So I did an oil change. I'd like to you to comment about the real oil capacity of the E46 M54 3.0L engine.
From most sources, it appears to be 6.5L. Here is what I did:
Jacked up the front, drained oil until it stopped dripping. Then raise the right side and lower the left side to make it tilt to the left. No more oil dripped out. Then raise the left side and lower the right side to make it tilt to the right. Now new oil streams started to drip out. This is to be expected, since the sump plug is facing the right side.
So I waited again until it completely stopped dripping. This is probably as much as I can do to get rid of most of the old oil. Then added 6.5L new oil. This is by the markings of the oil bottle, so it won't be very accurate, but shouldn't be more than +/- 0.1L.
Drove around for a while, then read the dip stick 5 minutes after shut down (all according to the books). The oil level on the dip stick is roughly at the halfway point. This is strange, as I would expect 6.5L will get to the full mark. And I prefer it to be on the full mark to have more buffer zone for oil leaks (and I do have very slow leaks or burns).
Do you have similar experiences? Should I add 0.5L to make it to the full mark? Thanks.
From most sources, it appears to be 6.5L. Here is what I did:
Jacked up the front, drained oil until it stopped dripping. Then raise the right side and lower the left side to make it tilt to the left. No more oil dripped out. Then raise the left side and lower the right side to make it tilt to the right. Now new oil streams started to drip out. This is to be expected, since the sump plug is facing the right side.
So I waited again until it completely stopped dripping. This is probably as much as I can do to get rid of most of the old oil. Then added 6.5L new oil. This is by the markings of the oil bottle, so it won't be very accurate, but shouldn't be more than +/- 0.1L.
Drove around for a while, then read the dip stick 5 minutes after shut down (all according to the books). The oil level on the dip stick is roughly at the halfway point. This is strange, as I would expect 6.5L will get to the full mark. And I prefer it to be on the full mark to have more buffer zone for oil leaks (and I do have very slow leaks or burns).
Do you have similar experiences? Should I add 0.5L to make it to the full mark? Thanks.
