my own oil.

You have to be outa your tree to change the oil yourself. What does the dealer charge an out-of-interval service?
What is going to happen when you waste an internal component at 25k and the service rep realizes you were in there monkeying around yourself? On top if that, you documented it on the internet.
You paid $40k plus for a new car...if you are that concerned about the oil, have the dealer do it and document it...in todays warranty world, paper is more important than parts...

Nice write up. I did this a few weeks back on our n55 x3. Same steps as above. Was a very easy process. I personally feel it is very important to change the oil after the initial break in. Moving forward all changes will be done under the miantenance plan. Changing the oil is so simple I couldn't justify having the stealership do it for $200.

If anyone is worried about future warranty claims then by all means take it to the dealer and have them do it. As long as you keep your receipts you will be fine.

I remember reading a few years ago about how BMW stretches engine oil life... Don't remember how substantiated these claims were but it seemed reasonable to treat such amazing engines a little extra tlc with some fresh oil every 5-7.5k

I used to change my 2003 330i zhp oil when the maintenance odometer hit 7500 (from 15k start). I'd use oem oil and oem filter. No problems and no word from dealer at any time from 26k-100k did anyone question me about changing the oil myself.

Unless you forget to put the plug in or filter screwed up I would think it's not a bad thing when using oem oil/filter.

My 2c

I went with all OEM parts found in a kit here:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...catalogid=4462

Wavewuver, Thank you so much for your post with picutres.

To the other idiots complaining that you should not change the oil before 15,000 or 20,000 Km's well I guess you do not actually own the car and are just leasing it. I on the other hand have purchased the car and I am not willing to take a chance especially since there is not a lifetime guarantee on the motor.
Wavewuver, Thank you so much for your post with picutres.

With that out of the way I just want to say that my 28i has 4,400 Km's on it and the oil was pretty dirty to the eye.

Question to Wavewuver... do you have the spec on how tight to make the drain plug? As for the filter cover I matched it right up with the previous color code and lined up nice and tight.

Amount of oil to put in.. I put in 6.5 liters and it is showing full, however you mentioned 7 liters. Why in the world doesn't the manual show the oil quantity spec???

Thats it from my end love the new X3

Originally Posted by mechmac

Wavewuver, Thank you so much for your post with picutres.

To the other idiots complaining that you should not change the oil before 15,000 or 20,000 Km's well I guess you do not actually own the car and are just leasing it. I on the other hand have purchased the car and I am not willing to take a chance especially since there is not a lifetime guarantee on the motor.
Wavewuver, Thank you so much for your post with picutres.

With that out of the way I just want to say that my 28i has 4,400 Km's on it and the oil was pretty dirty to the eye.

Question to Wavewuver... do you have the spec on how tight to make the drain plug? As for the filter cover I matched it right up with the previous color code and lined up nice and tight.

Amount of oil to put in.. I put in 6.5 liters and it is showing full, however you mentioned 7 liters. Why in the world doesn't the manual show the oil quantity spec???

Thats it from my end love the new X3

Thanks for the kind words. I also own my new X3 and would like to baby the engine a bit. An extra oil change here and there is good insurance IMHO.

I'm sure BMW has a recommended torque for the drain plug, but I don't know what it is. Been doing oil changes forever and I just tighten the plug firmly, but careful not to overdo it. Not a very good answer is it.

I used a torque wrench on the filter cap. The torque is imprinted on the cap. After I torqued it, I looked at the painted alignment marks and they were almost lined up.

I put in 7 quarts.......but you are using liters. 6.5 liters is about 7 quarts........

Hope you are enjoying your X3 as much as I am.

Well I guess I am one of those idiots, but we do own ours....that is pretty cool that you can tell the oil quality by eye "it looks prettty dirty"...Can you gap spark plugs by eye as well? Last time I checked, oil after 5k miles SHOULD look dirty to the eye...it means it is doing its job...

...subscribed just in case I decide to change my oil.

