very very doubtful its the rear main.... in the process of going through this right now.

my money is the right side of the oil pan gasket if its a 3.0
had chased it for a bit but its the pan gasket. Its not hard, but a PITA as there is a ton of things that have to be removed including the subframe/front diff and both axles...

Or you can cheat cut the gasket in 2 pieces and do it that way.

Appreciate the reply SB.

Brad

Do you have to mess with the steering rack to change the pan gasket?

yes and no, I unbolted the tie rod ends at the arm, and I removed the 2 bolts that hold it to the sub frame, I DID NOT BUST THE STEARING SHAFT LOOSE

Same process when I did my OPG. I used some tie downs to hold the steering rack all the way forward to get the clearance to remove the OP. No need to disassemble the steering coupler. :thumbup:

Oil Pan is back on, dif has a new seal and O-Ring on it ready to go back in, front drive shaft is all cleaned up. Found a TCase bolt that I must have never ran in or thought was in as it was cross threaded about 1 thread in. Dang I am normally better than that. Had to have happened when I slid it back to put the new longer driveshaft in 8yrs ago.

While I still love working on these things I have found that without a hoist, I move at it slower. Might also have something to do with having 2 others to drive while repairing the 3rd( Z4/M3) plus the VROD Also no rush as I found a bad inner tie rod, so waiting on parts

Got it inspected, ordered an Avin unit. Going to get window tint quotes, might buy a steering wheel.

Decided to pull the trigger on some oem kidneys. The ill-fitting matte black ones that were on it when I bought the car didn’t look good on a black vehicle, and the titanium option for the 4.8is just looks awesome! I can’t imagine wanting to replace these with something so cheap looking. Next time I feel like spending a not-so-necessary $300, I’ll replace the hood vents :)

Excuse the messy garage. Was awaiting another quart of transmission fluid to finish filling it properly, and we just went through a hurricane so I’ve been pretty occupied with yard work, saving frozen stuff, etc.

https://i.imgur.com/fwjyIcQ.jpg?1

I documented my e53 journey to warn others not to make the same mistake I did. Lol

https://youtu.be/hN8QKlFqFyA

Cheated on Ole’Girl.. Ugghhh.. BuT I LiKe iT..!

https://youtu.be/_vsnKLIwxN8