Upon further inspection, yep, it is the VANOS oil pipe. Seems to be a very slow leak from the crimped area. Is this something needing urgent attention, or can I wrap it with plumber's tape and do it in the spring? I have no garage, so I'm not looking forward to doing a knucklebuster in cold weather :P

is it easy to get at and try tightening the bolts? or is it leaking at the crimps ,or the hose is cracked?

Leaking at the front crimp. The bolts are snug and clean. Front bolt's easy to get to, rear one will require me to move the p/s reservoir aside and take the engine covers off to have room, even with my small hands.

The other end is attach to the OFH. If you have small hands you should be able to get in there to loosen the banjo bolt.

Hmm... will I need to drain the oil? I'm thinking if the engine's cold most of the oil would be at the bottom, but since I'm a BMW noob I could be wrong.

Thanks again, guys. This site rocks! :thumbup:

I think you'd only get a little dribble when disconnecting and reconnecting. Maybe some will drain out of the OFH though? I'd get an extra quart for topping off if needed but I don't think you need to drain.

You can loosen the cap to the oil filter and any oil in the oil filter will drain down to the sump.

Great idea! Thanks!