How to Replace Oil Level Sensor 1997-2006 BMW 325Xi
Created on: 2019-09-13
Watch this video to learn how to replace the oil level sensor in your 97-06 BMW 3 series vehicle. 1A Auto shows you how to do it yourself!
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step 1 :Draining the Oil
- Use a 36 mm socket to remove the oil filter housing cap and oil filter
- Set the oil filter housing cap and filter aside in a drain pan
- Remove the oil filter from the filter housing cap
- Install a new filter onto the filter housing cap
- Remove and replace the oil filter housing cap O ring
- Raise and support the vehicle
- Remove the underbody shield if necessary
- Remove the 17 mm oil pan drain plug
- Allow the oil to drain into a drain pan
- Discard and replace the oil pan plug seal
- Install the 17 mm drain plug with the seal
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step 2 :Removing the Oil Level Sensor
- Disconnect the oil level sensor electrical connector
- Remove the three 10 mm nuts
- Remove the oil level sensor
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step 3 :Installing the Oil Level Sensor
- Clean the oil level sensor mounting surface
- Install the oil level sensor
- Install the three 10 mm nuts
- Tighten the nuts evenly, but do not over tighten
- Connect the electrical connector
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step 4 :Filling the Engine Oil
- Install the oil filter housing cap with the filter
- Do not over tighten the cap
- Remove the oil filler cap
- Use the amount and type of oil specified in the vehicle manual
- Fill the oil using a funnel
- Replace the cap
- Run the engine for about 10 seconds
- Let the oil settle
- Check the oil level with the car level
- Top off oil level as necessary
- Do not over fill
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step 5 :Resetting the Oil Maintenance Light
- Press and hold the gauge cluster button for five seconds
- Continue holding the button and turn the key to the first click
- When "reset" flashes, release the button and press it again
- The display will show "oil service" and a mileage
- Turn the key off
Tools needed
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Funnel
Socket Extensions
17mm Wrench
Jack Stands
Drain Pan
10mm Socket
Ratchet
Floor Jack
36mm Socket
What's up, guys? I'm Andy from 1A Auto. In this video I'm going to show you how to replace the oil level sensor on this 2001 BMW 325XI. If you need this part or other parts for your vehicle, click the link in the description and head over to 1Aauto.com.
The oil filter is located right here, up on top. So I'm going to use a 36 millimeter socket in a ratchet. Take this off. Loosen that.
And slide that out. And there is some oil in there, just let it drain for a second. And tip it over. Now we can take the old filter out. Just grab the filter. And slide it out, just like that. Take the new filter, just compare it to the old one, make sure it's the same height. Looks good. Install the new filter. Lock that in place. Generally the new oil filters come with o-rings, so what you want to do is take the old o-ring off. Let's just grab the o-ring. Squeeze it. Sometimes this is tricky. Sometimes you can use a pick. Just go like that and grab it. Slide the o-ring off, put the new one on. And it's good. Just take some of the oil and take some of the new oil and just lubricate the o-ring.
While you're under the vehicle, there may be a cover right here. This vehicle doesn't have one, but if there's something covering the oil pan you're going to want to remove it. I'm going to use a 17 millimeter wrench to remove the drain plug. Be sure you loosen it and not tighten it by accident. Go to the left. Pull the drain plug counterclockwise. Be sure you put a drain bucket underneath, something to catch the oil in. And there's a little gasket there. You need to make sure you take that off. It's a good idea to replace the gasket. Okay, there we go. There's the gasket. So, if you don't have a new one you can generally reuse the old one, but it's recommended you replace it.
Just take a rag. Just make sure there's no dirt around the area where the seal is going to seal. Take your new seal. Or reuse the old one. Take the drain plug. Reinstall the drain plug. Once all the oil is drained out. Take that 17 millimeter wrench and just snug this up. Just a little bit, not too tight. Wipe the oil, the excess oil away. We're going to disconnect the connector. There's two tabs, two lock tabs. Push on those, and then slide the connector out just like that.
Now I'm going to use a 10 millimeter socket extension in a ratchet. I'm going to loosen up these nuts. All right. I have these all loose, just going to take these out. I am going to put a drain bucket underneath so that if any oil comes out at least I catch it. And before I loosen this one up all the way, just pop this, loosen this up. That's loose. Take the last one off. Grab the sensor. And just slide it down. And not really any oil drained out, which is good.
Here's the old part. Here's the new oil level sensor from 1Aauto.com. As you can see the shape is the same. Comes with a seal. Connector has the same connector end on it. Same cooling fins on the bottom. Get yours at 1aauto.com and you'll be ready to rock and roll.
And just want to take a rag and clean this area. It's really dirty, take a little brake parts cleaner. Spray it on the rag and just wipe it down. Take the new sensor, slide that over the studs. Take the nuts. Get these all started. Then take a 10 millimeter socket extension in a ratchet, tighten these up. Going to go around, tighten them evenly. Remember, you're going to crush the gasket a little bit. And then once it feels like they're getting snug, snug them up a little bit more. Not too tight. That's good. That's good.
Take the connector. Line it up. It only goes on one way. Lock it in place. Take the oil filter. If you notice there's a lot of oil in there, it's a good idea to just let it drain. Or you could even suck it out with a fluid transfer pump. Just get this lined up, get it started. Take the socket, 36 millimeter socket and ratchet. Slowly tighten this up. And you don't want this very tight.
Once you get it there, maybe just a little bit more, and it actually says on the cap only 25 Newton meters, so, if you wanted to, you could get a torque wrench and torque it. Take the oil fill cap off. You're going to want to check the owner's manual and find the recommended oil to use in this vehicle. Use a funnel. And pour in the oil. Take the funnel out. Take the oil cap, reinstall the oil cap. Now I'm going to start the engine, let it run for about 10 seconds. After that, shut the engine down. Let it sit for a minute. And make sure the car's on a level surface. And then I'm going to check the oil level at the dipstick. Pull the dipstick out. You want to wipe the dipstick first, reinsert the dipstick. Pull it out again, and then check the level. And we're here. The level is right about there. I could add a little bit more. Probably about a tenth of a quart, just to bring it up a little more. Maybe a quarter of a quart. And we should be good to go.
Now we're going to push this button right here, hold that button down. We're going to let that sit for five seconds. And then we're going to put the key in, and turn it to the first click. Continue holding the button down. All right. There we go. Reset oil. When it flashes, let off, and then push it again. And now, oil light is reset to 15,525. End. So now we can turn the key off, pull it out. Now we can recheck it. Key back in, turn it on, oil service at 15,525. Good to go.
Speaker 2: Thanks for watching. Visit 1aauto.com for quality auto parts shipped to your door. The place for DIY auto repair. And if you enjoyed this video, please click the subscribe button.
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