[Austin LeNomad]

I have a 2006 with 110,000 when I did this. I dropped the subframe, and also the steering that seems to impede the amount dropped. This made all the difference in getting in there. I also used the "hitting the connector with a screwdriver" to get the piece disconnected from the oil pan. Gasket was a rock. When I held the engine in place, after I had disconnected most things, I turned it a few more times to lift it up another inch or so for extra clearance. I feel that helped as well.

While under there, it's not a bad time to be under the engine and front areas looking to see if there are any other leaks. Steering, hoses, etc.

One of the parts that worried me was dropping it back onto the subframe, the key was to just do it very very slowly so it would get aligned.

This DIY definitely saved me at least 1000 bucks. Thanks for all the community. After doing this, I've offered anyone in my local club assistance, as this is a pretty time consuming project and can be very frustrating. It can certainly help another person attempting this to have a buddy to assist. And, as far as I can tell, all E90's leak from the oil pan between 60k and 90k, so it's going to be a common job. I'd even recommend to my local BMW chapter that we offer this as a group thing once a year to help out our members, and call it Pan-A-Paloosa.

[KrashFinatik]

Glad to have been help to you Austin LeNomad. I felt I had to start this thread because of the other mediocre threads on this topic that were lacking proper procedure, info on possible issues or pictures. One of them even said he cut the new gasket to install it :
Big shout out also to all the other fellow owners who have provided some great tips on how to make the job even easier or cheaper than what I have given.
P.S. I like your "Pan-A-Paloosa" term.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by KrashFinatik

Glad to have been help to you Austin LeNomad. I felt I had to start this thread because of the other mediocre threads on this topic that were lacking proper procedure, info on possible issues or pictures. One of them even said he cut the new gasket to install it :
Big shout out also to all the other fellow owners who have provided some great tips on how to make the job even easier or cheaper than what I have given.
P.S. I like your "Pan-A-Paloosa" term.

IMO this thread is the go-to-thread for the N52 oil pan gasket replacement. Thanks for starting it and to everyone who has contributed. It helped me immensely and as more people endeavor in the OPG repair we'll all even get better at it.

Like I stated in my contributions... the best mod you can do for this repair is use Permatex Black gasket sealer on the new gasket. The gasket design sucks. BMW should hire a Honda engineer or two to design its gaskets.

[Austin LeNomad]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

IMO this thread is the go-to-thread for the N52 oil pan gasket replacement. Thanks for starting it and to everyone who has contributed. It helped me immensely and as more people endeavor in the OPG repair we'll all even get better at it.

Like I stated in my contributions... the best mod you can do for this repair is use Permatex Black gasket sealer on the new gasket. The gasket design sucks. BMW should hire a Honda engineer or two to design its gaskets.

I agree, although I happen to use Permatex Copper instead. And if you are worried about gooping it on too much, there's the copper permatex spray. You can lay an even coat with that. I've used it for at least 15 years on about 2 dozen engines with great results. Like you, I think the gaskets could use some improvement.

As a humorous side note....my family came in a few times to watch this endeavor, and when they saw me lifting the engine, and the subframe separated from the car....they offered to give me all their vacation money to get myself a new car, because dad shouldn't have to go to this extent to keep a car running.

My mom, who was visiting, was telling them that that's how you know a car fanatic from a poser, when the frame or the engine has been separated from their car at least once for some project. I tried to protest, but she said she knew this was going to be a problem from the time I was 16 and the 400 small block had been removed from my brothers trans am while in the driveway, was deposited in the front yard, and it was snowing [my parents thought that by restricting us from working in the garage, we would be less inclined to attempt an upgrade on the cars].

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Austin LeNomad

I agree, although I happen to use Permatex Copper instead. And if you are worried about gooping it on too much, there's the copper permatex spray. You can lay an even coat with that. I've used it for at least 15 years on about 2 dozen engines with great results. Like you, I think the gaskets could use some improvement.

As a humorous side note....my family came in a few times to watch this endeavor, and when they saw me lifting the engine, and the subframe separated from the car....they offered to give me all their vacation money to get myself a new car, because dad shouldn't have to go to this extent to keep a car running.

My mom, who was visiting, was telling them that that's how you know a car fanatic from a poser, when the frame or the engine has been separated from their car at least once for some project. I tried to protest, but she said she knew this was going to be a problem from the time I was 16 and the 400 small block had been removed from my brothers trans am while in the driveway, was deposited in the front yard, and it was snowing [my parents thought that by restricting us from working in the garage, we would be less inclined to attempt an upgrade on the cars].

I needed to fix my own cars if I wanted to own one. My Dad encouraged it, he could fix just about anything; I was handing him tools when I was 6 or so. He had a big smile on his face when he finally saw my shop a few years before he passed on.

