New X5 Owner -> Oil already leaking!

[Dbp]

Hi everyone!

My name is Diogo, I'm from Portugal and live in Lisbon. I just bought my first X5 (E53 3.0D 2004). It's currently with 135K kms (around 84K miles). It has the facelift 218hp 3.0 diesel and has the sport package which looks perfect. We also have an E30 318i with us, currently in tip top shape.

I'm currently gathering information on what I need to look into maintenance wise on the X5.
After looking at everything I could on the car, I found what seems like a big leak on the engine shield (around the front most hatch on it).

I'm not sure the transmission fluid was ever changed, and I'm still considering if I should do it or not. Currently the transmission has no strange noises and behaves perfectly.

So far, I gathered that I need to change the following as preventive maintenance (any other advice on this?):

- Engine Oil and Filter
- Front and Rear Diff Oil
- Transfer Case Oil
- Engine Breather
- Engine Air Filter

I may look into changing the water pump and TS later in time, as currently they seem to be in good shape. I might do a coolant flush to make sure it has the proper fluid in there though.

Other then this, I still haven't found much to be done, but I'm already worrying about that big oil spill on the engine shield .

Here is a quick snap of him (previous owner put on those grill stripes, already removed them..)


And the now dreaded under tray, that doesn't look good at all...


I'll post some better photos of the X as soon as possible. Thank you all for letting me onboard and I hope to learn a fair share about my new baby around here.

[nice1guv]

Welcome to the fray!
Not too many diesel owners on here, mostly petrol and US based.

Your list for initial servicing is good, nothing extra particularly jumps out at me.

That oil leak does seem odd, it could just be oil from a poorly executed oil change (fingers crossed anyway).

[cn90]

My siste visited Lisbon and she loved it.

The only way to diagnose oil leak is to remove the bottom aluminum shield and leave it out for a while while you drive it daily and check for new oil leak (of course, clean old oil leak first). If you google "xoutpost E53 cn90 rear diff", you will see the DIY I posted. If you leave the bottom shield out, you need to re-install at least the 2 bolts holding the swaybar in place.

I don't know about diesel model, but for gasoline model (mine is a 2006 X5 M54 engine), common sources of leaks at 100K miles are:

1. Oil Filter Housing Gasket. Use BMW dealer gasket only.

2. Valve Cover Gasket.

3. PS Hoses where they are attached to the PS Pump.

3. The Oil Pan Gasket does not leak until 190K-200K.
My 1998 528i M52 oil pan gasket is still bone-dry at 170K miles.

[Dbp]

Thanks for the welcome guys!

cn90, glad to hear your sister loved it, its a great city. A few shortcomings for people who live here, but beautiful and I'm sure a delight for visitors.

I´ll look into the possible issues you listed, let's hope it's nothing major as otherwise it seems good as new.

[andrej1979]

Hello.
Welcome to 3.0d club :-) i also had leak on right side like you. In my case it was easy repair it was gasket #7
Hot-film air mass meter | BMW X5 E53 X5 3.0d M57N Europe

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by andrej1979

Hello.
Welcome to 3.0d club :-) i also had leak on right side like you. In my case it was easy repair it was gasket #7
Hot-film air mass meter | BMW X5 E53 X5 3.0d M57N Europe

If you have THAT much oil leaking out of the turbo compressor outlet, you have a MAJOR issue on your hands... like a totally blown turbo (bearings and seals). I doubt it's that.

I also wouldn't drive the car AT ALL with the alloy under-shield removed - it wil place undue stress on the sub-frame that could lead to cracked welds etc.

The most likely cause of this "leak" has already been suggested - a poorly executed oil change. It is tricky to get to the oil drain bolt on the M57N, via the access hole in the alloy under-shield, and if done wrong it's possible to spill several litres of used oil onto the foam acoustic panel on the alloy under-shield. This will take months to run out...

The M57N doesn't seem to suffer from the OFGH seal leak that plagues the M54 series... thank goodness! Probably due to the lower overall engine temps on the diesel.

[andrej1979]

Originally Posted by wpoll

If you have THAT much oil leaking out of the turbo compressor outlet, you have a MAJOR issue on your hands... like a totally blown turbo (bearings and seals). I doubt it's that.

I also wouldn't drive the car AT ALL with the alloy under-shield removed - it wil place undue stress on the sub-frame that could lead to cracked welds

I don't plastic cover that is under turbo and the oil was leaking drop by drop on the floor. It wasn't much maybe one or two drop but i thought if left it it eventually lead to big oil stain on reinforced plate. My bad.

[wpoll]

No bad.. :-)

I had a look under my turbo today and there is a drip or two there. Seems like i should replace that gasket too.

Which btw is not the compressor outlet as I stated earlier - it's the compressor inlet (of course). Which has even less reason to have oil on (from) it. The turbo outlet gasket on mine definitely needs replacing soon but that's a different part... and I suspect is the source of my oil - it runs down onto the other gasket then off the bottom of the turbo.

[Dbp]

Thanks for the input guys!

If I remove the protection plate, I know the bolts shouldn't be reused, but at $17 or so a piece, I'm feeling compelled to reuse them. Have you guys done so successfully?

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Dbp

Thanks for the input guys!

If I remove the protection plate, I know the bolts shouldn't be reused, but at $17 or so a piece, I'm feeling compelled to reuse them. Have you guys done so successfully?

Some folk re-use them. Some folk replace them. Up to you. There are arguments both ways but no firm consensus.