OK I just broke 1800 miles, and I've heard people recommend doing the oil early right after break in. Anyway, the process was pretty straight forward. I anticipated all the bolts (even remembered the sizes) so it wasn't a big shocker. I did however get a first hand view of that rectangular cutout near the filter/oil bolt.

In the service manual they show the oil filter being removed with a tool and a ratchet, but I'm uncertain if they go through that hole or not. Perhaps the hole is there only for draining purposes. It seems like it would be a huge pain to remove the oil filter through that tight space. Technically you're only supposed to change filters every other oil change, so maybe they figure by creating the rectangular cutout, you'll only have to remove the plastics every other oil change. I could see draining the oil through that hole working very well.

Anyway, I went with Castrol GTX 5W30 and a Mobil one filter. One thing that kinda sucks is that my garage jack doesn't have the clearance to get under the front center jack point... I had to lift it behind the front left wheel on the side. No biggie though, just sorta lame.

 

you need to change your title, I thought you were at 1,800,000 miles on your car. The "k" represents thousand. So you wrote 1,800,000. Sorry that's pet peeve of mine.

hooman

 

If you are running an OCI > 3750 mi., you should change the filter every time you change your oil.

 

CupOspam, yes you need a low-clearance floor jack, or better yet a pair of wheels ramps. (I have Rhino-Ramps)

The opening in the plastic cover can be used for draining the oil but you end up with a mess on the inside of the cover which then drips out forever.

I agree with Eldy: filter change every oil change.

I edited you title for you to read in miles

Kudos for doing your own oil change.

C.

 

take out the three 10mm bolts holding the under body on.. 3 on passenger side of the under body... u can stick ur hand in with a wrench and loosen the oil filter then take off with ur hand.. keep the underbody up.. and u can drop the filter and all the oil that comes off through the hole =)

 

That's a bad idea considering that the oil will rest on the engine cover it will drip for days. I found this out on my first oil change and I hated myself for it. From there on I remove the whole thing all 14 clips that hold the cover underneath. Yes it's a pain but that's the only way to do it clean if you don't have any ramps or lift.

 

Heh, yeah, i guess i should have said 1800m, whoops. Anyway one thing I forgot to mention was that the oil that came out of the car looked very very dark. I'm happy I changed it this early.

 

if you do not move the oil filter and drop it STRAIGHT down it'll clear the underbody...