Purchased a BMW E92 320i N43 - first BMW, first oil change

[geetar]

We recently got an E92 320i for one of the family, which means I won't be driving it, but I will be responsible for the maintenance. Its done about 72k miles, and already had a new timing chain apparently as a preventative maintenance according to the seller who was only the second owner. Its got pretty good service records at BMW and indie garages so I was expecting a pretty clean oil change... it wasn't as clean as I expected - but still nothing super alarming I think. With a reduced OCI, it should be fine for many years to come.


Here is the filter. No metal, but some black sludge or bits of silicone, not sure:

The filter housing, I poked around the small hole which released some fine particles. I poured fresh oil down into here to try to wash out as much as possible. I'm not sure if that small hole is meant to be blocked/closed when the engine is off, but it doesn't seem to lead to anywhere.

There appears to be a small nick in the filter cartridge itself. I have no idea how that could happen, but I think I'll replace it at the next oil change for peace of mind:

This is the oil I used:

The joys of used car buying! Even something with good records might not be as good as expected, but otherwise its a pretty nice car. Its probably the first BMW I've experienced that rides really comfortably, since I've only ever been in friend's BMWs which have been sportier variants and M cars.

I'll do another oil change in 4-5k miles and see if the filter comes out clean and report back. I'll also be changing all the other fluids and filters pretty soon.

 

[Boomer]

Very nice and good luck with it. Remember....BMW. Bring my wallet.

 

[gman2304]

Remember....BMW. Bring my wallet.

Bring MORE wallet…

 

[joekingcorvette]

Break my wallet. Actually, it sounds like a nice car and I hope your family member enjoys it! Congrats.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I'm sure your family will enjoy that beautiful BMW.

 

[fantastic]

Is half of that I4 inder the firewall? That'll be fun to work on. 12:1 Compression must require 91+? Looks like this engine is from 2007-2010? I don't ever recall BMW's on my menu so I just don't know much about their offerings.

 

[slo town]

View attachment 330362

I have two BMWs of this general era, including an E90 328i M-Sport with the N51 engine.

I am 99% certain your filter cap requires two small o-rings on the small end. The BMW OEM ones are green. It appears that yours requires two different sized o-rings.

It's important that you check for this otherwise the filter's function could be impaired, and seriously so.

Scott

 

[geetar]

Is half of that I4 inder the firewall? That'll be fun to work on. 12:1 Compression must require 91+? Looks like this engine is from 2007-2010? I don't ever recall BMW's on my menu so I just don't know much about their offerings.

There's a bunch of plastic and the cabin filter to remove to get to the spark plugs, yes. but in reality its just the plastic stuff that extends over the engine so its not too terrible. We have E5 and E10 fuel, this thing can take E10 which is our cheapest petrol available so I don't know about 91. I'm not super clued up on BMWs myself tbh.

 

[geetar]

I have two BMWs of this general era, including an E90 328i M-Sport with the N51 engine.

I am 99% certain your filter cap requires two small o-rings on the small end. The BMW OEM ones are green. It appears that yours requires two different sized o-rings.

It's important that you check for this otherwise the filter's function could be impaired, and seriously so.

Scott

Yes you're absolutely right, new o-rings came with the new filter. I had removed the old ones in the photo and cleaned the cartridge.
This is the photo from the filter listing. It also included a sump plug washer, which was nice.

 

[fantastic]

There's a bunch of plastic and the cabin filter to remove to get to the spark plugs, yes. but in reality its just the plastic stuff that extends over the engine so its not too terrible. We have E5 and E10 fuel, this thing can take E10 which is our cheapest petrol available so I don't know about 91. I'm not super clued up on BMWs myself tbh.

I just saw you're across the pond & you use a different number system for octane ratings. Thanks

Here's a chart I found just now from @BMWTurboDzl & it appears our 91 octane in the states would be around 95 for you.

B

Thread 'Octane conversion chart US vs EU'

Sep 10, 2023

This may be helpful when talking about regional differences in fuel and engine tuning. Sometimes someone will pop in and say US fuel is of lower quality compared to EU. As always it's the details which matter

• BMWTurboDzl
• Replies: 6
• Forum: Fuels and Fuel Additives: Gasoline and Diesel

• 

 

[Chris142]

I'm going to recommend Mann filters whenever possible. I often find aftermarket filters that don't fit well,tear etc

 

[fantastic]

I'm going to recommend Mann filters whenever possible. I often find aftermarket filters that don't fit well,tear etc

The cool thing about that recommendation is if your Purolator says "Made in Germany" it's a Mann. Save a few $

 

[geetar]

I'm going to recommend Mann filters whenever possible. I often find aftermarket filters that don't fit well,tear etc

They're OEM for BMW and my Merc and I know they're very highly rated, I've used them for years in various cars. Though recently I've been trying Febi Bilstein parts for many things including filters, and brakes, they are very well priced and seem to be very good quality. I don't think you get them in the North American market, but I'm impressed. For a reduced OCI especially, I don't mind not having OEM filtration. Plus, in this type of cartridge filter, you're only really buying the filter media, everything else is part of the oil filter housing (i.e. anti drain back valve / pressure relief valve, and the overall structure.

