M4 Engine Oil Pan Drain Plug Striped

[DFW Guy]

I recently bought a preowned M4 and took it in for a routine engine oil service; the first since I have owned the car.

I bought the car because it was well maintained and with all its records. The service was all dealer while it was under warranty and then the same independent BMW shop thereafter.

Locally (very large market area) the independent service provider has a strong reputation and I have used them for years with other M cars. I won't name them here as my intent is not to bash them but rather to get good advice from the forum. I think that they are trustworthy.

This same shop maintained the M4 for the seller and they performed the PPI for me before I bought it. Their oil service reminder sticker is on the windshield when I purchased the car and it was the catalyst for getting this service done based upon mileage.

Upon completing the recent oil service, the shop called to ask me if had the car serviced elsewhere. No service had been done save for new MPS4 tires. The told me that the drainplug was striped and not to be concerned. They also advised that they called the previous owner (seller) and asked him the same question. He said no. I casually know the seller. The seller had agreed to pay for one repair as part of our purchase agreement and that is largely why the shop was in contact with him to collect that payment.

Post-warranty period, it would seem that no party other than this shop had a wrench on the drainplug. And the warranty long lapsed.

Is the drainplug the softer metal so that it fails as opposed to the pan? Is it reasonable that this could strip even when reasonable caution is used?

Can I have confidence in the remedy they used to secure the drainplug which was a crush washer (it has a crushwasher regardless)? Any advice? What is an estimate to install a new oil pan?

[hC1001]

No, the drainplug is steel and the oil pan is aluminum or magnesium if early 2015. You have a couple options. Not sure what repair the shop did to your car. You'll need to monitor it for leaks but if they said its stripped, its only gonna get worse with more oil changes...

Here are the common repairs for stripped oil pan drain hole:

1. Drill and tap for time sert
2. Drill and tap to M14 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...61547-9999.pdf
3. Replace oil pan.

If it were me, i would see if any shops or dealers have the M14 repair kit. Not all BMW dealers have the repair kit and do this repair. If i cant find someone to do M14 repair, i would DIY time sert repair.

Goodluck.

[MemeLordCS]

I'll be honest with ya, timecert is the worst way to go about it. I had it done on my CS and it still leaks like a MF..... and the shop that did it, did a sloppy job where they didn't flush it enough time and my filter was catching big shavings of my oil pan.... Shitty F'n job

If I were you I'd get the shop to do helicoil, its less invasive than timecert in terms of changing the integrity of the drain hole.
https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2004909

Replacing the oil pan will cost as much as a crankhub job, so if you really think you're gonna stage 2 the car, get the crankhub and the oil pan done in one go, $2-$4K.


The story of how I stripped mine was I went to BMW dealer to buy a new drain plug, unfortunately they gave me the wrong one, half way screwing it in started giving resistance, not knowing any better I decided to push it and then it kept spinning half way in

[hC1001]

Originally Posted by MemeLordCS

I'll be honest with ya, timecert is the worst way to go about it. I had it done on my CS and it still leaks like a MF..... and the shop that did it, did a sloppy job where they didn't flush it enough time and my filter was catching big shavings of my oil pan.... Shitty F'n job

If I were you I'd get the shop to do helicoil, its less invasive than timecert in terms of changing the integrity of the drain hole.
https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2004909

Replacing the oil pan will cost as much as a crankhub job, so if you really think you're gonna stage 2 the car, get the crankhub and the oil pan done in one go, $2-$4K.


The story of how I stripped mine was I went to BMW dealer to buy a new drain plug, unfortunately they gave me the wrong one, half way screwing it in started giving resistance, not knowing any better I decided to push it and then it kept spinning half way in

Sorry to hear. It sounds like the shop you used is bad. Do you know if they used the correct size? The issue might be the quality of the work vs the repair method.

Helicoil shouldnt be used on threads that will be used a lot. It might fail later down the road after many oil changes.

As i recommended, drill and tap to M14 with correct repair kit would be best if your local bmw dealer has it. I believe they charge 1 hour of labor.

[DFW Guy]

They used an AGA Tool repair kit and a slightly larger drain bolt size. They also flushed the pan with several quarts of engine oil. I believe the AGA system is focused on capturing and clearing any filings.

Here is a video link from AGA explaining their repair kit.

[Tariko_]

Originally Posted by MemeLordCS

I'll be honest with ya, timecert is the worst way to go about it. I had it done on my CS and it still leaks like a MF..... and the shop that did it, did a sloppy job where they didn't flush it enough time and my filter was catching big shavings of my oil pan.... Shitty F'n job

If I were you I'd get the shop to do helicoil, its less invasive than timecert in terms of changing the integrity of the drain hole.
https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2004909

Replacing the oil pan will cost as much as a crankhub job, so if you really think you're gonna stage 2 the car, get the crankhub and the oil pan done in one go, $2-$4K.


The story of how I stripped mine was I went to BMW dealer to buy a new drain plug, unfortunately they gave me the wrong one, half way screwing it in started giving resistance, not knowing any better I decided to push it and then it kept spinning half way in

Hi I’ve got a question i see you had the oil pan stripped and a new thread, but had the problem with shavings in the oil filter. I have the same problem but im a bit worried. How did it work out for you? Your engine still fine? Any problems later on?

[tomas3314]

I had the same problem only it was the dealer who I can pretty much deduct stripped the oil pan. Car had always been dealer serviced and came back one day with an oil leak. I ended up having to take the car into a shop to get a repair done and still kind of deal with the leak.

[mapster37]

Lots of good feedback (if done rightt) using the AGA 14mm kit.