Well it leaked again last night. What came out this time is the same stuff as last time except definitely more blue. I siphoned off a little coolant out of the reservoir to compare. The stuff on the floor is NOT coolant. The coolant is certainly greener and more watery. This stuff is more blue and it is for sure some kind of oil. Front transfer case? Differential? Who knows. I cant see far up enough to determine its source. What is happening is that it is dripping at a constant rate, just very slowly onto the top of that stainless pan below the bell housing. When the fluid puddles up it flows over the side and drips on the floor drop by drop. More so on the right sid of the plate than on the left. I would say that so far no more than a shot glass worth of fluid has escaped. I have an appointment on Thursday at the dealer. I will let everyone know what they find.

Mark

Mark, Im looking forward to the answer of this one :D

Rob_

We should change the title of this thread to "Bad Valley Pan Gasket". Was just advised by the dealer that the fluid on the floor was coolant indeed as a lot of you suggested. The source of the coolant was a bad valley pan seal up toward the top of the motor. Great call Rob!! :thumbup:

I am at 50,190 miles and still have 4 months until I reach the 4 year anniversary on the inservice date. BMW agreed to do the work under warranty. The SA at my dealer also provided some nice intel. He said that BMW has this unwritten policy that if you experience an unusual major problem or known issue with your BMW and you are just out of the warranty period but not by much, they will do a one time freebie warranty service for you. He did not specify what "not by much" was. He did tell me they would warrany the repair before they even knew what the problem actually was.

I guess the kind of service you receive is really dependent on the dealership you choose. I have seen some bad mouthing of BMW service on this board, but in my experience the service I have received has always been top of the range. I can't say enough good things about the guys in service at Crown BMW in Tulsa. One thing I can say for sure is that my next Beemer will be bought and serviced at Crown.

Mark

:) :) :) :)