What gasket is this leaking in my photo?

[paulieb81]

I am new to the forum, but did a bit of searching around, and I am trying to figure out what gasket this is that is leaking oil at a pretty steady rate when the vehicle is on.

My g/f just purchased this 2005 BMW X5 4.4 a month ago and now we see this rapid oil leak when the vehicle is turned on. We took it to a German car specialist auto mechanic and he diagnosed a blown head gasket and possibly cracked/warped head and gave a nice $4000 price to replace both sides gaskets and machined heads. Being affected by our down economy we don't have $4k just sitting around to fix a car we just bought, sorry not going to happen.

What I am trying to do here, is get an idea of what this visible leak is caused by, and see what lesser expensive options we have to fix it using DIY methods. I am mechanically inclined and have worked on all my cars for over the last decade with experience on replacing a head gasket in the past. I just need some expertise in trying to figure out what I am up against before I tear into things without a base understanding of what is involved and what solutions are on the table.

Please take a look at my image below where I circled the gasket that leaks, it is not the head gasket that leaks, it is the one that intersects with it in a vertical position. I have included a zoomed out shot of a different engine to demonstrate the location of where my zoomed in shot on my engine is taken. I also notice the previous owner or car salesman "patched" up the leak with what looks like silicone, that is why it held for about a month and now we are faced with the problem.

My Engine:



Other Engine, showing the location of my engine's leak:

[X5SND]

Looks like either valve cover gasket to timing chain cover?

[paulieb81]

It's the cover that is on the front of the engine that buts up against the head area, so the timing chain cover makes sense. I can try to get a closer image or video of it later today. It leaks at a steady stream pace, you can watch it run out, not drip out.

When it's all cleared out, it looks like the gasket deteriorated and has a small hole in it. Any idea what would cause that? Is this likely a typical over heat and blown gasket issue or something different?

[_XS3C_]

how many miles ? thx

[X5SND]

Originally Posted by paulieb81

It's the cover that is on the front of the engine that buts up against the head area, so the timing chain cover makes sense. I can try to get a closer image or video of it later today. It leaks at a steady stream pace, you can watch it run out, not drip out.

When it's all cleared out, it looks like the gasket deteriorated and has a small hole in it. Any idea what would cause that? Is this likely a typical over heat and blown gasket issue or something different?

You can use the parts diagrams from realoem.com for reference as well.

[paulieb81]

Originally Posted by X5SND

You can use the parts diagrams from realoem.com for reference as well.

Thanks, I'll check that out to try to confirm the part in question.

[paulieb81]

Originally Posted by _XS3C_

how many miles ? thx

74,000 miles

[paulieb81]

Originally Posted by paulieb81

Thanks, I'll check that out to try to confirm the part in question.

I checked, the site, i believe it's part number 11147506425. The gasket that holds the timing case cover.

Any ideas about the questions above, what would cause a hole in that gasket?

[X5SND]

Could be any one of many possibilities ...all of which end with the gasket needing to be replaced. From what I understand quite a bit needs to be removed get at it though. I'm not overly familiar with that engine, but there's plenty of timing chain threads on the forum; they should give you a better idea of what your up against in the way of a DIY.

[Buzz110]

The problem could have been caused by one of many thing like normal wear and tear, previous work on engine in that area,etc. I would make sure you order not only the gasket you noted, but any other gasket that has to be removed like the valve cover gasket,etc.

Additionally I would first remove the valve cover, which would give you a better prospective of what you are dealing with.