Oil Change

[yeebee83]

hello everyone. i am new to this. i am trying to change my oil for my 97 318is, and i cant seem to find the oil filter. can someone help me?

 

[Tom]

Welcome aboard, here is a how to
http://www.logun.org/oil.htm

Attached is where your oil filter is located at.

 

[Tom]

Opened filter housing.

 

[Big Daddy]

Nice photos Tom, these should be a big help!

 

[yeebee83]

thanks so much for the photos and instruction. i saw something like that in my car, only the top wasn't the same. it's a black piece of plastic that is round at the top and is octagonal or has edges on the side. so i wasn't quite sure how to get it off. i thought i had the right tool, but at the same time, i can't get any leverage around it. do you know what tool i would need to get? sorry that i don't have any pics.

 

[VANCE]

iirc..... it's a 33mm socket

 

[yeebee83]

what is "iirc?" haha sorry, i'm relatively new to all these message board things. is that socket deep enough to get around the filter lid?

 

[VANCE]

If I Recall Correctly

 

[yeebee83]

thank you!

 

[VANCE]

brb...im going to take a pic

 

[VANCE]

ok........
does you filter cover look like this?

if so take the huge socket and put it on the "nut"on top of the cover.
once that is removed you can just pull the filter out.
(pay attention to where the washers/gaskets are...so you can put the new ones back in the correct spot

 

[yeebee83]

hey, it looks just like that, but there is no little nut on top. it is all smooth on the top.

 

[yeebee83]

i'm heading home now, i'll be back online tomorrow at 7. thanks for all your help!

 

[VANCE]

do you have a pic of it handy?
cause that doesnt sound good

 

[yeebee83]

no i don't have any pics with me , but it doesn't look like it's ripped off at all. there's a smooth circular groove in the middle but it looks like it was made that way.

 

[fritchy]

My oil filter housing looks different. I don't have a small nut in the center of a silver lid. Mine is all black and plastic with a huge looking nut that is attached to the lid. What is up with that and how the heck do you get that off?

 

[slickbrave]

The oil filter housing socket for my '98 323 is 36mm. I didn't have anything that big in my tool chest, so I ordered one from bavauto when I ordered a couple of filters and the code reader/reset tool. Money well spent.

 

[fritchy]

Thanks for the quick reply. I am so pissed because I already drained my oil when I noticed the oddnest of this housing. Do not know why there are different housing for the same thing and the same car. I had to put in my new oil (Mobil 1), but still using my old filter. So a 36mm ratchet will work? I don't have to get a special tool to unscrew it at the base of the lid (which has several edges). I tried an adjustable wrench and nothing. It actually started to slightly shred the plastic. How hard does it come off?

 

[slickbrave]

Should come right off and the good news about canister filters is you can change it out without losing hardly any oil. Keep an eye on the Mobil 1. There are 3 different grades now and they're not all fully synthetic. Spring for the good stuff.

 

[fritchy]

Thanks again. I did get the fully synthetic, but not the extended (15k). Maybe next time. Well, I went to an auto parts store and purchased a 36mm rachet. It worked. Came off very hard but I got it. Mann filter installed and all is good. I just hope I put the O-ring on properly. I had no diagram to go by because my book shows the above canister design. I am assuming it goes in the last (larger) groove and not above it. Now my next project....change my hood shock. It looks like a metal bracket that snaps out, by looking at it I have no clue how. My Haynes book little help.