E30 Oil Change...

[deansweet]

I think whomever designed the motor around the procedure to change the oil and filter in this car should win an award. It is by far, the easiest and least messiest oil change I have ever done. Kudos to them.

The worst would be the people who put the Isuzu I-Mark together. You were guaranteed to be cleaning up the back of the block, your arm and your floor.  

Happy New Year!

[DesktopDave]

LOL...

You're right about that, the BMW DOHC motors are nicely designed for maintenance.  Earlier ones aren't quite so happy...my e24 has a similar filter housing, just inverted...dangling off the bottom ~20deg off vertical.  Messy.  At least it's only oozing against the block & front subframe.  I've heard it called "Bavarian rustproofing."  The later M30 design is similar to the M42; alas it cannot swap to the older block.

With my extended oil changes I tend to change the filter every 4-5K miles.  The oil is good for a lot longer (10-15K miles), so I'm definitely happy about the M42's "quick change" filter.

My least favorite is my Mazda MPV.  It runs a Ford Duratec 3.0 V6.  Nice motor, if a bit harsh.  However, the filter sits in a nook right above the exhaust, over the front subframe.  I prefer to change my oil warm; so I seem to inevitably get a first-degree burn.  If you think it's from the warm exhaust pipe...it isn't...the filter housing is tilted about 25deg of vertical and leaks all over the place.  120deg+ oil is uncomfortable!

[d.hitchcock]

You oughta see an oil change on my M20 autoX car.

Let's just say, I love my long-tube headers ... right up until I have to get that oil filter out. You get burns and a nice soak in used motor oil.

[victor.askew]

+1 on this. The worst has to be my Porsche 944 and 951 oil filters. The stupid thing is rightside down, as you unscrew it the trapped oil within it pours out all over the place. A huge mess to clean up each oil change!! Madness!!!!