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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > DIY: E90 Oil Pan Gasket and Subframe Drop



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      07-20-2018, 06:03 AM   #199
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Quote:
"You maybe reading the oil level wrong here"
+1 and some more, he is reading the oil level wrong.
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      07-20-2018, 06:13 AM   #200
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Quote:
Originally Posted by egybimmerdiy View Post
Hi Bendy22,

Thanks for quick reply.
Yes, Im pretty sure that the error message indicated that I had less than 1 quart left. Within minutes I went form being in the middle between the min and max points of the digital oil level range to being under the min point with the worlds (>1 qrt) appearing on the dashboard.

I didn't see any smoke coming form the back of the car and didn't hear any weird noises. The car drove just fine. I drove it for about 5 more min from the time the low oil level message came on to get home so hope I didn't f*&$ up the engine.
First, relax.

Second, do not undo any of the job you did.

You are misreading what the computer is telling you. It tells you that the oil level is 1 quart less than full, and asking you to add 1 quart. As others already posted it is like the dipstick used to be. It is showing the level of the last quarter.

Also the engine needs 7 qt of oil with each oil change. You put 6 qts, and now it is telling you that you need to add 1 qt more, that is just expected, nothing wrong there.

I don't know why you decided it would need 6 qts to fill.

And the oil sweating between the transmission bell housing and oil pan area, some of the oil that had been leaking goes there. Anyone who had leaking oil pan has some oil accumulated in there. This residual oil keeps coming out slowly after fixing the oil pan leak for a few days.

If you see oil there still coming out after a week or so, it may indicate you have rear crankshaft seal leaking.

So just add 1 more qt oil as the computer is telling you to the engine, and clean and watch out that area a week or so, if oil will stop coming out or not. If it keeps coming out there, you may, but necessarily, may rear seal issue.
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      07-24-2018, 11:33 AM   #201
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I am finally finished with my 2006 330i N52 with manual transmission and sports package.

TIPS:
1. Buy a new crankcase return pipe for $30 from someplace like Bavarian Autosports. When you get to the point where you need to disconnect the crankcase return, use the large screwdriver to hit the bottom of the bell as described in this thread. It does not matter if you break the yellow connector inside because it takes maybe five minutes to take the connector out and put a new one in. You just have to make sure the o ring / spacer / o ring sandwich goes back in first if the fall out of the one on your car.
2. The wobble extensions from harbor freight mentioned in this thread work very well for this project.
3. I was able to install and torque most of the oil pan bolts by reaching over the front of the subframe. The only ones I couldn’t reach that way were the ones on the back edge of the pan and one or two around the crankcase return pipe.
4. Use Permatex Permashield on the oil pan and the side of the gasket that touches the pan. This is precisely what the product was made for. As a bonus, it kept the gasket perfectly in place while I wiggled, lifted, and turned the oil pan back into place. I did not use Permatex Permashield on the engine block because it is a finely machined chunk of alloy. I just cleaned it good. Besides, I may have to take the oil pan off again someday. The oil pan itself is steel sheet metal or whatever and is more directly subjected to the rigors of the road. So it makes sense to use a sealer on that part.
5. Disconnect the heater return pipe from the steering rack. Do not let the subframe hang from the pipe. I think I broke a holding strap of some variety by not doing this early enough in the process. The strap is directly below the power steering cylinder. On my car there were three T30 screws to remove. I’d recommend getting a low profile Torx rachet for this. I used an attachment on a regular ratchet and it was really rather miserable getting those bolts in and out that way.
6. I changed the engine mounts and immediately noticed a stark difference in how the car ran. I used $50 Rein mounts. I can’t imagine that pricey genuine “HD” 335 mounts would be much better. Certainly not rnough to justify the extra $.

Here is a list of what I thought were unnecessary steps the thread starter took. They seemed to cost me time and provided no value. YMMV.

