With an E30 at standard height, or even slightly lowered, an oil change is possible without lifting the car at all. From the front, you can reach the drain bolt with the car on the ground. Then with the setup below, you can remove even the most stuck oil filter from the top. That makes it a very quick job, and it’s also how to remove a stuck oil filter on an E30 M20 engine without fighting it from underneath.

Which E30s This Works On
This setup is for M20 E30s that have the oil filter housing shown below, where the filter sits sideways on a housing bolted to the side of the block. The only other arrangement on the M20 in the E30 has no filter housing, and the filter screws directly into the block. This setup doesn’t work for that one.

The setup is three pieces: a rotary ratchet, a locking extension and an oil filter socket with a raised hex.

1. Proxxon 23083 Rotary Ratchet (3/8″ drive)
On this ratchet, twisting the handle also turns the head. When there’s limited space up top to swing a ratchet, you can just twist the handle to spin the filter on or off.

The end of the handle also has a 1/4″ square drive. Because the filter sits sideways on the engine, the handle points straight up. If the filter is really stuck, you can put another ratchet, or an extension and a ratchet, into the end of the handle to help break it loose.

Image: Proxxon

2. Tekton SHA11206 3/8″ x 6″ Locking Extension
A locking extension is a big help here. Once the filter is loose and you pull the tool back out, the filter socket stays locked on the extension. With a regular extension, the socket can pop off and stay stuck down on the filter.

3. 76mm 14-Flute Oil Filter Socket (76/14)
Get a filter socket that has a raised hex where the extension attaches. A lot of these sockets are just flat there, so there’s not much engagement, and not much for a locking extension to lock into. This one has a small hex that sticks up, which makes it much more useful.

This socket works perfectly with the MANN-FILTER W 719/15 spin-on oil filter. Other filters can have different sizing, so check yours before buying a socket.

This entry was posted on October 26, 2026 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Do it Yourself. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.