Subscribed as well.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...catalogid=4462

$76 bucks for OEM filter, washers/gaskets AND 7 quarts of OEM oil is a BARGAIN in my book. geeeesus. good post and thank you for the pics.

Some comments from an 35xi owner who has changed his oil once!

Note the position of the larger oil filter gasket before removing it. It is in a groove on the filter housing in a position lower (higher?) than you might expect.

Assuming that the 2.8L engine is the same as my 3.0L (N55) (all other details of your oil change procedure seem to match perfectly), the oil drain plug torque setting is also 25 nM.

The oil filter drain plug has a copper washer which should be replaced; it should come with the oil filter.

Torquing the oil filter to 25 nM should result in precise alignment of the two green marks. Or, just use the green marks.

There are a number of sources for the oil filter wrench - pretty much a standard tool which works on lots of BMW engines.

Soaking up the residual oil in the oil filter base is most easily done with one of those high-tech tools, i.e., a paper towel.

Concur that the tilt associated with lifting just the front of the vehicle does not hinder the draining; it may indeed help.

I used 7 quarts of oil and the resulting oil level readout on the iDrive display (Vehicle Info | Vehicle Status | Engine Oil Level) was right at the top of the full mark.

We had the dealer do the first oil change at 15K. The car was telling us something like 18K miles, but the dealer said no, bring it in now. I changed the oil at 22K miles and plan to have the dealer change it at the normal 30K miles point. Am awaiting a report back from Blackstone Labs on that 22K oil. Unless it is much cleaner than I expect, I will continue to do an "in-between" oil change myself, suplementing the dealer's changes.

Some comments on warranty concerns, etc. I think that, as long as you stick to the BMW approved oil and standard (Mann) oil filters (and remember to install the oil filter, drain plug, and oil before you start the engine!), you should have no problems. This oil change is about is as easy as they get nowadays.

For the uninitiated: Unless you're really, really tiny, you do need to lift the vehicle to obtain acess the the oil drain plug. Safety is always an issue when working under a vehicle. You MUST use real jack stands with the correct jack pads or good ramps and make absolutely certain that the vehicle cannot fall. I'd recommend Race Ramps; the're proven and very light and easy to deal with. Don't do it if you don't have the right equipment; your dealer will be happy to change the oil any time you want (and take your money). It is not worth getting hurt for a relatively small amount of money. Indeed, one could argue that, if you need to spend a few hundred dollars to obtain the correct tools, the dealer's cost is well worth it.

So what's with the antiquated oil filter setup?
I have always changed my own oil and always use 100% synthetic. The all-in-one like Fram seems like a better setup; double walled, gasket attached. Thoughts?

Hey, I like the antiquated oil filter setup. Of course, I'm antiquated myself... No reason to think that the BMW oil filter is any less capable than the Fram. There are oil filter reviews and comparisons out there and, as I recall, the Mann filters compare very favorably.

The BMW oil and all the oils on their approved list are fully synthetic oils.

The Fram types are a little less messy that's all. No big deal if they are just as good and cheap as the Fram.
Filter and 7 quarts of Mobile I synthetic, about $40 for me.

Thanks for this write-up. Did my first F25 Oil change and went very easily. For me, it's very worthwhile doing my own oil change. I bought my X3 in the USA and I decided not to transfer my warranty to Canada as I would lose the no charge maintenance. For the bigger maintenance items, I will make my way down to the nearest BMW dealership in the USA (confirmed with BMW NA that this is not a problem). However, for the oil changes, it's not worth the drive down for me. The cost of the filter and oil is relatively low :-).

This oil change is really easy. I also do my own on my '03 Z4 but it's a little harder to torque the oil drain plug.

Here is a video link to resetting the oil reminder on the F25.

Dekodan,

Just to be sure. The "instrument cluster button" you refer to in the video, is that the button on the left side of the instrument panel that is used to reset the trip odometer? I notice that the manual says that it displays the odometer when the ignition is switched off. So, holding it down results in display of the additional menus? What other menu items are there?

Dekodan, thanks for the video... that could be useful for a bunch of DYI projects.