3-Series (E36)Chat relating to the BMW 3-Series from 1992-1999. Autodoodad
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: Heres the story, ill start off by saying im so mad at myself right now. This all started yesterday afternoon when i began changing my Oil. Everything was going fine until i began to put o 5qt. container of Mobil 1 into the oil fill... it had some oil on it so it slipped out of my hand and some of the oil spilled on the engine and down onto the headers. pissed me off, but not a huge deal. so i then continue filling th oil. well heres where the real trouble began... a always put about 6.75 qts in approx. but with the spill, i was barely under the notch on the dipstick, so i went down to a mibil station and bought one quart. after putting some in, i somehow went from slightly under to slightly over. : so i drove for a bit and nothing felt wrong, but it bothered me... i kept thinking 'what if...' so today, I planned on just draining the oil into a clean pan, and then plug it and put it back in to the proper amount. so now, as I put the drain plug back in, which ive done 4 times since having the car, i tighten it too much and it breaks off in the drain plug hole!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : : : so now I have no idea what to do so unless u guys have any suggestions, im just gonna towed it down the shop down the street from me tomorrow morning.
figures the drain plug is hollow too, now i cant even drive it down to the shop, i have to have it towed... please all of you dont laugh too hard at me!
BMW made the drain plugs hollow to make it easy to back them out if the nut breaks. Jam something in there, back the old one out (without the nut on it there's no pressure on the threads and it's lubed with oil, it's easy) and buy a new one to put in there.
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anything but a sock, i remember some guy jammed a sock into his oil fill cap, because the cap was gone
retarded* btw i liked that retarted <-- touch
but yeah just get a new plug and you'll be fine
the guys at valvoline or whatever the place i take my car to get the oil changed
i know what you're saying omfg true enthusiasts change their own oil, well my dad pays for it everytime, and the time before last they tightened it too much and there was a small crack so i had a little amount of oil dripping on the garage floor took it back and got another free oil change
The standard drain plug is 12 x 1.5 x 18mm (L) so once you get that busted one out you may be able to find one at a good local autoparts store right away. Take the old piece with you to make sure. Its Ok if it's a little longer than stock, or if it's got a magnet in it that's even better. Good luck.
Well, I see you just got it fixed. Good job! I know they say torque it to 40Nm but I put some teflon tape on it and just tighten it snug. If you use a new crush washer all the time it won't leak.
I'm pretty sure the reason for the hole in the drain plug is that, if you do wrench on the plug, the plug breaks instead of stripping the oil pan.
Replacing a $4 plug > replacing the oilpan.
haha, yeah. i just finished puting it all back together. $4.94 with tax and a couple of crush washers. thanks so much for the help everyone, especially triggr! I think im going to invest in a torque wrench instead of going by feel...
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: Heres the story, ill start off by saying im so mad at myself right now. This all started yesterday afternoon when i began changing my Oil. Everything was going fine until i began to put o 5qt. container of Mobil 1 into the oil fill... it had some oil on it so it slipped out of my hand and some of the oil spilled on the engine and down onto the headers. pissed me off, but not a huge deal. so i then continue filling th oil. well heres where the real trouble began... a always put about 6.75 qts in approx. but with the spill, i was barely under the notch on the dipstick, so i went down to a mibil station and bought one quart. after putting some in, i somehow went from slightly under to slightly over. 
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