[coriolis14]

Hey all -

I was doing an oil change yesterday when I noticed some wet "weeping" areas around the bottom of the engine. I'm hoping it's nothing significant, but I think that my oil pan gasket is leaking . Can anyone confirm?

[TeSmSp]

I think your car needs this medicine:

Oil filter housing gasket.

[coriolis14]

Originally Posted by TeSmSp

I think your car needs this medicine:

Oil filter housing gasket.

I don't think it's the oil filter housing gasket. I inspected the area around it and I don't see any leaking/weeping oil coming out from it.

Whatever is causing that weeping, it's coming from that immediate area because there's nothing else in the engine compartment that has fluid/oil leak.

[TeSmSp]

Can you remove the engine cover and check for leaks around the valve cover, VANOS motor and eccentric shaft sensor? Maybe remove coils and check for oil around spark plugs? My wife's '08 328i (155k miles) and my friend's '07 328i (95k miles), both N51 engines, are leaking badly from the valve cover to the point you can see smoke from oil hitting the exhaust manifold.

[coriolis14]

Originally Posted by TeSmSp

Can you remove the engine cover and check for leaks around the valve cover, VANOS motor and eccentric shaft sensor? Maybe remove coils and check for oil around spark plugs? My wife's '08 328i (155k miles) and my friend's '07 328i (95k miles), both N51 engines, are leaking badly from the valve cover to the point you can see smoke from oil hitting the exhaust manifold.

Yup, did that! No leaks at all from the valve cover gasket (thank God).

The oil weeping/seeping you see here is completely localized to that area, which makes me think it's the oil pan gasket.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.d...65&hg=11&fg=10

See the last two diagrams, oil pan gaskets. I'm 80% sure it's that, but I was hoping with someone who has experienced this can confirm before I dump my time/money/effort into fixing it.

[TeSmSp]

I have gotten quotes for $1500 to replace the valve cover gasket. I can't imagine how much they will ask you for the oil pan gasket replacement. In my case, unless it is dripping oil on the floor or the wife complains about it, I leave it alone.

[hassmaschine]

are you sure that's a leak? it barely looks damp. I don't think it's worth worrying about.

[coriolis14]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

are you sure that's a leak? it barely looks damp. I don't think it's worth worrying about.

I'm pretty sure it's a leak. I've taken a swipe of it with my finger and it's a nasty dusty/oily mix. I guess I'll just watch it and take care of it when it starts to really leak...I'm just OCD about not letting oil get all over the engine compartment, which could lead to other complications/problems later down the road.

Originally Posted by TeSmSp

I have gotten quotes for $1500 to replace the valve cover gasket. I can't imagine how much they will ask you for the oil pan gasket replacement. In my case, unless it is dripping oil on the floor or the wife complains about it, I leave it alone.

Exactly - I really would like to DIY this and avoid paying a shop if I can find a guide or help. I do have access to a 2-post lift, so it would make my life a lot easier if I could figure out exactly what I need to do.

[TheBigYahi]

It's weird because if you compare that to the ReamOEM picture, that's about 6" above the oil pan gasket. Since the engine is tilted left about 30 degrees, can you find the highest spot that is oily/dirty? That's how I tracked my OFHG vs. valve cover gasket vs. oil pan gasket.

Before I replaced the OFHG I had the oil pan gasket quoted at about $1200. They have to drop the subframe to get the pan out, not a friendly DIY. If you decide to DIY it, here's a thread I found when I was searching before.

[fravel]

OP, if you can, jack the car up and take off the belly shielding. Oil pan gasket failure on N52 is hard to diagnose from the top but is clear as day from underneath. I recently had mine done at ~120k miles. I'm also a DIY kinda guy but after doing research I decided to go ahead and pay my Indy to do this one - he quoted me 3.6hrs labor and I bought my own parts. Total cost was ~$500 as I had him fit new engine mounts while he was in there (job requires subframe drop). FIY, apparently manual vs. automatic makes this job either pretty easy or kinda hard, so factor that into your decision. Judging by the comments my mechanic made, he didn't charge me for nearly enough labor because he quoted me based on his experience working on manual 128i race cars - but I have an automatic.

[hassmaschine]

Originally Posted by coriolis14

I'm pretty sure it's a leak. I've taken a swipe of it with my finger and it's a nasty dusty/oily mix. I guess I'll just watch it and take care of it when it starts to really leak...I'm just OCD about not letting oil get all over the engine compartment, which could lead to other complications/problems later down the road.



Exactly - I really would like to DIY this and avoid paying a shop if I can find a guide or help. I do have access to a 2-post lift, so it would make my life a lot easier if I could figure out exactly what I need to do.

