Best way to jack up the 135i for oil change?

[MarkR171]

Took a peak underneath the car and can't really see anything due to the plastic covers concealing the entire bottom of the car. Any tips on what's the best way to jack the front of the car up (for jack stands) for an oil change? When installing my front sway, my friend (ex-BMW employee) removed the plastic covering to find a jacking point on the side of the car near the plastic blocks. Then lower the car with the plastic block on the jack stand.

Is that going to be the only option?

[BMW86]

I suggest you buy a decent jack, jack pad adaptors and some car stands. The jack pad adaptors will slot into the jack pads which are the plastic jacking points on each side of the car. There are 4 all up and they are very delicate and this is why I suggest using jack pad adaptors to use on the jack. There is also a jacking point in the front middle but this is in the way. Jack up the car on each side, slide in a car stand and do the same for the other side. You don't need to remove any of the underbody to access the drain plug as it's simply a small plastic cover.

[MarkR171]

My question is, if I use the jackpad as a jack point to lift the car, where does the stand go? Last time we jacked the car up, we removed a corner of the underbody panel to see where the frame is to jack the car using the frame, and lower the car onto the jackstands at the plastic jack points. Just wondering if there is a better way.

I saw the pad for the front middle jack point but I can't see where it is when the car is on the ground with the front panel still on.

As for the drain plug, I'm aware of it's location, behind a little "trap door" in the middle of the front underbody panel.

[Lester]

Jack it up on the middle point, then place the stands on the sides. I used little wooden plywood inserts into the jack pads, and a hockey puck. It worked fine.

Make sure to have a little cardboard deflector handy, as the oil will shoot out quite a ways, creating as mess all over the trap door once you take off the drain plug.

[MarkR171]

I'll try to look again tomorrow morning to see if I can even see where the middle point is with the car still on the ground.

[Lester]

Try jacking up on one side using a rear pad, that way you can see where the middle point is.

[MarkR171]

Thanks, found another post that suggests driving onto or lifting the front wheels onto a piece of wood to get extra height in the front to see the jack point.

Any suggestions for jack stands? The ones my friend had were V-shaped and the plastic jack points bent and deformed with the weight of the car on the V-shaped jack stand mounts.

[Lester]

I used little wooden inserts and a hockey puck. No damage to the jack pads at all.

[rsjean]

Use point #1 for the front - insert 2 jack stands on 2 #2 front side jack points. Use point #3 for rear - insert 2 jack stands on 2 #2 rear side jack ponts. Done.

[MikeinAlexandria]

I use ramps for this purpose. It takes about five minutes to set them up and drive up on them. Then set the parking brake and you are ready to go! If your car is lowered, some vendors here sell race ramps, that have a low profile rise. Either way, quick, easy and stable. Been using them for years.