04 x5 3.0i oil leak help

[Thatwhiteguy]

Hello everyone. I have a 04 x5 3.0i with 223k miles. It has an oil leak somewhere that I can’t see. It seems to leak after the engine has been turned on, runs for a little and then turned off. The oil leak puddle ends up being about 6 inches long afterwards. The previous owner (a friend) said his mechanic replaced the following:

*CCV
*Oil separator hose
*A breather hose that hose runs from the valve cover to a connector on the upper PCV hose.
*Did not replace the ofhg as it didn’t need it.
*Breather hose that runs from the valve cover to the lower part of the oil separator.
*Oil Filler Cap Gasket
*Crankcase breather hose
*valve cover gasket
*CVV

What do you guys think that could be leaking? I will note the power steering reservoir was low and I think saw a thread about that being apart of the issue. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks in advance.

[andrewwynn]

I don't see any possibility the car has the original OFHG and not leaking.

Use an inspection camera to confirm.

I just looked at mine yesterday with a bright Flashlight under the ofh and it's wet with oil. I can't see the seam of the OFH without a mirror or the snake camera but I'm 90% certain it's the OFHG. The only other Typical leak to leak so much is the oil pan gasket.

When the valve cover leaks that bad it'll smoke like hell.

I'll see if I can get pictures to confirm mine is leaking. I can also say that my leak dropped by half with one bottle of ATP AT-205.

[Effduration]

Put the car - Safely - on ramps or jack stands. Get under there with a rag and some engine degreaser. clean everything as best you can. You could remove the alum skid plate for better access*, but I would try not to do this. Once clean, you should be able to see leak after running it for a few days. If not, add some UV dye (from amazon) into the oil and go looking at night with UV light and glasses


*Removing the skid plate is a hassle because you have to hold the nuts while you undo the bolts. They have to be re-torqued properly, and BMW actually says the bolts are one-time use.

[Thatwhiteguy]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

I don't see any possibility the car has the original OFHG and not leaking.

Use an inspection camera to confirm.

I just looked at mine yesterday with a bright Flashlight under the ofh and it's wet with oil. I can't see the seam of the OFH without a mirror or the snake camera but I'm 90% certain it's the OFHG. The only other Typical leak to leak so much is the oil pan gasket.

When the valve cover leaks that bad it'll smoke like hell.

I'll see if I can get pictures to confirm mine is leaking. I can also say that my leak dropped by half with one bottle of ATP AT-205.

As yes I forgot about my snake camera. Good idea thanks. I think it’s the ofh too. And not that I would want to use atp-205 but I just might in this case.

[Thatwhiteguy]

Originally Posted by Effduration

Put the car - Safely - on ramps or jack stands. Get under there with a rag and some engine degreaser. clean everything as best you can. You could remove the alum skid plate for better access*, but I would try not to do this. Once clean, you should be able to see leak after running it for a few days. If not, add some UV dye (from amazon) into the oil and go looking at night with UV light and glasses


*Removing the skid plate is a hassle because you have to hold the nuts while you undo the bolts. They have to be re-torqued properly, and BMW actually says the bolts are one-time use.

Wow I never knew about the dye. I just looked on Amazon. That’s a great idea. If I can’t find it with the snake light that’s what I’m doing next.

[andrewwynn]

Dye plus snake light. Tricky part is getting UV source in with the snake. I recently acquired a 1900 lumen flashlight and poked it in the gap next to the oil filter and for the first time could see wet oil. Normal light couldn't get down in there.

I think with the snake it will be very obvious.

Also; you will want to remove the stiffening plate to clean the engine after anyhow.

A low profile ratchet with 16mm works perfectly to hold the nut for removal and I put mine back on but side down.

You can reuse 3-4x following the torque to yield steps, or you can do like me and get some 12.9 bolts and locking washers (nord lock), so you can reuse indefinitely.

Don't forget to put the back four bolts in if you need to drive before putting the stiffening plate back on! They hold the anti sway bar. It's a really noisy (yet humorous) ride if that sucker isn't pinned down.

I will be changing my control arms today and plan to remove the plate until I get the OFHG replaced.

I had the plate off for about a year on wife's car; you lose some torsion stability; the car will wiggle like a convertible with the top down, and you are at risk of "frame" damage if you have a front end impact as it's a main point of keeping the car rectangular, probably takes about 50-60,000# of force to parallelogram eg 10g of crash force.

[Thatwhiteguy]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Dye plus snake light. Tricky part is getting UV source in with the snake. I recently acquired a 1900 lumen flashlight and poked it in the gap next to the oil filter and for the first time could see wet oil. Normal light couldn't get down in there.

I think with the snake it will be very obvious.

Also; you will want to remove the stiffening plate to clean the engine after anyhow.

A low profile ratchet with 16mm works perfectly to hold the nut for removal and I put mine back on but side down.

You can reuse 3-4x following the torque to yield steps, or you can do like me and get some 12.9 bolts and locking washers (nord lock), so you can reuse indefinitely.

Don't forget to put the back four bolts in if you need to drive before putting the stiffening plate back on! They hold the anti sway bar. It's a really noisy (yet humorous) ride if that sucker isn't pinned down.

I will be changing my control arms today and plan to remove the plate until I get the OFHG replaced.

I had the plate off for about a year on wife's car; you lose some torsion stability; the car will wiggle like a convertible with the top down, and you are at risk of "frame" damage if you have a front end impact as it's a main point of keeping the car rectangular, probably takes about 50-60,000# of force to parallelogram eg 10g of crash force.

That’s what I was thinking as far as the uv and dye. I have a very bright uv light that I used to find a cat pee spot in my new house. If I angle it right it will show me where it’s coming from. Thanks for the information on the skip plate. I do plan to remove as it needs a good cleaning.

[cn90]

After 100K, virtually every M54 will need:

1. OFH Gasket ($6 at BMW dealer).
Do a partialy cooling overhaul while being there.

2. CCV Mod by BavarianE39...

[Thatwhiteguy]

Originally Posted by cn90

After 100K, virtually every M54 will need:

1. OFH Gasket ($6 at BMW dealer).
Do a partialy cooling overhaul while being there.

2. CCV Mod by BavarianE39...

What is the ccv mod ? Thanks

[andrewwynn]

I'm guessing the mod that eliminates CCV and replaces with pcv. I'm ok with the CCV but definitely the cold weather version and clean