[Bimmer Barney]

I did M3 control arm upgrade so I had to get an alignment, but if you aren't changing any of the suspension bits you shouldn't need an alignment. I completely dropped the subframe and I think it was necessary (others have disagreed) because the pan needs to rotate out around the oil pickup.

Just take your time and you will get through it. Like most things it was easy to get it apart. I was really worried that the subframe would be a pain to reinstall but it actually wasn't bad. Take your time and you'll be fine.

Good luck!

[brad7131]

Originally Posted by andrey_gta

If I ever have to do this. I will find a used convertible subframe as an upgrade.

This will allow one to bolt up some of the convertible front braces. And maybe even the underbody front brace

I haven't really heard anything about anyone doing this yet. I assume it is just stiffer, but is there any other advantage? I have a fairly minor leak from my pan that I will probably tackle sometime in the next few months, and if it is worth the time/ financially feasible, I may try and get ahold of one of these subframes.

I have access to a lift, so it may not be too bad. We'll see what happens I guess haha

[andrey_gta]

Originally Posted by brad7131

I haven't really heard anything about anyone doing this yet. I assume it is just stiffer, but is there any other advantage? I have a fairly minor leak from my pan that I will probably tackle sometime in the next few months, and if it is worth the time/ financially feasible, I may try and get ahold of one of these subframes.

I have access to a lift, so it may not be too bad. We'll see what happens I guess haha

See my posts here
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=999751

Apparently a Bracket exists that makes the bracing an easy addon

Subrfame vs conv subframe for the front has no differences except one bracket thing welded to it

[skamkar]

Hello!

I've searched the forums & Google regarding this, but no cigar... taking a shot in the dark.

I replaced my oil pan gasket last week. It was incredibly involved (used a dealer manual that required a greater degree of disassembly [beyond what was done here], which in hindsight was not necessary) and took the entire day, but did it. Leaks have stopped, but during the repair I realized that the AL oil pan bolts, which must be replaced, differ for automatic or manual transmissions:

Auto PN: 11132210959
Manual PN: 11130396707

During install, when I pulled the old bolts and compared them to the new, they didn't match. While I didn't realize it at the time, I was pulling out automatic-made bolts and replacing them with the manual-made bolts (for my manual-transmission car). HOWEVER, if you look at the two part numbers above, the automatic set comes with ~10 longer bolts, which screw into the tranny bellhousing, but these are NOT included in the manual bolt set. I know, right?? Which leads me to my question - what the f88k is going on? Has anyone else done this repair on an e90 variant with a manual tranny? If so, did you run into this snag and how'd you deal with it?

thank you!

[slenser]

I'm guessing none of you have done this on an xi. I have the subframe down for a new down pipe install and I don't think I want to try tackling it!

[FFR3713]

I did not think the pan was that bad (335i), but it is very involved.

Tips that may help that I have not seen anywhere:

Left the power steering rack (lines attached) and sway bar attached to the subframe, lowered and swung it to the side.

Removed the three bolts to the power steering pump and left it hang.

Cut the heads off a few of the old bolts and screw them into the the block to help hold the new gasket in place and line up the pan during install.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by skamkar

Hello!

I've searched the forums & Google regarding this, but no cigar... taking a shot in the dark.

I replaced my oil pan gasket last week. It was incredibly involved (used a dealer manual that required a greater degree of disassembly [beyond what was done here], which in hindsight was not necessary) and took the entire day, but did it. Leaks have stopped, but during the repair I realized that the AL oil pan bolts, which must be replaced, differ for automatic or manual transmissions:

Auto PN: 11132210959
Manual PN: 11130396707

During install, when I pulled the old bolts and compared them to the new, they didn't match. While I didn't realize it at the time, I was pulling out automatic-made bolts and replacing them with the manual-made bolts (for my manual-transmission car). HOWEVER, if you look at the two part numbers above, the automatic set comes with ~10 longer bolts, which screw into the tranny bellhousing, but these are NOT included in the manual bolt set. I know, right?? Which leads me to my question - what the f88k is going on? Has anyone else done this repair on an e90 variant with a manual tranny? If so, did you run into this snag and how'd you deal with it?

thank you!

wow .. the bolts are different? ..My stealership listed ...959 for the bolt set and I have a Manual... ??

[lichtgelb]

Originally Posted by Frosty

wow .. the bolts are different? ..My stealership listed ...959 for the bolt set and I have a Manual... ??

They are indeed different part numbers. 707 is the manual bolt set. The auto uses six longer bolts at the oil pan/bell housing.

[Meeni]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Barney

Anyone have the pages from the Bentley Manual for removing the il pan that they could end me?

Its not in the Bentley manual. I did the pan swap w/o the subframe drop, bad idea. With the subframe drop, you have very little space still, and I bet you will need an alignment and whatnot => you won't save much overall for your trouble.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by lichtgelb

They are indeed different part numbers. 707 is the manual bolt set. The auto uses six longer bolts at the oil pan/bell housing.

