If I ever complain about changing the oil on a car

[Roadstergal]

just remind me that I might be changing the oil on an F650 instead.

I checked the oil change instructions on F650.com. And rechecked to make sure that all that was being done for all of that work was changing the oil.

For reference, to change the oil in my old GS or my SV, the procedure is:
-Remove the filler cap.
-Remove the drain plug (located right on the bottom of the engine), catch the oil.
-Remove the old filter (located right on the front of the engine) and pop in the new one.
-Put the drain plug back in.
-Fill with oil, put the cap back on.
-Laugh at the gal with the F650 who isn't 1/4 of the way done yet.

So - on the F650, there's an oil reservoir where the gas tank would be on another bike. You have to pull off the plastic cover, remove the reservoir, and drain it. Or cheat, like I did, and suck it out with a baster. Remove the engine bash guard. Try to take out the recessed and not very accessible drain plug. Realize they torqued the ever-lovin' shit out of it at the factory. Get a wrench on it, lean back, and kick it until it loosens. Don't kick the bike over in the process. Hastily shove the pan under the bike before the oil spills onto the ground. Remove the front sprocket cover so you can get at the oil filter, which is recessed, so oil spills over the neutral switch when you pull it out. Mop up the oil quickly before it eats at the rubber insulation. Consider building a clone of the $68 Special BMW Tool that channels the oil into a pan out of a pop can.
Put everything back together, starting with fishing the plug washer out of the pan of oil. Fill the reservoir with two quarts, start the bike, run it for a while, shut it off, and fill with another quart.
Go take a shower.

[operknockity]

I believe the proper word for all that is "progress" :lol:

[blee]

Wow. Must have somethign to do with the F650's off-road roots. Or image, at least.

[Jason C]

Wow. Must have somethign to do with the F650's off-road roots. Or image, at least.

Nah, I imagine it has more to do with BMW's stubborn we-know-what-we're-doing-you-don't stance on making their products... which makes life harder for DIYers, among other people. :roll:

I noticed the S2000 has the oil filter on the right side of the block, at about an 80 degree angle. Great... now how am I suppose to fill up that shit before putting it back on the car? 75% of the oil will spill out the moment I rotate the filter to screw it back onto the block. :thumbdow:

[blee]

Wow. Must have somethign to do with the F650's off-road roots. Or image, at least.

Nah, I imagine it has more to do with BMW's stubborn we-know-what-we're-doing-you-don't stance on making their products... which makes life harder for DIYers, among other people. :roll:

I noticed the S2000 has the oil filter on the right side of the block, at about an 80 degree angle. Great... now how am I suppose to fill up that shit before putting it back on the car? 75% of the oil will spill out the moment I rotate the filter to screw it back onto the block. :thumbdow:Not really. The fastest and cleanest oil changes I've ever done were on modern BMW engines, thanks to their engine bay access and cartridge design. The same can be said about a lot of the work I did during the rebuild, although few of those parts were intended to be user-serviceable.

[Jason C]

I wasn't referring to just oil changes. There's a lot of things with BMW's that you don't see in a Haynes/Clifford manual.

But then again, this could go against all modern cars in part, because the underhood clearances is so so small nowadays compared to even a decade back.

[JST]

I wasn't referring to just oil changes. There's a lot of things with BMW's that you don't see in a Haynes/Clifford manual.

But then again, this could go against all modern cars in part, because the underhood clearances is so so small nowadays compared to even a decade back.

Ah, now I see the source of confusion. I don't think that blee ever worked on his engine while it was actually under the hood.

(ducking and running)

[blee]

I wasn't referring to just oil changes. There's a lot of things with BMW's that you don't see in a Haynes/Clifford manual.

But then again, this could go against all modern cars in part, because the underhood clearances is so so small nowadays compared to even a decade back.

Ah, now I see the source of confusion. I don't think that blee ever worked on his engine while it was actually under the hood.

(ducking and running):flipoff:

My experience with moderately invasive maintenance and repair is that most newer cars rate about the same in terms of accessibility. There are some great things (BMW oil changes) and some terrible things (trying to get to the water pump on my '96 JGC V8, the oil filter on my old Iron Duke powered Calais), but they're all not too different from each other. I've heard things about the newest engines, however, that worry me -- things like pans "glued" to blocks instead of bolted, which makes bearing changes rather impossible for the home mechanic.

[Roadstergal]

I've heard things about the newest engines, however, that worry me -- things like pans "glued" to blocks instead of bolted, which makes bearing changes rather impossible for the home mechanic.

Yeeesh!

I like the front-and-center oil filter on the E36s/E46s. I wish my Me-otter had that. Removing the filter is a bit of a contortionist exercise.

[Doug]

try changing spark plugs on a 1969 Mustang Mach 1 with the 427 SCJ. You have to unbolt the passenger side motor mount, jack up the motor and access the plugs through a hole in the wheel well

[ARCHER]

Realize they torqued the ever-lovin' shit out of it at the factory.

Yup. Half-way through my first oil change on my old YZ400 I ran into the same shit. They creatively used the frame as as part of the oil reservoir and positioned the drain plug just behind the front treads. I almost kicked the bike over three times before finally breaking it loose - pure genius. Let's put the extra oil up high in the frame on an already insanely top-heavy motocrosser. And let's crank the holy hell out of it so the poor bastard who tries to service it snaps the head off of the drain plug. :rant: