Valley Pan
 

Hi guys, some of you may have read about Mark's (footsurg) mystery leak. If not check this thread http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...rter-seal.html

I spoke with Mark on the phone yesterday asking him to please let me know what the source of the leak was. During that conversation I told him that I had an 01 740iL in the shop and was awaiting approval to replace the valley pan and if I did, I would post some pics.

Thanks Rob for the pics, so for Mark it was indeed a leak from the valley pan as you suggested. Well done Rob :thumbup:

Rob,

Those pictures are the bomb!! :thumbup: Great call on diagnosing the problem. Seeing these pics really are better than a thousand words. Can you tell me why this seal goes bad on just a few M62 motors and not on all of them. To me it seems like a seal of this nature should be good for the life of the engine. Besides just having a defective seal what things could cause the seal to go. Also if the seal were truly defective why would it have not failed earlier. Why now?

Mark

Ive had to replace valley pans on low and high mile vehicles. This 740 has 168xxx miles on it.

Rob_

Rob,

After looking at the pics again, is that a brand new valley pan in addition to the seal? Looks like a brand new pan. So when you change the seal do you routinely put a whole new pan in?

Mark

The pan comes with a rubberized seal on it. The early V8's (M60) used to have a paper gasket that did not hold up very well.

Rob_

I have a valley pan/cover leak on my 02 x5 4.4 with 83k miles. A dealer and an independent shop both quoted me $1200 (12 hours) to do the job. I've read that this job is about 6 hours on a 5 or 7 series. is this due to space issues?

I plan to tackle this job myself. are there any tips to make the job easier?

Thanks.