Botched oil change causing rear main seal failure?
 

Hi everyone. If this is too long for my first post, just let me know.

I am new here, first time poster, long time reader. I picked up an 2011 X5 50i with 118k miles on it about a month ago and have spent hours pouring over this forum. Thanks for the all the info! There appears to be a lot of knowledge here so hopefully someone has some insight on my issue.

I've researched a lot on the N63, checked the recalls, and confirmed with BMWNA that all the repairs that needed to be done were completed. I also have the Carfax dating back to the original sale from the dealership showing a lot of work completed under warranty or recall.

I have situation that I wanted to see if anyone else has ever run into. Sorry for the long read but hopefully all the info here will help.

Long story short: Can a botched oil change cause a failure of the rear main seal?

Original Oil change

-I knew of the oil issues with the 2011 X5 so I wanted to make sure to change the oil soon after I picked it up so I would have fresh oil from the start.

I went to a place that I have been using for years (yes I now know I should have just gone to BMW) but I know the manager and the techs so I felt comfortable going.

I looked under the car well when I picked it up and there were so signs of any leaks. I asked the techs to take a close look underneath to make sure there wasn't anything I was missing.

They said the underside was extremely clean with no signs of any leaks from anyplace and no sign of old or leaks. The tech even commented about how clean it was considering that it is 11 years old.

During the oil change the tech was standing in front of me with the oil filter housing and oil filter in his hand and I could see he was struggling to get the oil filter into the housing. He was trying to shove the two together. I asked him if there was an issue and he said it was just tough to put together since it was new. I figured he was correct and left it at that.

Return Visit 1

-Two days later there was oil under my car in the driveway. I went back right away and had them look at it. I was told the oil filter housing wasn't seated correctly. They reseated it and I was on my way.

Return Vist 2

-Two days later oil was still pooling under my car. I went back again and this time they said it appeared to be a problem with the drain plug. They replaced that.

Return Vist 3

-For 4-5 days everything seemed to be good and then I looked closer and I could see oil pooling under the filter. I returned again and was told this was just residual from the previous leaks. They cleaned up the underside and things seemed ok for about a week

Return Vist 4

-This is where things got worse. I took a drive to Big Bear which is about 100 miles away from me. I took the freeway and stopped about 75 miles in to get gas. After the fill up I could see a small pool of oil under the car. I crawled under and could see it leaking from under the oil filter. I checked on the oil level on the screen. It had been full when I left but now was about a quarter of the way down to the "min" mark. I drove the rest of the way and then turned around to come home, all the while keeping and eye on the oil. By the time I got back (about 200 miles round trip) the oil level was a little bit above the "min" level.

I went right to the oil change place and this time they they said the oil leak was from the rear main seal.

At this point I started a claim with the company.

All of this seemed very odd since there were no leaks at all when I took it in originally.

Mechanic 1-

I took it my main mechanic I've used for years to get it checked out and he confirmed it was the rear main seal leaking. He checked the oil filter and found that it was missing a part. The small part that sits in the bottom was gone. He said they probably threw that away with the old oil filter and didnt know. He also said that it was "possible" that this caused the oil pressure to be incorrect and could have caused the rear mean seal to blow out but couldn't say for sure.

Claim call:

I spoke with claims who got the manager on the phone. I told her the issue with the mistake in the oil filter and she said that sounded like a mistake and they would "take care of paying for the repair".

Mechanic 2:

-I took it to a mechanic who was recommended to my for a 2nd opinion. I explained everything and they said the same thing: It's "possible" that the bad oil change could cause the rear main seal to fail. After they looked at it, the mechanic there called a BMW contact he as in Germany and was told there is a "50/50" chance that the bad oil change caused the rear main seal failure.

I had this mechanic repair the rear main seal and got everything buttoned up and cleaned up. No issues for the last week and not a single drop of oil.

Claim call 2:
-I sent photos of the old oil filter and passed along the info about the oil change being a probable cause of the rear main seal and how the store manager had agreed that her tech had made a mistake in the oil change.

