Hi Everyone.

I've been changing the oil on my '05 MCS about every 6K to 7K mi. Roughly twice as often as BMW reccommends. The dealer did it the last time as part of the regular 10K service (done at ~13K be/c that's when the service indicator told me to..I do a lot of highway miles). Anyway, I've got 20K on the car and it's time to change the oil again except the gorillas at the dealer torqued the drain bolt so tight at the free service that I couldn't break it. Long story short, I stripped the corners on the hex bolt. Don't ask me how. I was aggravated and in a rush, not a good combination.

Can anyone offer advice on how to unscrew the stripped bolt? I am ordering another bolt and washer. Can anyone foresee any problems as a result of this like thread damage when trying to unscrew the old bolt?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

~Paul

 

The easiest way to loosen a bolt with a stripped head is to use a Visegrip and gentle hammer taps on the head of the bolt. It will probably be best to do it with the engine cold since the heat makes the metal expand slightly. Another option would be a pipe wrench but the Vise grip should do it. Good luck.

 

Vise grips!!! to get old one off.

I just put on one of those quick change plugs. Picked it up at Advance Auto Parts. You only have to torque the plug once, then drain tube threads on and pushes on value to release oil. There is cap to cover valve that only need to be finger tight.
Fram Oil Drain Plug
I forgot which size but I bought two and returned the I didn't need.

 

You'll have to see what the threads look like once you get the old bolt out. As for a replacement, you may want to consider a Fumoto valve. We have one on all of our vehicles and most of our friends have them and they make oil changes quick & easy and we have never had, or heard of anyone that had had, any issues with them. Plus you wouldn't have this problem again

 

I know it sounds like a gimmick but Metrinch is awesome....

http://www.mitools.com/

 

I never understood why in the hell someone would crank the snot out of an oil drain plug to tighten it. Especially in the MINI's case where it has an o-ring seal and is threaded into an aluminum pan. Spin it in with your fingers then give it a light snugging with a short wrench and it's done. It seems dealers and oil change houses are the worst for this phenomena.

The first thing to try is a proper 6-point socket and ratchet to loosen the plug. If the socket no longer will go on or slips, then vise-grips should do the trick. I would purchase a new drain plug to fit before removing the mangled one.

 

Thanks, Everyone for your help. Once I get the old plug out. The quick drain valve or fumotovalve sound like the way to go.

I'll try the Visegrip and hammer tapping method first. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll try "Bolt-Out" from Sears. Has anyone every tried "Bolt-Out"?

Will a Metrinch wrench work on a stripped bolt head?

Thanks again for all the help.

~Paul

 

I have the sears bolt out socket set, they work trust me. I have son that does not know tighten from loosen and normally ruins the bolt head long before it broke free.......either that or he uses a 1/4 drive rachet on a bolt that was torqued to 100 ft lbs and breaks the rachet. That goodness craftsman has a lifetime warranty.......

 

Because if it the bolt comes loose, the tech gets in trouble.

If it takes an impact wrench to remove it, no problem - he's got one.

 

[font=Verdana]I would use vice grips, also have the engine hot as the coefficient of linear expansion on Aluminum (block) is higher than the bolt material (steel), (the hole will grow more than the bolt) this may/should help free it up.[/font]

 

i wouldnt EVER put that on my car. one nicely placed rock or branch or even botoming out ofer railroad tracks might pop the valve open.

id just get a fram quickchange valve, its easier anyways.... (and cleaner)