[DannyM235]

Hey guys I recently purchased a 2016 BMW M235i with 30,000 miles on it. I've owned it for about four months now, I purchased the car from a used car dealer in California and had it shipped down to Texas. When I received it I put it up on my ramps and noticed that the undercarriage cover had a lot of oil on it. So I then proceeded to remove the cover and degrease it and pressure wash it. I literally used a whole gallon of degreaser to try and get out all the oil that was in embedded into the fibers of the cover. I then let it dry overnight and reinstalled it, this was a few months back when I did this. Since the time of me owning it I haven't done an oil change on it and have only put 2000 miles on the vehicle so far.

So this week I decided I was going to do the oil change and purchased the OEM BMW 0W-30 oil change kit from FCP euro. This morning I decided to do the oil change. While removing the oil drain plug I noticed there was some resistance at around the halfway mark removing the bolt it wasn't much so I didn't think much about it at first. I let the oil drain for about an hour and then proceeded to put the new crush washer on the drain plug and replace it back on the oil pan. I threaded it in by hand like I always do on all y vehicle and then proceeded to tighten it down with a 17 mm socket and a 3/8" ratchet. Once again at around the halfway mark I noticed some resistance it wasn't much and after a turn or two it went back to feeling normal so I proceeded to tighten down the drain plug once it was seated with the oil pan. I the noticed it wouldn't stop spinning and I was never able to torque it down to the 25nm. I then realized that whoever had done the oil change last cross threaded the oil pan with the drain plug. I then decided to try and remove the plug so I could get a replacement and possibly try again, but I would not back out. I had to get a pair of vice grips and clamp it on the drain plug and put downward pressure while at the same time rotating it to back it out. I was finally able to get it out after about half an hour of trying. Once I got it out I noticed there were filings from the oil pan on the drain plug. I then cleaned the threads of the oil pan and took a look at it from directory under with a flashlight and saw that the threads were damaged. I went to BMW to pick up a new drain plug and an oversized drain plug that the parts guy said they also had in stock, which he stated the BMW technicians use when this happens. I got the exact measurements of the OEM plug and found that it was a M12x1.5 and the oversized plug I also purchased from BMW was a M14x1.5. After some research on the issue I decided to get a tap in the OEM size of M12x1.5 and proceeded to try and clean up the threads on the oil pan instead of retapping it to the larger drain plug's size. I used some grease on the taps channels to catch the shavings. After going back an forth a few times and cleaning and re greasing the tap I was able to clean up the threads and use the new OEM drain plug with the new crush washer after confirming it would go in and out by hand several times. I then lightly tightened it down by hand because I didn't want to attempt to torque it down to specs and possibly cause it to cross thread again. I did get a cheap bottle of synthetic 5W-30 at a local auto parts store to test if it doesn't leak overnight and to flush out any filings that could be in the oil pan before putting in the OEM 0W-30 oil.

My question is do any of you know if the oil pan is under pressure during normal operation. If so at what psi, or is it not under any pressure when ? I am afraid that I might be driving one day and all the oil might come spewing out of the drain hole because the drain plug is not tightened down to specs. I was wondering if you all suggest I re tap the drain pan hole to the next size up which would be a M13x1.5 instead of the M14x1.5 that the dealer sold me. I am afraid that jumping from a M12x1.5 to a M14x1.5 might be too large of a jump and end up leaving me with little material to work with and possibly leading me to have to replace the entire oil pan. Which I was quoted $1800 to $2000 at my local BMW dealer today. I was also wondering if I should just put a few turns of Teflon tape on the drain plug threads and hand tightening it to create a better seal instead of considering re taping the oil pan to the next size up. I was considering removing the oil pan and taking it to a machine shop to have them repair it professionally. But after researching I found out that I would either have to drop the entire front suspension or pull the engine out to remove the oil pan and I am not ready to take on that kind of job. Any help would be greatly appreciated guys, sorry for the long post I just thought I should let you know the story behind the issue. I can get photos if needed of the oil pan drain hole tomorrow morning if needed.

[DannyM235]

I did some more research last night and decided to purchase a time-sert kit in the M12x1.5 size which is the original drain plug dimensions.

This is the kit I ordered in case anyone is interested or has the same issue.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003S...UTF8&psc=1

Along with their version of thread locker.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IZ...b_b_prod_image

[overcoil]

Do u install the sert while oil is draining out to exit any debris

[DannyM235]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

Do u install the sert while oil is draining out to exit any debris

No you have to do it with the oil out of the pan because you wouldn't t be able to see if your drilling the drain hole or tapping it correctly and you would get oil all over your drill. After draining the oil you then put grease on the threads of the drill bit and the tap to catch the majority of the shavings, after you have installed the time sert and let the thread locker dry. You can then flush any shavings out of the oil pan with new some oil. I am just going to buy like two or three quarts of some cheap 5w-30 synthetic oil to flush out any shavings that might be in the pan after I do the job. I then will fill it with the OEM BMW 0W-30 synthetic oil. I saw this video on YouTube last night from the manufacturer on how to do the job.

[Liandri]

Good job! I would have done the same repair if I were in your situation. Sometimes people are way too quick to jump to replacing the pan. The Teflon tape idea probably would have worked as well after you chased the threads. Usually the pan will strip again after chasing out cross threads (you can usually tell by how loose or wobbly the plug is halfway in), but the tape idea is interesting and could take up the extra space. As to the crankcase pressure, there shouldn't be any in either direction (pressure or vacuum) as that's a sign of a failed pcv valve. Too much pressure in the case will blow seals out, Audi 2.0t longitudinal has the issue of flipping the crank seal around when the pcv fails and you get a nice leak out of the bell housing

[DannyM235]

Originally Posted by Liandri

Good job! I would have done the same repair if I were in your situation. Sometimes people are way too quick to jump to replacing the pan. The Teflon tape idea probably would have worked as well after you chased the threads. Usually the pan will strip again after chasing out cross threads (you can usually tell by how loose or wobbly the plug is halfway in), but the tape idea is interesting and could take up the extra space. As to the crankcase pressure, there shouldn't be any in either direction (pressure or vacuum) as that's a sign of a failed pcv valve. Too much pressure in the case will blow seals out, Audi 2.0t longitudinal has the issue of flipping the crank seal around when the pcv fails and you get a nice leak out of the bell housing

Thanks for the reply and letting my know about the crank case pressure I really appreciate it. I am just going to wait until Wednesday when the time-sert arrives to do the job. It is still on my ramps in the garage, good thing is I don't have anywhere to go at the moment due to the pandemic, and have my wife's car to use in case of anything. I will update the post once I get the kit in and have installed it. Maybe I'll make a quick video or at least some photos of how it turned out. Thanks again.

[Liandri]

No problem, good luck! Timeserts have been around for as long as stripped threads have been, so I'm sure you'll do fine

[DannyM235]

Thank you, I hope everything goes well so I can get it back up and running. I still can't believe that the m235 only has 30,000 miles on it and it's oil pan was already damaged. Just goes to show that there are so many people out there, that have no clue on what they are doing even on the simplest of jobs. Now I wish I would have went up to California and checked out the car beforehand. The under carriage cover being covered in oil would have been a sign to step away from the purchase. Lesson learned I will never buy a vehicle out of town again that I don't physically see in person.

[Liandri]

Originally Posted by DannyM235

Thank you, I hope everything goes well so I can get it back up and running. I still can't believe that the m235 only has 30,000 miles on it and it's oil pan was already damaged. Just goes to show that there are so many people out there, that have no clue on what they are doing even on the simplest of jobs. Now I wish I would have went up to California and checked out the car beforehand. The under carriage cover being covered in oil would have been a sign to step away from the purchase. Lesson learned I will never buy a vehicle out of town again that I don't physically see in person.

I can speak from experience, having been a mechanic my entire professional career, that there are a LOT of techs that don't do things right, don't get it, or generally suck. Because of the low barrier to entry and the overall low pay grade, it attracts low tier people. If you meet or do business with a tech who's obviously higher intelligence and does an OCD job, keep going back to him/her, they are more rare than not. Problem is most of the good people will only do shorter stints in the industry, get out and move upward in life. That's what I'm trying to do at this moment...

[jwmuscat]

I did that to mine and used the time-sert it’s been fine ever since

[DannyM235]

So I received the time-sert today from amazon in the size M12x1.5 along with their 500 degree thread locker/sealer. I'm going to list the tools I used to do the job below as well as photos of the process in case anyone needs to perform this job on their F-series N55. But the same process can be used on most BMW models old or new.

