Oil Pan Capacity

[AndrewBird]

Does anyone know how many quarts the pan has in it when the dipstick reads full? I know the Bentley says 5.3 quarts will oil filter change, but I need to know how many of those 5.3 quarts are in the pan, not the entire system.

[vpilarrt]

There's really nowhere in the "system" that holds oil when the engine's shut down. There is no oil cooler and the filter drain it at the bottom of the housing. The only oil that wouldn't be in the pan is the small amount that's trapped in the filter paper and what's on top of the head that pools next to the drain holes but this all can't be more than a tenth of a quart or so.

[CorvallisBMW]

^yep

[StereoInstaller1]

Last I checked on an M42, capacity is 17 gallons.

[Ryann]

Fluid capacities for m42 cars according to FACTORY documentation:

fuel tank: 14.5 U.S. gallons/ 55 liters
cooling system including heater circuit: 6.9 U.S. quarts/6.5 liters
windshield washer tank: 3.2 U.S. quarts/3 liters
engine oil: 5 U.S. quarts+.26 quarts with new filter/4.75 liters +.25 liters with new filter
manual transmission: 1.22 U.S. quarts/1.15 liters
differential: .95 U.S. quarts/.9 liters
power steering: no spec- "permanently filled, no drain plug"

[AndrewBird]

Last I checked on an M42, capacity is 17 gallons.

Uh...

Fluid capacities for m42 cars according to FACTORY documentation:

fuel tank: 14.5 U.S. gallons/ 55 liters
cooling system including heater circuit: 6.9 U.S. quarts/6.5 liters
windshield washer tank: 3.2 U.S. quarts/3 liters
engine oil: 5 U.S. quarts+.26 quarts with new filter/4.75 liters +.25 liters with new filter
manual transmission: 1.22 U.S. quarts/1.15 liters
differential: .95 U.S. quarts/.9 liters
power steering: no spec- "permanently filled, no drain plug"

Once again, that is total capacity, not what sits in the oil pan.

Does the oil really drain out of the filter housing? I would think it would stay full so you wouldn't have a HUGE empty spot in the system on start-up.

[Ryann]

Does the oil really drain out of the filter housing?

There's some residual in there, but yeah it all drains out.

[e304me]

5

[june3o]

5 Quarts for an M42 engine

[!kid]

There's some residual in there, but yeah it all drains out.

that doesn't sound right to me. it cant all drain out can it? i would think some kind of check valve or something would be in place to prevent dry start.
whats your opinion?

[Ryann]

^Haven't you noticed that the canister has no oil in it when you pull the filter element out?

[bmwm42]

5.3 quarts and it all drains back to the oil pan then again if it isn't at the full mark it will be less.