oil change on a 2003 525i

[fatarzan]

i'm going to change my own oil for the 1st time -- having trouble locating oil filter -- is castrol syntec 5w30 ok -- any tips before i dive in ? thanks

[witeshark]

Have you looked at realoem.com ?

[fatarzan]

well i dove in -- the oil filter is on the upper right side of the engine -- a canister with a 26 mm nut -- the drain plug is 17mm -- i used castrol syntec 5w30 -- the castrol site says that bmw's high performance motor oil is a different blend but i think thats bull -- i would like to know how to reset the service indicator bar -- a small thing but a thing that bugs me none the less!

[rajk9800]

BMW Oil Service reset for 2001 ~ current

No need for reset tool for 2001+ model

BMW insp. reset

- Iginition OFF (POS 0)

- Press and Hold the trip odometer button while turning key to position 1 (ACCESSORY)

- Keep the button depressed (about 5 secs.) until you see "Oil Service" or "Inspection" with "Reset" or "Re" in the display

- *Note: On vehicles with "High" cluster, you will also see the amount of fuel (in litres) remaining until next service

- Press the button again and hold for approx. 5 secs. until "Reset" or "Re" flashes

- While the display is flashing, briefly press the button again to reset the Service Interval. After the display has shown the new interval you should see "END SIA" for about 2 secs.

Note that if the "Reset" or "Re" does not flash, then you have not met the minimum consumption level and cannot reset.

[BimmerE39]

Yeah, you'd be correct when you say that Castrol's "special" blend is BS. I've been using Mobil 5W30 synthetic for 4 years now and never plan to use anything else. Aslong as the oils viscosity and weight is correct and it's synthetic you should be fine.