Grumble...

[Knoxes]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

If you decide the cornering noise is not from the battery or anything you can check out what I posted in here. I think it was as simple as jacking up and then loading/unloading the trailing arm (although BMW fixed under warranty so I can't say 100% for sure)

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330864

Huh. That's interesting. I would describe it as a heavy sound than what you have in that thread, but I'll poke around under there and see what I can find.

On the topic of shocks/struts, I see a lot of folks are using Konis as well as Bilsteins. It's pretty unlikely that I'll ever track this car - and I only occasionally push it around. Otherwise it's almost a daily driver and I've been grumbling a bit to myself about the rigidity on my freeway commute. I'm not sure what I should do here - stock, Bilsteins, Konis or something else?

[Knoxes]

Third oil change and I'm getting more comfortable with the jack stands. This is the only car that I own that has to be jacked up to access the oil plug.

So I pulled the plug and let it drain for at least an hour (ran to Advance for oil and filter and to recycle the used oil). When I removed the filter cap, it had enough pressure to overflow the housing, which was a PITA to clean up. Some went between the alternator and the head, and, well, there's no easy access back there... So is that normal to have some pressure in the filter housing? I was surprised by how much residual oil was in there after draining for an hour.

[AriuSen]

I usually find e46 DIY when I can't find for the z.
Some are pretty similar or same.
Congrats on your new car. Good choice!

[Knoxes]

Oh, I should point out that is is a resurrected thread. I've had the Z for almost 2 years now. Sorry about that. I just updated with this question:

When I removed the oil filter cap, it had enough pressure to overflow the housing, which was a PITA to clean up. Some went between the alternator and the head, and, well, there's no easy access back there... So is that normal to have some pressure in the filter housing? I was surprised by how much residual oil was in there after draining for an hour.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by Knoxes

Third oil change and I'm getting more comfortable with the jack stands. This is the only car that I own that has to be jacked up to access the oil plug.

So I pulled the plug and let it drain for at least an hour (ran to Advance for oil and filter and to recycle the used oil). When I removed the filter cap, it had enough pressure to overflow the housing, which was a PITA to clean up. Some went between the alternator and the head, and, well, there's no easy access back there... So is that normal to have some pressure in the filter housing? I was surprised by how much residual oil was in there after draining for an hour.

There's supposed to be a bit of residual oil in there, but the pressure you'd mentioned worries me. Neither of my M54 nor S54 filter housing does that. I usually open up the filter housing first before draining (or suction) out the oil. This leaves me plenty of time for the residual oil from the housing to drain and use a towel to clean up the remains.

[Knoxes]

Since the reservoir isn't full when I pull the filter out, it may be that the filter is loaded up and I'm just being messy.

[The HACK]

Crack open the filter last.

Open oil fill cap (on top of engine).

Open drain plug and drain.

Crack open oil filter cap, let sit.

Remove filter.

If oil spills out of the filter even with following this order, something is wrong.

[StickMon]

^WHS
Fill cap, then drain, then open filter.
I've done it about 20 times now, and the filter canister is maybe 1/2 full with the filter still in it.

[Knoxes]

Ok, maybe I just haven't let it sit.

What possibly things could be wrong? It should have a free route to the oil pan, right? Or is the pump between the pan and the filter? I drained at least 5 quarts out of it before opening the filter cap, so I know that it's eventually getting back down there.

[Knoxes]

I'm buying a 08 535i for a commuter and parking the Z. Does the 535 have the same motor as the Z?

[wdb]

According to this wiki page, no.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_5_...Petrol_engines

[vm]

Originally Posted by Knoxes

I'm buying a 08 535i for a commuter and parking the Z. Does the 535 have the same motor as the Z?

Very different. The 535 has the n54, which is a biturbo engine with aluminum block. Z4 is n52, normally aspirated with magnesium-aluminum block. The 08 528 has a very similar engine to the Z4.