Oil Changes from Above
 

Anyone drain the oil through the dip stick tube? I do this on the W204 as it’s the MB recommended method for oil changes. I bought a Topsider which is nomally used for draining oil from marine engines. Takes a little longer but much cleaner and no risk of dropping the drain plug into the old oil.

I've got the lift but never tried it on the Boxster. It was great on our Yamaha FX cruisers, my Son's E46 3 series and I recently used it on our 2017 Santa Fe Sport.

I extracted some oil that way after accidentally over filling by about .25-.5 qt. It took forever and was definitely not worth the time. The tube had a couple bends/corners that took some wiggling to get past.

For a full oil change though, I like the idea of being able to drain out all of the dirt/crud that might sit at the bottom of the oil pan.

My understanding is the plastic lines get old and brittle through heat cycling and time. And can be a bit of a pain to replace. I would be very careful stuffing the pick up tube down into those.

Yeah, for my Jeep, that would be great. But for the Box, not so much. Plus, it’s good to have a magnetic drain plug to inspect for debris. Also, you have to get under the car anyway to do the filter, kind of a “while you are there”. If you happen to drop the drain plug, it won’t hurt it to get oil on it.

Works great on my E36
 

Not at all on my Boxster

This appears to be the recommended/designed method for my 2005 Mercedes C230. The oil filter is accessible from the engine compartment and removal of the oil pan drain plug requires taking off two splash shields that are held on by 10 fasteners. I have drained the oil from below, but I am old fashioned.

I haven’t considered this for the Boxster. As someone noted you still need to get under the car to change the filter.

With my gorilla arms I can remove the magnetic drain plug and the oil filter with all four wheels still on the ground. However, I can't drain the oil from the bottom without raising the car as there is not enough clearance for the drain pan.

The W204 has the oil filter cartridge on the top side of the engine on the firewall so changing the oil can all happen from above. Draining from the top takes about 15 minutes and I can check the rest of the regular maintenance items while it drains.

I'll continue to drain the oil on the Boxster from the bottom. It does take a little longer to raise and lower the car but crawling underneath also let's me look around and add new items to the to-do list. Thanks for all the feedback.