[SObmw]

I recently purchased my first bmw. A 2007 328i with just 44k miles.


I purchased the car at a BMW dealer 300 miles from home, they had the car I wanted for a price I could afford.

However shortly after purchase, I noticed oil spots on my driveway followed by the "add 1qt oil" warning. I added oil to the engine and brought the car into my local BMW dealer to diagnose the problem.

They diagnosed a leaking oil filter housing gasket as well as a leaking oil pan gasket. I elected to have both replaced for a breezy $1,200 including parts and labor.

The next morning, oil on my driveway. I take the car back in and the dealer discovers continued leaking from the oil filter housing gasket which they offered to replace a second time at no charge.

Today I took the car in for the siriusxm retrofit ($1,098......) and to have it checked for more leaks. When the car was in last the tech put dye in the oil to search for leaks. Today the dealer noted that oil was seeping from the timing chain tensioner gasket, which I had them replace for $92 including labor ($2.97 part...).


Tonight, the car is still leaking oil.... The car left oil on the driveway again. I don't think its residual oil because the tech completely pressured washed all the underbody panels and cleaned the engine compartment if residual oil.

I can't take the car tomorrow because service is closed Sunday and my SA won't be in until Tuesday.


Does anyone have any ideas what else could be leaking? The dealer assured me it wasn't the valve cover gasket, it was dry all around that region.

I'm baffled as to what else there could be. I've spent over a grand at this dealer this week and feel like they are just replacing parts as a guess and check at an extreme cost to me. And at this point I'm pretty frustrated with the dealer...

Any ideas?.. Thanks everyone!

[EndOfAnEra]

Any idea the condition of your valve cover gasket?

[SObmw]

Originally Posted by EndOfAnEra

Any idea the condition of your valve cover gasket?

No idea. I look I. The engine compartment and the engine is dry all around the sides. The only place I ever saw oil was on the front side, from the filter housing. The tech said there was not oil in the spark plug valleys. I also have not smelled burning oil at all.

[E90joee]

change the oil filter housing gasket, its about $13 and theres a DIY on the forum

[SObmw]

Originally Posted by e92joe

change the oil filter housing gasket, its about $13 and theres a DIY on the forum

The dealer has replaced the oil filter housing gasket twice already, I really don't think it should be leaking from there anymore

[BklynTico506]

How sure are you its not leaking at the rear of the valve cover gasket? are you sure it's MOTOR oil? vs power steering or brake fluid? Just some more things to double check.

[SObmw]

Originally Posted by BklynTico506

How sure are you its not leaking at the rear of the valve cover gasket? are you sure it's MOTOR oil? vs power steering or brake fluid? Just some more things to double check.

Update:

After replacing the oil pan gasket, oil fix housing gasket (twice due to error) and timing chain tensioner gasket, the car still leaked oil on my driveway when parked for even short periods of time.

I took it BACK to the dealer last monday morning to express my disappointment in their inability to correctly diagnose an oil leak. The dealer got me setup in a 2015 328i w/435miles on it, brand new at no charge.

They had my car overnight and called me Tuesday with the findings. Turns out that the "front crank gasket" was the culprit. They claim that it is hard to diagnose because it only leaks when the engine is running....

They overnighted the new seal which arrived Wednesday, however, they were unable to find the special BMW tool necessary to do the job. The dealer searched for the tool in their shop (they once had this tool) and was unable to find it by Thursday night so ordered a new tool from BMW which of course, ships from Germany.

The dealer is hoping to have the tool in by this Thursday and have the repair done by Saturday, im keeping my fingers crossed that this is indeed the culprit of the oil leak and i will be good to go after that.

Until then, the dealer is letting me keep the 2015 loaner car with no mileage restriction. They are also doing this repair at no charge due to the fact they charged me aprox. $1,300 for the other oil leak repairs which in hindsight may not have had to have been done at all. So overall i cant be to angry with the dealer as they are doing their best to make it right. When the pickup the car this weekend hopefully it will be leak free at last.

[thomas88162]

Sounds like you have found yourself and honorable dealership. Keep close to them, those are rare.

[TheSt|G]

Sounds as if you are being treated very well.

[Agentphish]

Thank your SA for getting that taken care of and not putting you through more runaround. He did the right thing. You can even ask to speak to the tech to thank him for finally figuring it out. Sucks that it happened how it did but at least those repairs are done. OFHG would have needed done sooner than later anyhow, just did mine at 63K and while there was no leak, it was starting to flake a bit internally into the coolant.

Protip: Understanding/niceness & honesty goes a LONG way with anyone in the service industry. Source: 4.5 years diagnosing & fixing other people's broken shit 6 days a week.

Now... If you still see leaks, you go back, and you ask your SA to speak with the shop foreman immediately. See what he has to say about it.