oil change
 

I recently purchased a 94 E320. I then purchase the oil wrench to take the cap off. I cannot read the tightening instructions. Is this supposed to be torqued? What is the setting?

It is supposed to be torqued. The torque spec is listed on top of the cap itself. I believe it's 20 nm.

Gilly

I just took a look at my cap (e320-95, 104 motor I believe) and it is stenciled on the cap with 25Nm. A torque of 25 Newton-meters translates to 18 ft-lbs.

Good luck.

Thanks for the postings.....18 lbs....is just fine.... Geof

Do you really need the wrench to torque the cap on. I just hand tighten it with both the m103 and m104 motors with a latex glove. I remember one time reading on this board that elbow grease was good enough to tighten these oil filters. What are the advantages and disadvantages of hand tightening vs. torqueing it.

with the rubber gasket, it's hard to tell what's "tight enough" by hand. i torque mine to 18ft lbs per spec and you'd be surprised how far beyond hand tight that is...

Hand tight
 

I've been using the hand tighten technique for a long time now on all my cars, except the ones I can't get a good grip on. No problems to date.

I think as far as tightening oil filters, better safe than sorry, screwing one up can be a headache.

Torque wrench is always safest,
Joel