DIY no longer acceptable?

[Amanda4461]

Howdy BMW fans-
When I bought my new X5 xdrive35d, I asked to look under the hood so that I could locate the dipstick and the oil filter. I had just driven a new Q5 that had its oil filter on top of the engine. Nice and easy to get to. My dealer laughed and said I wouldn't be changing oil in this one, as it had no dipstick. I thought he was bullshitting me. I just read through the owner's manual for the second time, and unless I missed it, I did not see a section indicating fluid capacities for the Oil/ATF/Transfer Case/Differentials. I assume BMW trusts the electronic gods to measure and warn of low levels, and evidently thinks their stuff won't ever leak out
I am feeling old right about now, so I'll go ahead and ask the dumbest question I have had in awhile-How exactly are you supposed to know the level in the oil pan and in the ATF pan if you don't have a friggin dipstick and you are adding oil or ATF? Further, how are you supposed to know that you need ATF, and how can you put it in the ATF pan if you don't have a filler cap location? I realize the thing has an electronic level indicator for oil. I have no idea about the tranny fluid level. Please enlighten me. Currently, I am feeling like the price I paid for the Maintenance Contract and Extended Warranty might be money well spent, even if it most likely isn't. Sorry to say, my Vette & Tahoe have dipsticks and I use them. They never leaked a drop, but I can always verify my lubricant levels and even smell the stuff. I even miss that capability now with the X5. Anybody driven a new BMW to transmission failure due to low fluid level?

[edpm3]

If you have a diesel F15 X5, you are in luck. Diesel BMWs still have dipsticks. With the hood open, look from the driver's side of the engine bay at the rear of the engine and you'll see the dipstick. It's black with a short, flat end, not the ring pull type of dipstick you may be used to. A flashlight or work light helps because it's dark back there.

Your dealer is incorrect. You can change the oil yourself. I just did it a couple of weeks ago using a suction device.

Pop off the plastic engine cover and you'll find the oil filter housing with the screw-top cap. I think it's 28mm. The new oil filter element has a tube on the bottom that must go into the oil filter housing a certain way.

You can check the engine oil level using the dipstick if you want, but the engine oil level monitor that you can access through iDrive is a lot easier.

As for the ATF, there's no way to check it that I know of. I have also never had a BMW leak transmission fluid, so I'm not too worried about having to add ATF.

The process for changing transmission fluid is tricky, and involves draining and refilling the fluid, running the engine to warm it up, and checking the temperature of the fluid to determine if the fill level is correct. There may be some DIY workarounds but I don't know them.

I don't believe in lifetime fluids, like the ATF, so I had the dealer do a transmission service at 100,000 miles on my first X5.

[Amanda4461]

edpm3-
Thanks for the info. I went searching last night and saw a picture of the oil dipstick on one of 42Pilot's threads, where he gives a picture how-to on changing the oil and what to look for. Wonder why BMW doesn't even mention the dipstick in the manual? I like the X-5, but this weirdness with eliminating DIY fluid changes isn't a positive to me. After reading the 42Pilot oil change post and seeing what his oil filter looked like with a few thousand miles of service, I am more determined than ever to change the oil myself in-between dealer changes. I have already given the dealer enough profit. I don't need to pay $200+ for a simple oil and filter change. Seems like BMW designed their maintenance system to enrich the dealers at the expense of the customer. Must be a German thing, although GM seems determined to have the same problem. My GM dealer wants $250+ to change the ATF fluid and filter in my Tahoe. I am not a believer in the connect a machine and flush the fluid method that they use, leaving the filter in the pan without even looking at it. Too many folks have dirty oil flowing through that machine, and I saw how thorough the idiots were who used an impact gun on my oil fill bolt, to trust them to clean the machine before they contaminate my transmission. My "free" lube and filter change cost me a new drain plug and skinned knuckles just to get the drain plug out. I don't think these idiots could replace a windshield wiper blade without tearing something up. At least the Tahoe is high enough off the ground that I can get to the transmission pan and do the job myself. Might be time to buy a lift for my old age.

[Barbera335]

Transmission service is not more difficult than any other vehicle. Just did the service myself on my X3, X5s are similar. The filter is integrated into the pan so you will need to buy a new pan to get a new filter. To fill the trans, there is a fill plug on the side of the transmission case. On initial fill, with the engine off, fill it until fluid drips out. Then start the engine, shift through all gears then fill it again with the engine running until fluid drips out again. The only part more difficult is you have to crawl underneath the car to fill the trans and you will need a hand pump to transfer the fluid from the bottle into the transmission but otherwise it is the same as any other trans service. These cars aren't really more difficult to work on, just different. Once you learn their quirks it isn't too bad.

[JonM]

Our 2016 X5d came with a small supplemental manual that shows the dipstick. It was/is not mentioned in the main manual but it's in the little one. I am doing our first oil change very soon at 1500 miles.

[puckybadger]

Don't forget: 10 Quarts of oil

[ingenieur]

Originally Posted by puckybadger

Don't forget: 10 Quarts of oil

? - not in the OP's diesel engine

[jcfay]

i used to change my oil on my old C63, and used a mightyvac which works great. I'm not sure I'll be doing it on my X5M, however, since the changes are covered, but we'll see.