Oil Pan Removal

[Rainman66]

Does anyone have any tricks to removing the oil pan (engine in car) from a 325E? The book makes it look simple, however I've found this not to be the case in other repairs I've tried. My friend's son ran over a curb and knocked a hole in the oil pan. Thanks

Doug

[Fox]

LoL haha good luck. I just busted mine on a tree stump. Dont try to do it yourself unless you have 2 weeks to spare and your very mechanically inclined. You have to remove the steering arms, the sway bar, the anterior transmission cover, the oil pump/sensor, uhh and one more thing..i forget though. It takes 2 1/2 - 3 hours to be done by a mechanic crew on a lift.... and they have these magical dispencers called torque wrenches. I would suggest not to take on this project....

[OreoGaborio]

bah, it's not that hard if you've done alot of mechanical work on your car... i'd tackle it if i had the right guidance no problem... luckilly i know how to search the www.e30sport.net forum... there's alot of good stuff in there & although the guys on there can be assholes to dumb kids who wanna put neon on their car and stuff, if you act intelligent and ask specific questions you'll get good responses

[OreoGaborio]

here ya go - http://www.e30sport.net/viewtopic.php?t=52...oil+pan+removal

fox, u did it the super hard way :nana hehe, just kiddin bro

my best advice is to just get under there & take a gooood look around... nothin like just lying under your car getting aquainted

[Fox]

.... well ok. But i was out in the woods when i did this with a sub-basic tool kit. ... socket wrench. I didnt have a engine hoist.

[Rainman66]

Oil pan change complete, and it was somewhat of a challenge. Had to take the steering rod loose so the steering mechanism would drop down. Transmission cover, oil pump, and oil sensor had to be removed and put back. Did not remember to reattach the steering stuff prior to bolting oil pan up, so had to remove the bolts and let pan drop down, so steering could be reattached. After that it went well . The next time will be a piece of cake.