16. On the drivers side remove the bracket protecting the fuel & brake lines. [Not necessary. Smack that crankcase return pipe bell with a screwdriver. Also, don’t bother with the disconnect kit from AutoZone.]
17. Unbolt the power steering hose at the right front of the sub frame. This will allow it to move for the oil pan later. [I don’t think this added anything at all for me. I disconnect the bracket from the steering rack rather than mess with the twisty gizmo on the lines - didn’t want to damage them.]
18. Unclip the A/C pipe which will allow it to move easier for the oil pan later. [Didn’t need to do this.]
20. Remember that plate protecting the fuel & brake lines we removed? Well this is to give you room to remove the tube from the oil return line (which is a PITA!!!) try your best to not break it. [Go ahead and break that yellow connector. No big deal to fix and WAAAY easier than messing with the damn pipe for an hour.]

Problems:
1. Not having a new crankcase return pipe to bum the connector off of.
2. Having the wrong torque specs for oil condition sensor bolts and snapping all three of them. Got the bolts fixed at a machine shop for $120.

Last edited by Pohsib; 07-24-2018 at 08:47 PM..
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      07-25-2018, 06:08 AM   #202
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pohsib View Post
Also, don’t bother with the disconnect kit from AutoZone
I used the plastic Autozone disconnect tool after the oil pan gasket replacement three times to disconnect that return line, worked each time, didn't have to replace the pipe nor replace internals of it :P (One time to replace the faulty oil separator, another time to replace the starter and third time to fix a mistake I had made while replacing the starter) It works. I was going from above the engine those times though, to remove the intake manifold.

But even from under the engine for oil pan gasket replacement, you just need to push the tool in place, then push the hose end up, it will disconnect. That plastic tool has an open area that you can push the hose up through it with a flat screw driver like you did. The difference it won't break anything. I didn't know about that disconnect tool when I did my oil pan gasket, but I had another way having cast aluminum oil pan, the tube that goes into the pan is threaded in (and plastic) in those. I just unthreaded that tube. The steel oil pans have that tube welded.

If there was enough room the oil return pipe can even be disconnected by hand. The major resistance is coming from the O-rings, even when locking ring is in unlocked position. The ring gets into unlocked position if you push the connector down towards the oil pan. Then If (not enough room) you can grab the two knurled sides not to let the locking ring go down and lock again, you can just pull it out. The Autozone disconnect tool unlocks the ring and as long as you keep the tool pushed up, it won't let the ring lock back again.
(All this is relevant only for Silver top (magnesium valve cover) N52 engines '06 models)
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      07-25-2018, 08:20 AM   #203
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PhaseP View Post
I used the plastic Autozone disconnect tool after the oil pan gasket replacement three times to disconnect that return line, worked each time, didn't have to replace the pipe nor replace internals of it :P (One time to replace the faulty oil separator, another time to replace the starter and third time to fix a mistake I had made while replacing the starter) It works. I was going from above the engine those times though, to remove the intake manifold.
From above the engine with the intake manifold removed? I don't think anyone else in this thread did that. I'm not sure if the disconnect tool is going to serve most people with the specific repair in this thread.

It's possible I could have lowered the engine a little bit to get a better grasp of the crankcase return pipe - I am not sure. I do know that spent quite a bit of time with the AutoZone tool - time that I'd like to have back. Instead, I'll settle for getting my $10 back.

More to the point: AutoZone tool is only $10 and can be returned. The crankcase return pipe is only $30 and can be returned. I doubt anyone is going to want to be held up with this time consuming repair by not having $40 of returnable items. So I'd recommend getting the AutoZone tool with that in mind.

Last edited by Pohsib; 07-25-2018 at 11:07 AM..
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      07-26-2018, 07:06 PM   #204
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All Oil Leaked Out after Installing New Oil Pan Gasket

Quote:
Originally Posted by PhaseP View Post
First, relax.

Second, do not undo any of the job you did.

You are misreading what the computer is telling you. It tells you that the oil level is 1 quart less than full, and asking you to add 1 quart. As others already posted it is like the dipstick used to be. It is showing the level of the last quarter.

Also the engine needs 7 qt of oil with each oil change. You put 6 qts, and now it is telling you that you need to add 1 qt more, that is just expected, nothing wrong there.

I don't know why you decided it would need 6 qts to fill.

And the oil sweating between the transmission bell housing and oil pan area, some of the oil that had been leaking goes there. Anyone who had leaking oil pan has some oil accumulated in there. This residual oil keeps coming out slowly after fixing the oil pan leak for a few days.

