stripped drain plug

[many944s]

Well, shame on me!!
The local BMW dealership offered me a free oil change last time I went in to buy some bushings, so I figured what the heck, I'm due, and it's colder than a witches..... er, you know. Keep in mind I had preformed all of my oil changes previously.

Anyway, I moved the car today to get to the Spitfire and noticed an oil spot where the 325i was parked?? I got out the creeper and took a look, I found there was some sort of silicone sealant around my drain plug on the oil pan? I removed the plug, and found that the shop must have stripped out the majority of the threads on the pan as it just keeps turning and won't tighten down Oh, was I pissed! I still haven't cooled down enough yet to call the dealership to demand a new oil pan... but that may be a bit extreme.

Does anybody know of a good repair kit for this? I know there are a couple of repair kits designed for Ford and Chevy where the replacement plug is slightly larger, and you just retap the pan.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
-Nick

[Yurick]

You may consider removing the drain bolt to see what is actually damaged, the bolt or the oil pan and then see where you need to go from there.

[many944s]

It's the pan itself
All but the innermost thread have been stripped clean, the drain plug on the other hand survived just fine. I am on may way to the parts store to look for a slightly larger drain plug that I can re-tap the pan to fit...

thanks,
Nick

[Jeron]

I would demand that the dealer fix it.

[many944s]

Yea...
I gave myself some time to cool off, went back to the dealership and showed them the pictures of what I found when I got under the car. The service manager put the car up on the rack and examined everything for himself. Needless to say, I did demand that they replace the oil pan! After some bickering (they would cover part, but not labor) It came down to them finally accepting responsibility and said they would replace it free of charge. I'm still not happy about it, but at least it will get fixed properly. I was kinda a ***** about it when I told them I wanted to WATCH them remove the old pan, install the new pan and gasket, and put in the oil. They didn't really complain too much, thankfully!

Oh-well,
-Nick

[Jeron]

I like the way they offered to cover the part but not the labor. Basically trying to negotiate the cost to correct their error.

The worst part is they screwed it up and then tried to cover their ass with silicone.

Glad it worked out.

[Wayne 962]

Glad they finally stepped up to the plate - too bad you had to ***** and moan to get them to do it.

Too bad, I would guess they won't be offering free oil changes to anyone else now...

-Wayne