Thanks for that info Mr Light Yellow

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Meeni

Its not in the Bentley manual. I did the pan swap w/o the subframe drop, bad idea. With the subframe drop, you have very little space still, and I bet you will need an alignment and whatnot => you won't save much overall for your trouble.

Just to add punctuation I have the Bentley Manual as well and it does not cover the oil pan removal. ~Frost

[rogerdiaz]

Indy wants $1100 for this job. fml. 130,000 miles 335d.

[Bimmer Barney]

Originally Posted by rogerdiaz

Indy wants $1100 for this job. fml. 130,000 miles 335d.

Ah bummer. Must be something different about the Diesel engine? Although for how labor intensive it is I am not all that surprised.

[hammerin hank]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Barney

Anyone have the pages from the Bentley Manual for removing the il pan that they could end me?

Originally Posted by pruettfan

The Bentley manual does not have any information on removing the oil pan. I have found the manual of value for several jobs but I have to say I have been disappointed that is lacks several fairly common jobs. Fortunately there are great folks here that post DIY's frequently for just about every job you can think of.

Originally Posted by Meeni

Its not in the Bentley manual. I did the pan swap w/o the subframe drop, bad idea. With the subframe drop, you have very little space still, and I bet you will need an alignment and whatnot => you won't save much overall for your trouble.

Originally Posted by Frosty

Just to add punctuation I have the Bentley Manual as well and it does not cover the oil pan removal. ~Frost

I'm not sure if Bentley has a new revised version of the manual, but my new book has it on page 119-24 under Lubrication System

Originally Posted by skamkar

Hello!

I've searched the forums & Google regarding this, but no cigar... taking a shot in the dark.

I replaced my oil pan gasket last week. It was incredibly involved (used a dealer manual that required a greater degree of disassembly [beyond what was done here], which in hindsight was not necessary) and took the entire day, but did it. Leaks have stopped, but during the repair I realized that the AL oil pan bolts, which must be replaced, differ for automatic or manual transmissions:

Auto PN: 11132210959
Manual PN: 11130396707

During install, when I pulled the old bolts and compared them to the new, they didn't match. While I didn't realize it at the time, I was pulling out automatic-made bolts and replacing them with the manual-made bolts (for my manual-transmission car). HOWEVER, if you look at the two part numbers above, the automatic set comes with ~10 longer bolts, which screw into the tranny bellhousing, but these are NOT included in the manual bolt set. I know, right?? Which leads me to my question - what the f88k is going on? Has anyone else done this repair on an e90 variant with a manual tranny? If so, did you run into this snag and how'd you deal with it?

thank you!

Thanks for this info. I have an auto and order the 707 bolts...

The issue I found is this are 2 schematics for the oil pan on RealOEM. Both say "For Vehicles with Automatic Transmissions". But if you look at the next column over to the right it reads "S205A=Yes" in one schematic and "S205A=No" in the other. The "No" schematic is the manual pan. The "Yes" schematic is the automatic pan. God forbid they just write "For Manaul Transmissions on one and "For Automatic Transmissions" on the other...

Resuming part waiting mode....

If anyone needs new in bag manual oil pan bolts, let me know.

[PhaseP]

I'm not sure if Bentley has a new revised version of the manual, but my new book has it on page 119-24 under Lubrication System

I have a 2009 print of Bentley and section 119 ends at 12 crankshaft rear main seal replacement. So at some version they must have added more including oil pan.

[hammerin hank]

Originally Posted by PhaseP

I have a 2009 print of Bentley and section 119 ends at 12 crankshaft rear main seal replacement. So at some version they must have added more including oil pan.

My manual is the 2014 edition.

[clayB]

I just finished swapping my oil pan, it had rusted through. I put it a new gasket for the pan and the oil sensor seal too. Special tools needed would be an engine support bar, and E12 (external torx) socket. Parts you'll need are the gasket, oil pan bolt set, and if you're like me a new oil pan. I did this on the floor in my garage in about 6 hours, which included making an engine support bar out of 2x4's and a big eye hook (do a google image seach for 'DIY engine support bar')

To get the pan out is relatively straight forward (as far as working on a BMW goes).

Removal
1) Support the engine using an engine support bar or similar. To do this I pulled off the air filter, tray, and engine cover. This gives you access to the threaded hose beside the oil filter, the tow hook from the on board tool kit threads in there.
2) Raise the car and support with jack stands. Drain the oil, if possible drain the oil well in advance of doing the rest of the work...it makes the rest of the work a lot cleaner since the engine isn't continuously dripping on you.
3) Remove under car covers: main/engine tray, small traingular pieces behind front wheels, transmission tray and the small tray at the front of the car.
4) Disconnect wiring at oil level sensor and car angle sensor (left side wheel well)
5) Remove triangular brace from underside of subframe/chasis
6) Remove bolts from engine mounts
7) Support subframe with jack, remove 6 bolts attaching subframe to chassis. Then lower jack and pull subframe down. The wheels, suspension and steering components all stay attached to the subframe and drop with it. The subframe and other components will hang off the suspension while you finish removing the pan.
8) Remove the many bolts from the oil pan, I had to pry the pan a little to get it to release, use caution not to scratch the engine surface. Drop the pan and wiggle it out towards the transmission.

