Fuel Filter Change 1/16/2010

Mileage 136,900

While I was under there changing the oil, I decided it would be a good time to change the fuel filter. On the 1995 e36 the filter is located under the car on the driver side, underneath the door. I read a tutorial about how to change the filter and the kid spent about 12 photos on how to remove the rusted nuts. Even though my car came from Virginia, by way of Texas, by way of Maryland, there was luckily no rust on the undercarriage. This was the one thing that I worried about when I went to buy my car in SD, but the guy said it had never been driven in winter and so far I don't see any signs. On to the filter change.

So it's not bad at all. Here you can see the filter cover over the fuel filter. It is held on by one 10mm and 8mm nut. Also before removing the filter remember to light a cigarette and talk on your mobile phone! Or instead, disconnecting the battery doesn't hurt.


You can pinch the outsides of the cover together to remove the plastic tabs from the body. Here's a pic of the cover removed.


There is one more bracket holding the filter up. It's held in by a 10mm nut. You have to swivel it down for the tabs to come free from the body. I was able to remove it and put it back on without too much trouble.

When disconnecting the hose clamps from the old filter you can clamp down on the rubber hoses if you'd like. I had a pan for the excess fuel and filter drain off. Most of the fuel is in the filter itself. There was more fuel in the hose going toward the front of the car. I left a clamp on that one and the one towards the rear was dry pretty fast.


Pic of the new filter ready to go in.


When installing the new filter make sure the arrow points to the front of the car.


Here we are almost done with the install. You can see the clamp on the rear hose. When I removed to connect the filter, most of the fuel had already ran out! So the fuel left over is minimal. Once your new filter is installed put the bracket and cover back on and you're good to go.


And of course the pic of the old filter.


Looks like the date says 21.11.00. I guess it was long over due. At least it didn't say 1994. I've gotten parts with dates a couple years old, but either way that's at least 8 or 9 years. Not exactly the standard fuel filter interval! With the oil change and fuel filter done the car actually seems to pull a lot harder. Next is brake flush and power steering leak fix and flush.

Oil Change 1/16/2010

Mileage: 136900
Oil: Total Quartz Synthetic 10w50

I finally got around to changing the oil last week. The previous owner was running 15w40 Rotella-T Diesel non-synthetic oil. At first I was like wtf? I then read some post on bimmerforums and I guess the forum fan boys tend to use this stuff because it keeps the vanos unit from being so loud. Eh...I'd rather run synthetic. I chose the 10w50 based on price and it being heavier than a normal weight oil but not super heavy. It was around $30 for 5L from RMeuropean. No tax, no shipping! Here's a pic of the old shit.


Here's a pic of the new shit!


Having just bought the M3 and only having one garage/carport spot, I had to get the e30 buttoned up and out of the driveway. It's on a steep incline so pushing it in and out wasn't really an option. Here's some pics of how the e30 sits right now.






Onto the oil change. There is no reason really to write a DIY on the e36 oil change being that it is the easiest thing on the planet. The oil filter is positioned up instead of down on the top side of the engine. It's the silver casing that looks like an oild filter would be inside.


I didn't have any under panel, and I'm not sure if the under panel even blocks the drain plug. Regardless, steps are drain oil, remove the filter cap and replace the filter, replace the o-rings, close everything up and fill it up. Torque the oil filter housing bolt and drain bolt both to 18 ftlbs.

New filter ready to go in.


Here's a nice tutorial pic of removing the little o-ring on the bottom of the oil filter cap screw.


And a pic of me using a funnel.


I asked the PO when he changed the oil last and he said 135k. I didn't really want to take any chances plus I feel better now that I know what oil is in there. I filled it up to 6.5L like the manual calls for. It was where it needs to be on the dipstick. I've heard of running more oil for the track. I might decide to do that later. Either way this blog is more of evidence of the maintenance done to the car when a tutorial isn't really necessary!