[KrashFinatik]

Well gentlemen and ladies it's official this thread is not for posers. It's pure gear head material.
Can I get an "amen"?!

[Donutz]

Amen

[KentD]

I just did this fix. Time consumming (took me 8.5 hours) when it is the first one, but I like to clean everything and sandblast/paint the things that I can. I'm pretty sure if I need to do another one, it can be done in 4.5 hours or less, on a 2 post hoist.

[///Mthr33]

Hey everyone! Just came to say I followed this and had success!

Couple of notes, on my 2008 n54 335i I did not have to undo the oil return line. I also had to remove the power steering pump since its attached to the oil pan.
I did however need to drop the "hydro steering box" to get the pan off. That being said I did notice a slight misaligned steering wheel (not centered). Not sure if this is something to do with the "hydro steering box" or if it became unaligned from dropping the subframe.

I also replaced my engine mounts at 105k (dont think I needed to, they seemed fine) took me probably 12-14 hours.. Spent most of my time searching for torque specs since I dont have a bentley.

[KrashFinatik]

Originally Posted by ///Mthr33

Hey everyone! Just came to say I followed this and had success!

Couple of notes, on my 2008 n54 335i I did not have to undo the oil return line. I also had to remove the power steering pump since its attached to the oil pan.
I did however need to drop the "hydro steering box" to get the pan off. That being said I did notice a slight misaligned steering wheel (not centered). Not sure if this is something to do with the "hydro steering box" or if it became unaligned from dropping the subframe.

I also replaced my engine mounts at 105k (dont think I needed to, they seemed fine) took me probably 12-14 hours.. Spent most of my time searching for torque specs since I dont have a bentley.

You guys have made this thread worth my effort. I am so pleased I was able to help whoever used it as a "guide".
It was killing me how the few threads I saw saw were just wrong on how they approached the job.

[flexspec]

Amen!

[Efthreeoh]

Amen. This thread was a God send. It's great that we all contribute to it.

[Austin LeNomad]

I'm glad that we still have all the pictures, unlike so many other DIY's now ruined and destroyed by the broken links.

[Sparkee]

Add me to the list of folks taking this on. My car is lowered and I hit a deep pothole a couple of years ago in the rain (couldn't see it cause it was full of water). It bent the V Brace (been replaced), put dents at the back of the exhaust headers near the O2 sensors (not enough to worry about - ignored), and put a bit of a dent in the oil pan (ouch!). It's been leaking at the gasket ever since, very so slowly. But, the pace picked up lately.

So, we (a buddy and I) are taking this on this weekend, and certainly continuing next weekend. We are doing the OPG, motor mounts, plus replacing the water pump and thermostat while at it. I think we are going to undo the tops of the struts to make more room, especially given it has lowering springs on it. I'll report on how we did.

My biggest fear is I'll be buying an oil pan after we see what it looks like off the motor.

Thanks KrashFinatik and all other posters for the useful information to get us started.

[Sparkee]

We got as far as getting the oil pan out and back in with the new gasket. At least on my 08 328i sedan, the heater return pipe needs to be disconnected to get the sub-frame dropped far enough to get the pan in and out. If it is not disconnected, it pulls the sub-frame rearward, which is exactly not what you want, and probably not great for the hoses either. We also disconnect the struts at the top, probably due to my lowered suspension. And, we had to hang the brake calipers from the disconnected strut springs to keep them high enough to allow the brake lines to reach, probably due to my aftermarket stainless brake lines. The sub-frame was as low as you can get it with the steering still attached.

The back to front angle of the dropped sub-frame also makes a difference. It is better to have the sub-frame rotated down towards the front of the car, which we accomplished with a combination of jack stands and the jack. This gives you more room to get the pan by the oil pump.

While it is evident from prior posters this can be done with one person, I am also certain this is much easier with two.

As for the bolts, BMW (or their OEM) puts heavy duty thread locker onto the bolts, such that we are certain that we were having to use well over 8nm of torque just to get them down flush. It didn't take long to figure out a torque wrench would be useless. It was more like drive them flush +90 but use feel to not over-torque them.

[Sparkee]

Done, on the third weekend of wrenching and beering with a buddy helping (on both counts). We replaced the oil pan gasket, the motor mounts, the water pump, and the thermostat. We should have been able to do it in two weekends except we accidentally took out a bolt holding on the A/C compressor thinking we were on the top bolt of the water pump. They are really close together and have the same E12 head. Local dealer didn't have them in stock, and not wanting to reuse the one time use bolt, we decided to quit after only about 4 hours of wrenching on second weekend and switch to strictly beering.

On tip from me to anybody doing this that hasn't replaced their water pump/thermostat, I would say while the sub-frame is lowered, it is a golden opportunity to do at the same time. It had to be a lot easier replacing these with it lowered. Not enough easier to warrant dropping the sub-frame just to do the pump though.