Clean everything you can before starting to reinstall, you really don't want any grit messing up the seal. I used small pieces of masking tape to hold the gasket in place while I wiggled the pan back in.

Torque spec on the pan bolts is 6ft*lbs + 90°. There is no specific order for reinstalling the pan bolts but I tried to do it as evenly as possible crisscrossing back and forth. First I went finger tight on all the bolts, then 3 ft*lbs, 6ft*lbs, and +90° sequentially. Used a marker to track which bolts had been turned the +90°.

When jacking the subframe back up there are tapered pins at the front bolt locations that make alignment easy. I found it was easier to reinstall the engine mount bolts before tightening the subframe bolts.

I hope this helps someone. Cheers

[KrashFinatik]

Well boys this is it. I have to replace my oil pan gasket as it's leaking too much to ignore any longer and the smell of oil hitting the exhaust is embarrassing.
I already have the engine support bar and other necessary tools to do the job.
I will take the much needed pics to finally get this DIY together.
Hopefully I can have it posted by next week.

[simon]

Originally Posted by KrashFinatik

Well boys this is it. I have to replace my oil pan gasket as it's leaking too much to ignore any longer and the smell of oil hitting the exhaust is embarrassing.
I already have the engine support bar and other necessary tools to do the job.
I will take the much needed pics to finally get this DIY together.
Hopefully I can have it posted by next week.

I'm about to do this as well as change my motor mounts at the same time. DIY will be helpful! Thanks.

[jvidamins]

Originally Posted by KrashFinatik

Well boys this is it. I have to replace my oil pan gasket as it's leaking too much to ignore any longer and the smell of oil hitting the exhaust is embarrassing.
I already have the engine support bar and other necessary tools to do the job.
I will take the much needed pics to finally get this DIY together.
Hopefully I can have it posted by next week.

Any luck with the pics/diy write-up?

Nevermind. Found it: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1180020

Thanks for the awesome write-up!!!

[SoCalE90i]

Thanks for this very helpful thread. I did the job on my 2007 328i this weekend. A few things that may help others in the future:

1. You'll see some other threads about trying to do this without dropping the subframe, by cutting the gasket, etc. That's some seriously bad advice.

First, there's no way to ensure that nothing will drop into the oil pan while you are doing this. And there's a good chance junk will drop in there. If it does, there's no way to get it out, because there will be at least a half quart of oil left in the bottom of the pan that the junk will drop into.

Second, not dropping the subframe will make the job longer and harder. Everything is harder to get to with the subframe in place. And dropping it is only a few bolts, it's very quick and easy, both to get it down and to get it back up. In the context of this job, not dropping the subframe doesn't safe time. I've been wrenching for 30 years and love shortcuts, but not dropping the subframe isn't a shortcut, is a crazy hack and is bad advice.

2. The OP must have a Turbo, with oil return line going to the oil pan. For those of us with NA cars, there's no oil return line.

3. The OP must also be a manual trans. For those of us with automatics, there's 2 oil cooler lines that run right near the upper row of oil pan bolts and is attached to the pan with 2 brackets and 10mm nuts. Makes it a little bit of a pain to get to those bolts.

4. My car didn't have the angle sensor on the control arm, as shown in the original post.

5. On my car, there's a hard coolant line that is attached to the front of the subframe, it's connected with a soft hose to the water pump and held to the subframe by 2 Torx bolts. This needs to be detached from the subframe, otherwise it doesn't drop down far enough to easily remove the oil pan.

6. I used a regular, straight engine support bar (not the 3 prong one like in the original post). It worked fine. Any engine support bar is going to be way overkill, since they are designed to hold engines that aren't attached to the transmission, which puts the full weight of the engine on it. Since we're not removing the trans, the bar isn't holding much weight.

7. You're gonna need a good selection of extensions and wobble joints to get to all the oil pan bolts.

8. There's nothing hard about the job. It does take some time, though, just given the number of bolts and screw that need to be undone. Between the plastic shields under the car, the oil pan bolts, etc., it's dozens of screws, nuts, bolts that need to be undone. Nothing hard, just a little time consuming.

9. I didn't take the front wheels off, didn't need to.

10. My car had 58,000 miles on it. The bolts were still tight, but the gasket was leaking in numerous spots.

11. The factory didn't use any sealant (that I could see) on the gasket. I went back an forth on whether to use it. On the one hand, the factory didn't use it. But on the other hand, the factory job started leaking in 50K miles. I decided to use a thin layer of Dirko (a German RTV sealant used by BMW and MB) on both sides of the gasket. We'll see if that was a good decision in the long run.

Anyways, thanks for a great writeup! It was very helpful.

[Matte90330]

also did this job and the OFHG really not that bad got some pics too and check out my engine mount bracket I cant believe it broke the way it did. sorry some pics are sideways