Tools/fluids used:

3/8" ratchet
11 mm 12 point deep socket
3/8" 12 point deep socket
Tap T-handle
Can of brake cleaner
Automotive lithium grease
2 to 3 quarts of cheap 5W-30 synthetic oil to flush
Time-sert 500 degree thread locker/sealer
Blue shop towels
Clear safety glasses

[DannyM235]

Here are the rest of the photos from the job. Total time was around 1 to 1.5 hours because I took my time and went slow to ensure I wouldn't mess up. In the end the total cost for me was around $200 because earlier in the week I went out and bought a M12x1.5 tap and t-handle from Northern Tool to chase the original threads. But I didn't like the wobbly feel of the new OEM drain plug after chasing the threads, so I went with the time-sert option, which was a tenth of the price I was quoted at BMW to replace the oil pan. I'm letting the thread locker/ sealer dry over night then I'll be flushing two quarts of cheap synthetic 5W-30 to get out any filings in oil pan. After that I put in the new OEM drain plug and torque it down to 25 nm and put in the OEM BMW 0W-30 oil. After driving it for about 100 miles I'm going to change out the oil filter again to see if it picked up any filing shards. Before doing the install I let the oil pan drain for 3 days while I waited for the time-sert to come in to ensure there was very little oil during the install. Hope this small write up helps others out with the same situation. My advice is take it slow and don't rush the job so you don't ruin your oil pan.

[FCBuff]

Nice work!

[KennyFSU]

Thanks for the pics and good job. I change my own oil and always try to be careful.

[overcoil]

Danny Thank You very much for the excellent tutorial.

[DannyM235]

Originally Posted by FCBuff

Nice work!

Originally Posted by KennyFSU

Thanks for the pics and good job. I change my own oil and always try to be careful.

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

Danny Thank You very much for the excellent tutorial.

Thank you all for taking time to read my long posts, stay safe out there.

[XutvJet]

This is an excellent fix. Thank you for providing all the detail.

I would caution anyone doing an oil change on these cars to be using a torque wrench and or really snugging down the drain plug. A very large majority of those that have stripped the plugs were using torque wrenches. The plug only needs about 18 ft/lb. If you try and use torque wrench that can go down to 15 ft/lb, you'll run the risk of pushing past the limits of the pan threads. If you must use a torque wrench, use one that does in/lbs.

Over the past 30 years of doing oil changes on BMWs, Subarus, Hondas, Nissans, Infinitis, Chevys, Toyotas and Mazdas, I have never used a torque wrench and I have never had a drain bolt loosen or leak. Simply thread it on by hand until it stops on the pan face and then just a 1/8th turn or so with a standard length (~10") socket wrench; adhering to the German torque spec "Gudntight". If you use a more standard length torque wrench (15" to 18") that gives a ton more leverage, you're likely to go well past the torque limit even when the bar indicates you've achieved the limit.

[DannyM235]

Finally got the oil change done today along with the spark plugs and the fixing bow on the exhaust valve because I had rattling. Anyways back on topic, I let the time-sert with the thread locker dry for almost 48 hours. I started by flushing 2 quarts of cheap 5W-30 synthetic oil in. I let the quarts warm up outside for a few hours before I put them in. I then let it sit for about 30 mins and to test the time sert, after letting it sit and seeing everything was fine I then flushed it. There were filings in the pan, it wasn't much though. I then torqued the drain plug to 20 nm instead of 25 nm and filled it with 6.5L of BMW 0W-30. Here are the photos of the filing that were in the oil pan. Just wanted to let those who are interested know that, you should definitely flush it out after installing the time-sert.

[SlumsToMills]

Thanks for this post! Mine had same issue today:

Did an oil change today on my used 2013 335i that I just bought last week. Drained everything out fine and then went to go put back the drain plug.
I even made sure I put it in straight and hand screwed it in slowly.. Then finally when it got tight, I used a torque wrench set for 18.4 ft/lb. Kept torqueing but it never got tight and just kept spinning... then I tried to pull it back out, it kept spinning too and stuck.

welp... looks like its stripped. Took some vice grips to spin the drain plug and pull down but it would not come down. After about an hour of trying that I just gave up and fill up oil to see if anything would leak.
Turned on the car and let it run for 10-20 minutes to cycle oil and create pressure. NO leaks! I will keep monitoring everyday as I drive.

At some point I have to do something about the bolt so I may try this technique you posted, although seems kind of scary if somehow metal shavings get cycled through the engine from the tap process.

