oil change question
 

fellas,
I put off my oil change last weekend cuz I couldn't get a hold of a crush washer, and I was a little nervous about whether or not I'd need the special filter wrench or not.

do I need to replace the plug as well? does the dealership have these or what?

how do i torque the plug afterwards when it has an allen head?

this will be my first diy oil change :)

i have a magnetic drain plug for $16 shipped if interested?

in a pinch, you can re-use the crush ring. just flip it over - but your dealer will have them and at $.75 just get a handful.

you'll want a torque wrench to make sure you get the drain plug on to the correct tightness. it's an 8mm Allen head bolt., so you'll tighten it the opposite direction you took it off - nothing special about it.

make sure you have a big enough drain pan.

You need to get a set of allen head sockets to use on your rachet/torque wrench.
They look like this.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM703987501P?prdNo=5&blockNo=5&bloc kType=G5

I know why you guys are DIY'ing your own oil changes... dealer charged me $265 for mine yesterday.

Unreal, went by an auto parts store immediately after and could have bought the filter and oil myself for $80 (mobile1 was on sale for $5/q).

To the OP: a Bentley manual is a great investment if you plan on doing much on the car yourself.

Parts
 

10 quarts of your favorite oil

oil drain pan allowing 12 quarts

Rags

filter (WIX/NAPA makes a nice one #57211) with O-ring
crush ring 900.123.106.30

drain plug is reused after cleaning it unless you want to buy a LN magnetic drain plug

filter wrench 74/76 mm

8mm allen wrench (I'll confess, I don't torque it. I tighten it enough to compress against the crush ring without stripping the threads in the pan as that can get very expensive)

Instructions here http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/Change_the_Oil_%26_Filter.html

If you do torque it's 37lb plug and 19lb filter. I tend to over tighten things so for me it helps. I reused my crush washer last time too, I flipped it over. I use one of those big yellow cat litter pail, convenient for taking to automotive store for recycling.

I do mine with 10 quarts of M-1 10W/40 and a Napa Gold filter for about $60.