N62 4.8 Oil Thermostat Gasket Leak (2007 X5)

[manners]

just wondering if people actually just purchased the gasket or the actual new unit.

but i wonder if the unit is just a metal part (no component to break)

gasket only cost less than $20 and the part is over $100

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by manners

just wondering if people actually just purchased the gasket or the actual new unit.

but i wonder if the unit is just a metal part (no component to break)

gasket only cost less than $20 and the part is over $100

You can replace just the gasket, I haven't heard of the termostat being a failure point.

The Mahle gasket is a Fluoroelastomer(viton) gasket which is better than the stock/oem material so I recommend that... The E70 part number for the one with the oil cooler is: B32856

I bought one from rockauto for under $4. The job is a pain but it is doable on an e70 4.8i without dropping the subframe. It is an easier job than the valve cover gaskets...

-Rich

[Gretel]

For anyone planning to replace the oil thermostat gasket, don't do what I did. I removed two of the three bolts holding the thermostat to the block (the top bolt and the lower/front bolt). Then I removed the T45 bolt holding the oil lines to the thermostat. When I tried to pull the lines out of the thermostat, the thermostat cracked around the third bolt (lower/rear). So if you plan to remove the lines from the thermostat, do it while all 3 bolts are still holding the thermostat to the block. That aluminum casting around the lower/rear bolt is pretty fragile apparently. So now I am buying a good, used thermostat. As if the job wasn't a pain enough, lol.
James

[bmwfan0101]

I am doing the alternator thermostat gasket as a preventive maintenance. Took the E12 bolt and one of the E10. Fighting with the 2nd E10. Ordered an 1/4" swivel E10 socket from amazon for the 2nd E10 bolt. Will post the results with the swivel bolt when I get it

Any advise on how to tighten the bolts after the gasket replacement? A torque wrench is out of the question. Snug tight and a quarter turn will do it?

[Westlotorn]

Use a torque wrench on another bolt to get a feel for how tight it is when using the wrench you are forced to use in the tight space available to you. Torque a bolt to spec, use your actual wrench to see what it feels like at that torque. ON install of the actual bolts try to match what you felt in the test. That is all you can do. When I did mine I removed the inner fender liner and the driver side front tire. I was able to go in with a long extension from the wheel area for some of the bolts. I was also doing the high pressure oil cooler line seals and I do not remember which bolts I accessed through the fender. It has been 5 or 6 years now and I forget.

[bmwfan0101]

Originally Posted by Westlotorn

Use a torque wrench on another bolt to get a feel for how tight it is when using the wrench you are forced to use in the tight space available to you. Torque a bolt to spec, use your actual wrench to see what it feels like at that torque. ON install of the actual bolts try to match what you felt in the test. That is all you can do. When I did mine I removed the inner fender liner and the driver side front tire. I was able to go in with a long extension from the wheel area for some of the bolts. I was also doing the high pressure oil cooler line seals and I do not remember which bolts I accessed through the fender. It has been 5 or 6 years now and I forget.

Westlotorn, Thank you so much for the reply. Although I completed this job a month ago, I am sure it will help someone else in the future

In my case, I didn't torque it, but just went by feel and I did the tightening through the alternator opening and you cannot put too much pressure to over-tighten it anyway.

As for the bolt removal, I finally had to do just what you described. removed the driver side wheel and was able to see and access the bolt directly from there.

I think the key is to use the right tool from the beginning, a.k.a, E10 with 1/4" drive. If you try with an E10 3/4 drive, not only that it won't fit right , but the angle will cause it to slip and bruise the torx head, then loosening that bolt from the alternator opening is impossible since you can not apply pressure from there

When the bolt was handled from the wheel well side, I could put all the pressure I wanted to it so the socket doesn't slip on the Torx head

I will post some pictures I took when I did this job.

[Westlotorn]

Glad you got it fixed, the hard to reach bolts make me mad at the engineers. They did not even consider the repair person when building this car. They drive top notch but not easy to fix.

[bmwfan0101]

The E10 socket in the picture is a 1/4" swivel E10 socket I bought from Amazon and modified it a bit, so it swivels , but not too much

Hope this helps

[werdn]

Did anyone torque the E12 and E10 bolts?

[E-series ftw]

Originally Posted by bmwfan0101

The E10 socket in the picture is a 1/4" swivel E10 socket I bought from Amazon and modified it a bit, so it swivels , but not too much

Hope this helps

For ease of removal on the E10 bolts, I used an 8mm 12 point gear wrench.
It fits perfectly on the heads. I actually had to add an additional wrench to it for leverage and the bolts cracked out great. I'm in the rust belt in Ontario Canada, but the bolt heads were in good shape. I used the same method for installation. I used my right hand to hold the wrench onto the bolt head and my left hand for swinging the wrench up and down. Nothing helps your ribcage doing this job though

For the record, I do own Etorx sockets, but I dropped my good one trying to get the rearmost lower bolt out, and it has yet to be found. After some trial and error using 6 point sockets on the one I did get out, I stuck the 12 point 8mm wrench on it and couldn't believe how well it fit.