Currently, I am stuck still trying to figure out how to get the bolt thats stuck though

[DannyM235]

Originally Posted by SlumsToMills

Thanks for this post! Mine had same issue today:

Did an oil change today on my used 2013 335i that I just bought last week. Drained everything out fine and then went to go put back the drain plug.
I even made sure I put it in straight and hand screwed it in slowly.. Then finally when it got tight, I used a torque wrench set for 18.4 ft/lb. Kept torqueing but it never got tight and just kept spinning... then I tried to pull it back out, it kept spinning too and stuck.

welp... looks like its stripped. Took some vice grips to spin the drain plug and pull down but it would not come down. After about an hour of trying that I just gave up and fill up oil to see if anything would leak.
Turned on the car and let it run for 10-20 minutes to cycle oil and create pressure. NO leaks! I will keep monitoring everyday as I drive.

At some point I have to do something about the bolt so I may try this technique you posted, although seems kind of scary if somehow metal shavings get cycled through the engine from the tap process.

Currently, I am stuck still trying to figure out how to get the bolt thats stuck though

Sorry this also happened to you I know how frustrating it is. I would definitely try and get that stripped drain plug out again. You don't want to have your oil start to spew out on your engine undercarriage cover, believe me it's a horrible mess that took a gallon of degreaser, my pressure washer and several hours to clean up, because of the idiots that serviced the vehicle before me. You might have to buy a new set of vice grips to get the job done, just make sure they are not the needle nose type you need the original style vice grips in a large size. That's what I used to really lock it down tight on the drain bolt's head, the extra length of the larger vice grips give you enough leverage to back it out of the oil pan. Just make sure to spray the drain bolt's head with some brake cleaner and clean it with a shop towel first to remove any oil on it before locking down the vice grips. It wasn't easy it, it took enough force and around half an hour of trying and me dropping a few f bombs during the process but it possible to back it out of the oil pan. What also helped me is I had the M235i on rhino ramps which I have been using to change the oil on my vehicles for a few years now because they are convenient and it give me extra space underneath to work comfortably when changing the oil. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me, hope this helps you out a bit.

[SlumsToMills]

Originally Posted by DannyM235

Sorry this also happened to you I know how frustrating it is. I would definitely try and get that stripped drain plug out again. You don't want to have your oil start to spew out on your engine undercarriage cover, believe me it's a horrible mess that took a gallon of degreaser, my pressure washer and several hours to clean up, because of the idiots that serviced the vehicle before me. You might have to buy a new set of vice grips to get the job done, just make sure they are not the needle nose type you need the original style vice grips in a large size. That's what I used to really lock it down tight on the drain bolt's head, the extra length of the larger vice grips give you enough leverage to back it out of the oil pan. Just make sure to spray the drain bolt's head with some brake cleaner and clean it with a shop towel first to remove any oil on it before locking down the vice grips. It wasn't easy it, it took enough force and around half an hour of trying and me dropping a few f bombs during the process but it possible to back it out of the oil pan. What also helped me is I had the M235i on rhino ramps which I have been using to change the oil on my vehicles for a few years now because they are convenient and it give me extra space underneath to work comfortably when changing the oil. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me, hope this helps you out a bit.

Hmm thanks for the tips. I didn't quite clean all the oil off the bolt head by using any type of cleaners so maybe thats why it kept slipping off. I tried to get as much as possible absorbed with a towel but maybe I need more. I am using this type of grip:
https://www.harborfreight.com/10-in-...ers-63869.html


So you just pulled down and twisted lefty loosey at the same time? Did it somehow force down or did you try to get locked into a thread while pulling down?

[DannyM235]

Originally Posted by SlumsToMills

Hmm thanks for the tips. I didn't quite clean all the oil off the bolt head by using any type of cleaners so maybe thats why it kept slipping off. I tried to get as much as possible absorbed with a towel but maybe I need more. I am using this type of grip:
https://www.harborfreight.com/10-in-...ers-63869.html


So you just pulled down and twisted lefty loosey at the same time? Did it somehow force down or did you try to get locked into a thread while pulling down?

Technically it should work with those, but I would pick up a better pair at Lowe's or Northern tool to make sure it doesn't slip, harbor freight tool are ok for some jobs, but for tools that are used more often I would go with a better brand, but that's just my opinion it's really up to you what you think is best. But to answer your question yes, clean it up first then clamp it on the drain bolt head and pull down while turning counter clockwise and it will come out. But you have to have it cleaned up well and really clamp the vice grips on the drain bolt tight enough where it won't pull off the drain bolt head while your pulling down on the vice grips to back it out. Below is what I wrote in my original first post. Hope this helps.

"I had to get a pair of vice grips and clamp it on the drain plug and put downward pressure while at the same time rotating it to back it out."