Oil Leak 4.6is

[Marceltj4.6is]

2002 4.6is Texas car

Hey all,
So I've been at this for days. Jumping back and forth from my garage to the PC...endlessly searching. Several week ago now I noticed that the stiffening plate was sripping oil. I removed the plate to find oil all over the place. Drain plug, frame, etc. Most of it looked like it was on the passenger side of the car.

So here's what I did:
1) replaced the oil seperator valve and hoses
Washed everything. Still leaking.

2) It looked like most of the oil was coming from the lower dipstick seal. Replaced it (not an easy task at all btw). Still leaking but not as much.

Now I have no idea where the oil is coming from but did notice that it looks like it's gathering somewhere above the upper oil pan and dripping down the front on both the left and right side then dispersing throughout.

The car runs pretty much normal btw.

At this point I'm thinking valve cover gaskets since they've been mentioned a lot in previous posts.

I've removed the plastic covers and noticed some oil in the spark plug area but only by the last two plugs on the drivers side. With this you would think the leak would be in the back right?

Where I'm confused is that it looks more like front passenger side.

Anyone ever experience something similar? Maybe where the oil lines go into the block? Front timing cover? Do I just need to overhaul the thing already?

Thanks everyone!!

[MrFixIt]

My X wasn't leaking oil as bad as yours, but it did leaked oil. I ended up replacing (DIY):

Both valve covers
Both upper timing chain (might explain why yours is leaking at the front)
Both VANOS seal

One thing for sure, if you have oil protruding into the spark plug areas...it's time to replace the valve cover gaskets...upper timing chain gaskets, too, while you're there.

I did both at about 94K. The rubber gaskets were hard as rock--explains why they were no longer effective.

[Marceltj4.6is]

Thanks MrFixIt.. can you indicate the parts for the upper timing chain and VANOS seals? VANOS are the two little sensors on the head?

[MrFixIt]

RealOEM.com BMW E53 X5 4.6is UPPER TIMING CASE

Part #9 is the VANOS seal.
Part #4 and 5 are the upper timing chain cover gaskets.

You'll need to have a BMW special 32mm extra deep socket to remove the VANOS. I managed to use a medium size cresent wrench to remove/install the VANOS, but it was a pain. Get the socket on eBay.

Some radom pix for you.

[Marceltj4.6is]

Awesome! Thanks very much for your help. I am noticing that the VANOS seals are paths of oil under the VANOS seals.

Looks like I will do the following:
1) VANOS gaskets
2) valve covers
3) Timing covers

After the dipstick debacle, this should be a walk in the park.

[princemoe2m]

most likely is ur valve cover gasket passenger side.. mine did the same thing and replaced both side while at it... now i have another heavily
leak and most likely is the timing cover gasket

thanks for the great pictures buddy now i know wat too look at

[Marceltj4.6is]

Got my parts from Pelican today and will be starting on Friday. Imagine it will take most of the day as I also want to go ahead and strip that nasty paint off of the valve covers. Who knows what else I end up doing while in there. Will provide an update to see if this job stops the bleeding! (oil+$$)

[Marceltj4.6is]

Well, the job is done. All the parts listed above have been replaced.
STILL BLEEDING!! At this point the only thing I suspect is the upper oil pan gasket. On top of everything the stupid transmission cooler (heat exchanger) started to leak. Unbelievable how this just happened out of nowhere.

[RDM08]

hi all, '02 4.6is with 85k miles, what's the torque on the upper timing cover and valley pan? thanks!

[va8341]

Originally Posted by Marceltj4.6is

Well, the job is done. All the parts listed above have been replaced.
STILL BLEEDING!! At this point the only thing I suspect is the upper oil pan gasket. On top of everything the stupid transmission cooler (heat exchanger) started to leak. Unbelievable how this just happened out of nowhere.

Hi, would you please update this thread? I am wondering if you ended up with upper oil pan gasket replacement. It's almost impossible to do a diy since the engine has to be lifted. If you got it done by dealer or an indi, how much it cost? Thanks in advance.