And while you might think that with the sub-frame lowered it would be easy to swap the motor mounts, it is but only if you have it lowered just a little bit. If you lower it a lot, the steering column interferes with access to the flange nut on top of the driver side mount (at least on my sedan). So, after we changed the oil pan gasket and updated the cooling system, we raised the sub-frame up to maybe an inch and a half below its normal position, and swapped them at that point, only putting them in with the top nut lightly snug (enough so the mount can be turned). Then when we raised the sub-frame, we spun the mounts to line up the bottom bolts and put them in finger tight. Then after raising the sub-frame we torqued all of those nuts and bolts.

Probably saved at least a couple of G's doing this myself, even after buying an engine brace and a couple of other tools. Thanks again to KrashFinatik and everybody on this thread for the advice on how to do this.

[motuman]

How far off the ground did everyone have to lift their car to reasonably get this done?

Obviously higher is better, but I'm doing it on jack stands and the higher the stands, the less safe it feels.

Anyone recall how tall a jack stand, or how high off the ground the subframe needs to be to get access?

[Sparkee]

I measured the height between the floor and the car at 17" when we did it. One step up from the bottom on my HF 6 ton jack stands. There was no problem doing it at that clearance, even allowing us to use jack stands under the lowered sub-frame to support it. I think it would be workable at 16".

[tom9192]

Just did this job and as everyone else says, getting the oil return hose clip off was a huge PITA. I tried a few methods, and ended up partially breaking the clip with a flat head screw driver. I think it should be ok as it still clicked in and was secure.

Question though- People mentioned using permatex black gasket maker on the gasket to ensure it doesn't leak again. I did this as I never want to do this job again, but now that everything is back together, I'm worried I put too much RTV on the gasket. I followed the directions and put a 1/8" bead on both sides of the gasket. After some research it looks like I should have spread an even, thin coating on the gasket instead.
What have others done?
Even if I did put too much on and some broke off into the oil, wouldn't the oil filter take care of it?
Is it a bad idea to use a gasket maker AND a gasket? Or would the better way be to use a sealer? (Don't know if there is a difference)
Maybe I'm just having the post-DIY worries

Also, would others recommend doing the water pump/thermostat while the subframe is dropped. Seems like it would be pretty quick to do as there is plenty of room. Eeuroparts has a full kit for $370.


Thanks!

[Meeni]

You can do the WP/Thermostat without dropping the subframe. Space is a small, but it can be done no problem.
If you really want to do something at the same time, look at the engine mounts, if mileage/age calls for it.

[Austin LeNomad]

Originally Posted by tom9192

Just did this job and as everyone else says, getting the oil return hose clip off was a huge PITA. I tried a few methods, and ended up partially breaking the clip with a flat head screw driver. I think it should be ok as it still clicked in and was secure.

Question though- People mentioned using permatex black gasket maker on the gasket to ensure it doesn't leak again. I did this as I never want to do this job again, but now that everything is back together, I'm worried I put too much RTV on the gasket. I followed the directions and put a 1/8" bead on both sides of the gasket. After some research it looks like I should have spread an even, thin coating on the gasket instead.
What have others done?
Even if I did put too much on and some broke off into the oil, wouldn't the oil filter take care of it?
Is it a bad idea to use a gasket maker AND a gasket? Or would the better way be to use a sealer? (Don't know if there is a difference)
Maybe I'm just having the post-DIY worries

Also, would others recommend doing the water pump/thermostat while the subframe is dropped. Seems like it would be pretty quick to do as there is plenty of room. Eeuroparts has a full kit for $370.


Thanks!

You probably did put a little too much, if it did squeeze out and go into the pan, I would just change the filter within a hundred miles or so of driving it, I did that on mine just for safety's sake, since junk of all sorts could have gotten in there anywhere. I also changed my oil after just a few hundred as well for the same reason, a bit like when you build a new engine, you replace the fluids to help drain away any junk.

If will put your mind at ease.

As for the other question about height, my measurements came in at 18" from the floor to the bottom of the car when raised. that gave me very good clearance.

[nerovega]

I did this job this weekend and everything went smooth until I go to bolt the subframe up. Everything lined up but the driver side rear subframe bolt will not thread all the way in. Gets to about 3 or 4 threads to the top and just stops. I can feel that it is cross threading if I apply force. This is so damn frustrating cause now i need to get to work next week and car us not drivable without the subframe bolted all the way in. I tried using my tap and die set but same issue. Gets almost to the top and just stops. I could turn it but i have to use a ton of force and i feel like that is just messing the hole up more.

Also the bolt is not bound by the subframe. After struggling i took out all the bolt on the subframe again and threaded the bolt through just the hole and same issue. Hole is messed up. Both rear subframe bolts thread all the way into the passenger side rear subframe hole.

Not sure what to do now. Never used a helicoil or thread insert.