Oil pan leaking?

[isarkisov]

Trying to figure out how bad oil pan is leaking on my 09 E70 N52. This year I addressed valve cover gasket that was leaking pretty bad. Now that valve gasket leak is no longer there, I got under the car and took the engine under cover off. I think my oil pan is leaking, it's pretty obvious (see pics).

I am more concerned about oil being near transmission and on the tranny cover. It doesn't look like tranny fluid, although I might be wrong. Couple of questions:

* Can leaking oil pan cause oil go towards transmission like that?
* How soon do you think I will need to address this leak, can I drive it like that for another 30k or so (I put 6-10k a year)?

I have 122k miles and was planning to keep the car at least 'till 150k. Oil pan gasket replacement is a difficult DIY and very costly otherwise, want to avoid that job.

[itscoo2pyopants]

I’d take off some covers and look around to see where it’s coming from. You can see where the oil pan mates with the rest of the engine when you take off the metal stiffening plate. Clean / degrease it and try to find the highest point where it’s wet / dirty, that should help you pin point where it’s coming from.

[DEADF15H]

I've had an oil pan gasket leak for at least 21,000 miles. Not enough is leaking out to register on the iDrive. Never makes it to the ground. I suspect it drips out when driving. I change my oil every 7,500 miles.
I was quoted $650 from a independent BMW shop.
I have a $80 Harbour Freight engine support bar from engine and tranny mount work I did on my E46, so I'm considering a DIY on the E70 and my E46 and changing engine mounts while I'm there.
YouTube vids show its not technically complicated, just time consuming. I'm lucky enough to live in the south, where rust is a non-issue.


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[CLS70]

+1 re. clean and check the source

Have you checked if your Oil Filter Housing is not leaking?

You already changed the Valve Cover Gasket --which is a common one-- the Oil Filter Housing has gaskets that get compressed/deteriorate over time and create another source of oil leaks......

[andrewwynn]

Bought my e53s at 128 and 112,000 miles and neither had a drop off oil on the engine but somewhere around 160,000 they both started to leak like a sieve.

I have the oil pan gaskets on hand just not the time to install yet.

Wife's leaks enough I could skip an oil change I just changed the filter because the oil is already new.

[DEADF15H]

Originally Posted by CLS70

+1 re. clean and check the source



Have you checked if your Oil Filter Housing is not leaking?



You already changed the Valve Cover Gasket --which is a common one-- the Oil Filter Housing has gaskets that get compressed/deteriorate over time and create another source of oil leaks......

Change oil cooler gasket while you are in there.

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[isarkisov]

Yes, planning to change oil filter and cooler gaskets soon. Filter gasket has a very very small leak, I doubt all that oil underneath is from the filter gasket. I am going to clean everything and try to figure out the source(s). This weekend I am going to change my sway bar links and probably replace rattling DISA valve, hopefully will get enough time for the oil leak. I love the car, but these minor issues just keep piling up and keeping me busy . Thank you all!

[smassey321]

Good call to clean everything first. When I did my first OPG I also found the head bolt leaking behind the OFG. When I did my 2nd one I found a leak in the power steering rack.

[isarkisov]

I went ahead and cleaned everything up. I looked at my oil filter housing again, looks like the leak is getting worse, so I am going to replace oil filter and cooler gaskets next week.

[EMT760RR]

Very common issue. I had mine replaced and I looked down there recently for a oil change and it looks wet again. I hope it's just residual oil. It's not a BMW if it doesn't leak.... lol. I was told last time by mechanics last time its a pain in the ass because you have to remove the CV axles to lower the pan? Not a fun job..


Very odd... Apparently Germans "over Engineer" everything but can't stop leaks. My 2014 Xterra as the same amount of milage 77k and has had ZERO leaks compared to my X5. Well.. I did have to replace the valve cover gasket. But very minor vs the X5..