 

[geetar]

I just saw you're across the pond & you use a different number system for octane ratings. Thanks

Here's a chart I found just now from @BMWTurboDzl & it appears our 91 octane in the states would be around 95 for you.

B

Thread 'Octane conversion chart US vs EU'

Sep 10, 2023

This may be helpful when talking about regional differences in fuel and engine tuning. Sometimes someone will pop in and say US fuel is of lower quality compared to EU. As always it's the details which matter

• BMWTurboDzl
• Replies: 6
• Forum: Fuels and Fuel Additives: Gasoline and Diesel

• 

To confuse things even more, the EU introduced a new standard for fuel pump labels, so we now refer to the commonly available petrol as E5 and E10. (contains max 5% or 10% ethanol). Like what the tuners use E85.
E10 is generally 95RON so I guess that is equivalent to the 91 that you're referring to?

I don't really get into all that, because pretty much all of our cars can use E10. Some people prefer to use E5 in tuned or high performance cars, or because they think the ethanol content will harm rubber components in the fuel system. The reality is most late-90s onward vehicles are perfectly fine to use E10, so unless the vehicle has been custom tuned for a higher grade - just use the cheap stuff. Plus, there has been some independent testing which showed that most E10 in the UK doesn't even contain the maximum permitted 10% ethanol - which upsets the environmentalists. (I need to find the source and will caveat it by saying this may have changed now anyway)

 

[CleanSump]

E10 has been the standard in the US for over a decade. We have to search for non-ethanol fuel and it's usually marketed as for boats and off road sports vehicles. Many people prefer it for their lawnmowers, dirt bikes, and off road 4 wheelers - machines that may sit for a while.

 

[slo town]

They're OEM for BMW and my Merc and I know they're very highly rated, I've used them for years in various cars. Though recently I've been trying Febi Bilstein parts for many things including filters, and brakes, they are very well priced and seem to be very good quality. I don't think you get them in the North American market, but I'm impressed. For a reduced OCI especially, I don't mind not having OEM filtration. Plus, in this type of cartridge filter, you're only really buying the filter media, everything else is part of the oil filter housing (i.e. anti drain back valve / pressure relief valve, and the overall structure.

Hengst is a brand you can trust. I've used them for many years.

Scott

 

[geetar]

Hengst is a brand you can trust. I've used them for many years.

Scott

I know they are very popular, but personally not a fan. I noticed that they cut a corner (quite literally) on an air filter I buy.

For example, here is the Purflux air filter which I use for our Dacia, which has a super common engine here in Europe (0.9L TCe used in Renault, Nissan, Smart and Dacia)

The filter isn't quite a standard rectangle so the pleats get shorter at the end.

Hengst use a standard square filter media and fill the rest with dead space foam:

Would it make a difference to the engine? Probably not, but still not exactly an indication of a tier 1 filter, especially when other aftermarket filters from Mann or Bosch are able to match the OEM shape accurately. The factory air filter for this car is actually Mahle, I won't gather all the photos here, but essentially most of the tier 1s look like the Purflux. Heck, even Febi Bilstein and much cheaper filters look more similar to the OEM style than the Hengst one.

Not hatin', just something I discovered organically when I bought (and returned) the Hengst one when that was the only one available locally one time.

 

[slo town]

I know they are very popular, but personally not a fan. I noticed that they cut a corner (quite literally) on an air filter I buy.

For example, here is the Purflux air filter which I use for our Dacia, which has a super common engine here in Europe (0.9L TCe used in Renault, Nissan, Smart and Dacia)
View attachment 330484
The filter isn't quite a standard rectangle so the pleats get shorter at the end.

Hengst use a standard square filter media and fill the rest with dead space foam:
View attachment 330485

Would it make a difference to the engine? Probably not, but still not exactly an indication of a tier 1 filter, especially when other aftermarket filters from Mann or Bosch are able to match the OEM shape accurately. The factory air filter for this car is actually Mahle, I won't gather all the photos here, but essentially most of the tier 1s look like the Purflux. Heck, even Febi Bilstein and much cheaper filters look more similar to the OEM style than the Hengst one.

Not hatin', just something I discovered organically when I bought (and returned) the Hengst one when that was the only one available locally one time.

In that instance, I don't blame you.

Scott

 

[fantastic]

To confuse things even more, the EU introduced a new standard for fuel pump labels, so we now refer to the commonly available petrol as E5 and E10. (contains max 5% or 10% ethanol). Like what the tuners use E85.
E10 is generally 95RON so I guess that is equivalent to the 91 that you're referring to?

It sounds equivalent.