Would this thing work? Should I buy it?

[Gayle]

Hopefully there is not that much crud in my oil, but I wonder if this gizzmo would it leave crud in the bottom? Shogun's pics of the v12 rebuilt gave me a crud phobia. I have a hard time imagining that a vacuum sucking up would clean the dirty oil out as well as gravity pulling down.

I am trying to psych myself up to start changing my own oil and the idea of not having to crawl under the car or mess with the drain plug is pretty appealing....

What do you think guys? Should I buy it?

http://www.bmpdesign.com/product-exec/product_id/251/category_id/16/search_year/1990/search_model/26

[Kalevera]

But....why would you want to suck the oil up to begin with? Part of the fun of changing oil -- the conventional way -- is that you can let a hot motor sit for a while with the drain bolt removed so that it gets *really* empty. I'd be surprised how much oil a vacuum, let alone a hand powered one, can pull out of your M30.

Gayle -- it's really not that scary or as dirty of a job as it's cracked up to be ;) Get a set of ramps (or, for those on a really constrained budget, a few 2 x 4's or, my favorite, old front rotors -- yes, I've done it before). You don't want the front end very far up in the air, to promote draining the old oil.

M30 is painless, though. Just make sure to use all of the new hardware (crush washers/O rings) provided in the filter kit.

edit: oh, and crack the filter housing open prior to opening the drain plug. I also like to dump a bit of new oil in with the new filter to assure that the canister doesn't go dry on that first startup.

best, whit

[Gayle]

Oh well, thought it was too good to be true. I was hoping people would say "yeah this works great" and I would be off and running.

I am having a hard time imagining the "fun" in letting a hot motor sit for a while with the drain bolt removed so that it gets *really* empty. I am just not feeling it. Maybe Bob the oil guy will inspire me.

Thanks for your comments.

[TheGeak]

I dunno, even something as simple as changing my own oil makes me feel more like its MY car and not just A car. I think the fun comes from knowing you did the job yourself, for less than it would have cost to have someone else do it, and knowing you did it BETTER.

[Kalevera]

I dunno, even something as simple as changing my own oil makes me feel more like its MY car and not just A car. I think the fun comes from knowing you did the job yourself, for less than it would have cost to have someone else do it, and knowing you did it BETTER.
Jason, I agree. Funny thing is -- I changed Fritz's oil today. Used BMW Synthetic because I was too lazy to go out and spend more money on M1, plus the castrol syntec is good stuff to begin with. My cost on the oil change was - 6 x 4.12 (used dregs for the remainder) + ~ $4.00 for the filter. $29 for a complete synthetic job.

And Jiffy Lube charges $29 for an oil change?! You really have to wonder what kind of crappy oil and filters they use...

best, whit

[Gayle]

I can relate to the MY car part of your answer. But I don't get the part about doing it BETTER. How can you do it better? [I don't mean you specifically] How can someone who changes their oil 4 times a year do it better than someone who does it all day long?

I could understand worse--like chewing up the drain plug, or spilling the oil...

Understanding better would be inspirational.

[TheGeak]

By "Better" I mean with more attention to detail. A guy who does it day in day out is looking to get your car in and out as fast as possible, not necessarily with the best job done. For example, are they really going to wait and get ALL the old oil out of your engine, are they going to take the time to pre-lube the filter and prime it? Are they going to make sure your drain plug is properly threaded before they crank it on there with the air gun (don't laugh, i've seen it happen)...

thats what I meant by 'better'.

[Gayle]

hmmm

[Kalevera]

Jason's right -- you'd be surprised how many jobs those lube stop guys mess up. Partly because training is minimal and each car is different (especially a BMtroubleU), partly because they don't get paid much and it's hard to get excited over sitting in a dark pit and having someone's nasty '78 Cadillac dump 9 quarts of dino in front of your face.

Attention to detail and a little bit of care go a long way ;)

best, whit

[2fast]

Well said Lowell

[Paul in NZ]

gayle even I can and do change my oil!All you need is one 4x2 or 4x3 with an angle cut
on one end (on my car which slightly lower than stock ) I cant reach the drain plug.I drive one front wheel up on the block when i have come home after an errand,get the drain pan ready dump the oil out and then go grab a coffee or something,let her drain out good.Take your time and even a simple oil change will make you feel good.!

[Jean@MtMiguel]

ATTENTION TO DETAILS as Lowell said is a very true statement. E34 sixes is the easiest oil change I've done so far, compared to Mercedes W124 sixes w/c is f**** to do.