First oil change in E36...

[Rick Lee]

I am well-versed in changing oil, but as this is the first time in my girlfriend's '96 328i conv., I thought I'd ask.

What's the consensus on the best oil brand and viscosity for this car? I still don't know how to read this dipstick. It's so different from any other I've seen, what with the plastic end, notches and dots. I'm a little concerned about over/underfilling it. Thanks.

[jenmcd]

I think that dipstick was made by dipsticks. I've always had the dealer do oil changes but it never said what type/grade of oil they were using. Got tired of the whole appt/wait 2 hours for a oil change routine, so I'm going to start doing it myself. I figure a good oil like Castrol or maybe Mobil-1 20w/50 should be fine. Use the amount the Bentley manual states and look at the dipstick. The level is ok if it is between the marks.
Bleeding the brakes is a piece of cake, we do it after each DE. Castrol DOT-4
Coolant flush, rear diff and tranny fluid change next.
Speaking of which--there is no set type of fluid in the tranny. Two different types depending if you have a ZF or Gertrag. I havent looked yet, but the type used is stamped on the side of the tranny case.

Keith

[///Mink]

In my '98 M3 (same platform), I use Mobil 1 5W-30 and BMW OE filters ONLY. DO NOT use Fram's easily-available filter cartridge. Although BMW's service interval lights indicate an oil change every 8-9K miles, I pay them no mind. I change the filter every 3K miles and the oil/filter every 6K. So basically, an oil change every 6K miles with a filter change in between. It's a piece of cake to do on this car. Check on ebay for vendors selling OE cartridges, I got a 5-pack for like $22. You'll pay dearly for them
at the $tealer.

The marks you look for on the dipstick are the two notches, but I always add another quart to it if I'm at a track event - it prevents starvation during cornering. It's commonly done with these cars. If you don't track it, don't worry about it.

Tom Mink
'98 M3