thanks alot for the replies.

how much of a job is it to replace the pipes at the back of the engine. do they have to tackled from underneath as there doesn't seem to be any room going in from the top.

There are a total of four hoses/pipes going back there. Two go into the fire wall and the other two go into a manifold that connects to each head. The two going into that manifold required me to pull the intake manifold for replacement. The other two that go into the firewall are visible. You should be able to tell if those are leaking.

Once the cabin filter housing is removed(it takes 2 nuts to remove and some plastic clips + 10 minutes) you have a lot of room to deal with the pipes.
Work from the top.

just dealt with this today! wasn't leaking all too bad. definitely need to remove the cabin filter thingy out of the way to get a flathead or 6mm on there. when you're done, iirc the proper bleeding only requires you to have the key in position 2 and the temp all the way up at the slowest fan speed.

took the bulk head / cabin filter housing off (easy job and much better access). there it is, a coolant pipe running right to left with a 3 inch split in it. removed it. but its a sunday and eveywhere is shut today. its an easy fix though.
thanks for all the info and advice.

Glad you found it. That's what I figured it would be as I stated earlier it was unlikely to be the valley pan. Yes there is a tool bmw techs use and it's retail is 1300, but it can be done without it. Ignore the Canadian, that's a typical response from the French Canadians. :rofl:

You are so funny,

Доброго дня и Вам!

Can you post up pictures? or is it too late? Cheers. :)

I came out to my car one morning and found coolant leaking on the Bank1 Extractors. im wondering if its the same thing. Its been dried for a day now...and dry after a 400km drive. Will check tonight again.

What $1,300 special BMW tech tool are you talking about? All I need are basic tools, patience and time to change the gasket.

:thumbup: