Oil Leak 2002 4.4i

[footsurg]

I seem to be leaking a small amount of oil out of my 2002 X5 4.4i. For the longest time I thought my engine was consuming oil because I kept finding it a quart low every 2-3 thousand miles. I never noticed any oil on my garage floor so I assumed the motor was eating the oil. While changing the oil this afternoon, I noticed something I had not seen before. There was a few drops of oil clinging to the bottom of the strut that bolts on to the oil pan. There is also a tube that is next to the strut that has a heat shield around it. This tube goes deep up into the motor. It seems that the oil is travelling down this tube and is ending up as drops on the strut and oil pan. Once the oil drips off the pan it ends up on the engine side of that silver stiffening plate that is beneath the oil pan. That explains why I never saw oil on my garage floor.

My question for anyone who may have knowledge about this sort of thing is, where is the oil coming from? Its not a lot of oil. It takes a few thousand miles or a few months to lose between 3/4 and a full quart. Its obviously a very slow leak. Could it be coming from the place where the oil sensor screws into the engine? I posted a picture that I took of the area in question. Anyone ever had a slow oil leak on their 4.4 like what I am describing?

I am just glad that my engine has not been eating a lot of oil all this time as I previously suspected!

Thanks in advance.


Mark