At this point I was told that my claim had been denied and that when I was told they would "cover the cost of the repair" they actually meant they would cover the cost of replacing the oil filter housing.

So, here I am wondering if anyone has any insight into this and has had this happen. If I can provide some additional info as to the bad oil change being the cause of the rear main seal going out then I have a good chance of getting them to reimburse me for the cost of the repair which was $1500.


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I'd place the odds of that causing a RMS leak at pretty close to zero.

AM.

Usually most causes of RMS failures are just age and wear of the rubbers, especially if low quality oils have been used or intervals have been exceeded rather regularly. An 8 year life for a main seal over a rotating assembly is very standard, anything higher is a due to be a great success.
BMW engines' also run hotter coolant temps than other manufacturers which cause accelerated wear and tear on plastic and rubber components.
A second cause may be due to an excess of crankcase pressure caused by a plugged PCV system. This would create a pressure differential between the crankcase and atmosphere causing the front and/or rear seals or any other seals to weep. I can't really determine how an oil change could fail the RMS (source; I'm a mechanic, but not a BMW mechanic )
I'm likely to bet that a skilled mechanic with a good eye can inspect your engine and find many brittle/dry cracked hoses and other failed seals.

What do you mean by it had oil issues when you purchased it? How many miles did you drive before the oil change? Had you been under the X5 to see if there was any evidence of oil on the undercarriage just prior to the oil change?

I always start with there are no coincidences. In other words-If it was not leaking prior to the oil and filter change the leak is most likely connected to the work just done. That said, in your case it doesn't sound like you can verify that their work was the cause. I suspect it is one of the unfortunate times that one is be better off just moving on unless you know an attorney that will handle the problem pro bono.

That's been my thinking too. I had only had the car for 2 days when this happened so that's frustrating. They guy I bought from is local and he has been working with me during this too. He never had any issues and felt so bad about this that he has offered to cover half the cost of the repair if the company wont approve the claim.

I've dealt with similar leaks like this in the past and they have all started slow and then progressed over time. This went from no leaks (the tech even commented on how clean the underside was) to blowing through a quart of oil every 200-300 miles. The only difference was the oil change.

If it isn't related, then this is just a terribly timed coincidence :dunno:

What I meant by oil issues is that I knew of the N63 recalls and going through oil when I bought it so I wanted to start off with a fresh oil change. I had been under the vehicle when I purchased it and earlier that day before the oil change. I had only put about 300 miles on it before I took it in for the oil change so yes, I hadnt had it long.

Thanks! Yeah, this is 11 years old. I had the seal fixed and the mechanic said everything else in there appeared to be fine so that is good.

Do you know what that missing piece in the oil filter housing does? Both mechanics and the tech at BMW said it is possible (though they havnt seen it before) that a loose oil filter that isnt seated correctly could cause the oil pressure to spike.

Fingers are crossed but it's looking like I'm going to have to chalk this up to an unlucky coincidence.

If seller knows the whole story, the $750 sounds like a good deal. You can always ask for one half of the $1,500 from the the shop or even one fourth which would cut your loss. Will the shop that fixed it provide you with an invoice for only the work done to correct the filter problem?

Yeah, this is likely where things are going. The shop that fixed it will provide me the invoice for the filter problem and the oil change place offered to pay for the cost of the new oil filter housing.

Even if engine oil pressure spiked which shouldn't occur because oil pressure is created by a restriction after the pump. And in the oil circuit there are many points that allow return paths. There's actually no oil pressure behind seals on rotating assemblies that could be measured with a regular gauge, it would be in inches of water column.

The N63 engines are well known for rear main seal failures. (there's even more seals that can/will fail so be ready).
That part inside oil filter housing should be oil bypass valve. All it does is allow oil to bypass oil filter when filter is dirty, so that engine will not starve from oil.

So you were running without it, I'd say no big deal as it was sorted out in days. However, that part missing shouldn't cause oil pressure issues, if there's oil pressure drop you would get warning on instrument cluster.

I don't see how it can cause rear main seal failure, BUT it's a part of oil system that shouldn't be missing and it's the mechanic responsibility to fit it back as it should be.