I guess what I'm saying is that is barely even damp. It doesn't seem worth worrying about or spending $500-$1500, or a weekend of your time, on something so small. Does it even leave drips where you park?

pretty sure the rear main on my wife's E91 is toast, there's oil all over the bottom of the car - the top end is bone dry, no oil around the pan gasket. but I'll replace that when we do the clutch or if the leak starts to get significantly worse. fortunately my 330i is completely leak free!

[cuiter23]

Your car will leak oil for the duration that you own it (if not the oil pan, somewhere else). All depends on the severity of the leak and whether or not you want to fix it.

[TheBigYahi]

Reminds me of the old joke:

How do you know your BMW is out of fluids? It stops leaking.

[coriolis14]

Originally Posted by fravel

OP, if you can, jack the car up and take off the belly shielding. Oil pan gasket failure on N52 is hard to diagnose from the top but is clear as day from underneath. I recently had mine done at ~120k miles. I'm also a DIY kinda guy but after doing research I decided to go ahead and pay my Indy to do this one - he quoted me 3.6hrs labor and I bought my own parts. Total cost was ~$500 as I had him fit new engine mounts while he was in there (job requires subframe drop). FIY, apparently manual vs. automatic makes this job either pretty easy or kinda hard, so factor that into your decision. Judging by the comments my mechanic made, he didn't charge me for nearly enough labor because he quoted me based on his experience working on manual 128i race cars - but I have an automatic.

I took the underbody shield off around 3k miles ago while doing a trans. fluid change and the car itself looked pretty clean underneath; there was only a small amount of oil on the shield itself (this was at 70k - currently at 73k). Based on what you and others are saying, I'll just have to bite the bullet and pay an indy to do it when it starts leaking badly

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

I guess what I'm saying is that is barely even damp. It doesn't seem worth worrying about or spending $500-$1500, or a weekend of your time, on something so small. Does it even leave drips where you park?

pretty sure the rear main on my wife's E91 is toast, there's oil all over the bottom of the car - the top end is bone dry, no oil around the pan gasket. but I'll replace that when we do the clutch or if the leak starts to get significantly worse. fortunately my 330i is completely leak free!

No drips yet. Like I said, I'm just OCD about keeping the engine compartment as clean as possible and would like to avoid any leaks that would start leaving drips on the garage floor. And I agree, based on what others are telling me, probably not worth worrying about this early in the game.

Originally Posted by cuiter23

Your car will leak oil for the duration that you own it (if not the oil pan, somewhere else). All depends on the severity of the leak and whether or not you want to fix it.

This is the thing that really gets me - all of the Japanese cars that I've owned NEVER leaked as long as you took care of them. I even have an old beater Acura that isn't leaking oil @ 167k miles. I don't understand why BMW (or the Germans in general) makes a gasket that starts leaking before the 100k mark. Surely they could do better if they tried!

[fravel]

Originally Posted by coriolis14

...probably not worth worrying about this early in the game.

Yeah, by the time I finally caved and did mine there was oil all over my oil pan and a thin coating pretty much everywhere on the bottom of my car behind the engine, but I was still only losing 1qt per oil change.

[coriolis14]

Originally Posted by fravel

Yeah, by the time I finally caved and did mine there was oil all over my oil pan and a thin coating pretty much everywhere on the bottom of my car behind the engine, but I was still only losing 1qt per oil change.

This is starting to get off-topic a little bit, but did you start to baby your engine when you noticed the oil leak became that severe (losing 1 qt. per change)? I don't drive my car "hard" on a normal basis, but I do canyon runs twice a month with some high revs mixed in (4-6k rev/upshifts). I'm wondering if I should cut those knowing I've got a leak that could potentially get worse over time.

[hassmaschine]

dude. I can't believe you'd even drive it like that. that leak is so bad, I'm surprised the engine hasn't seized by now.

seriously though - high RPM isn't going to do anything to the oil pan gasket.

[coriolis14]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

dude. I can't believe you'd even drive it like that. that leak is so bad, I'm surprised the engine hasn't seized by now.

seriously though - high RPM isn't going to do anything to the oil pan gasket.

I thought you were being serious for a second...glad you weren't!

[fravel]

Originally Posted by coriolis14

This is starting to get off-topic a little bit, but did you start to baby your engine when you noticed the oil leak became that severe (losing 1 qt. per change)? I don't drive my car "hard" on a normal basis, but I do canyon runs twice a month with some high revs mixed in (4-6k rev/upshifts). I'm wondering if I should cut those knowing I've got a leak that could potentially get worse over time.

I didn't alter my driving at all, but I did get in the habit of checking my oil level pretty much every time I got in the car and got it up to temp.