If you see oil there still coming out after a week or so, it may indicate you have rear crankshaft seal leaking.

So just add 1 more qt oil as the computer is telling you to the engine, and clean and watch out that area a week or so, if oil will stop coming out or not. If it keeps coming out there, you may, but necessarily, may rear seal issue.

Thanks to everyone that has pitched in and replied to my post. Really appreciate the advice.

It turns out that I might have not plugged in the oil level sensor cable correctly after changing the oil pan gasket. The message I was seeing on the dashboard was indeed indicating that I had less than 1 quart of oil which is less than the minimum level.

I found this link online that shows a similar error message: https://www.quora.com/Does-check-eng...0-1L-to-top-up

I drained the oil pan and it was clear that it was full. So I made sure the oil level sensor plug is connected properly and put in new oil: 6 Quartz. Have been driving the car now for over a week and the oil level sensor shows that the oil level is at max level ;-)

Regarding the sweating, what i did is I just changed the bolts around the area that was sweating (bell housing) with new ones and re-torqued. Will check again in a few weeks to see if that helped or not and how much oil is coming out.

Thanks again for the tips.
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      07-27-2018, 07:40 PM   #205
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Quote:
Originally Posted by egybimmerdiy View Post
So I made sure the oil level sensor plug is connected properly and put in new oil: 6 Quartz.
Engine takes 7 quarts of oil. (6.5 litres, 6.9 qts to be exact)
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      07-28-2018, 06:30 PM   #206
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three years later, I'm having the same leaky oil pan...local bmw shop wanted 3k to do it ! haha awesome thread!!!
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      07-31-2018, 05:36 PM   #207
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PhaseP View Post
Engine takes 7 quarts of oil. (6.5 litres, 6.9 qts to be exact)

You are right. After putting in 6 quarts the digital oil level sensor showed that it was completely full. But after driving for a couple of days it went down a notch to about 75-80%. So I guess thats the missing quart.
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      08-02-2018, 03:31 AM   #208
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Hey guys. I might be overthinking it here, but is there much difference in gaskets? I am planing to use some permatex on new gasket anyways.

Website showing 3 options. Reinz $25, Elring $20 and OEM $50.....

https://www.bavauto.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=oil+pan
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      08-21-2018, 08:10 PM   #209
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SeattleDude View Post
Hey guys. I might be overthinking it here, but is there much difference in gaskets? I am planing to use some permatex on new gasket anyways.

Website showing 3 options. Reinz $25, Elring $20 and OEM $50.....

https://www.bavauto.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=oil+pan
I used the Elring. Seems like a good gasket to me. As mentioned in a couple posts above, I used the Permatex gasket sealer (the gooey blue stuff) on mine. Everything seems to be working fine with no oil leak discernible.
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      08-22-2018, 03:24 AM   #210
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Was told about 2 yrs ago at just under 90k miles, when I last had my 335i oil/filter changed, that the oil pan gasket needed to be replaced.

Need to get the oil/filter changed again at just over 100k miles now. No lectures about the need for more frequent servicing please. Haven't had to add any oil to the engine since the last oil change and when I checked the oil level, if was about in the middle of the gauge (if the graphic can be believed).

So, if the gasket is leaking, it's not leaking so much as to be of any real concern and not anything I'm going to do anything about until it is.
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      09-03-2018, 08:17 PM   #211
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Did mine today... car turned 100,000 miles and I was a quart low on oil. Been leaking a while but hadn’t gotten low enough to add till now. I didn’t want to waste a quart and I had all the parts in my possession already so I decided to do some labor on Labor Day! Took me 11 hours total with breaks for breakfast and smokes and iPad referrals to threads. I take my time and do shit right plus I’m 50 and I kinda run out of gas after 9 or 10 hours under a car in Florida. Not the hardest job ever but very time consuming. Worst part for me was getting the belt back on the pulley at the very end. Too much shit in the way of the tensioner and I really didn’t want to take any of it out at that point. Never unbolted rack... left top of struts alone. harbor freight engine support.... lots of swivels and extensions and stubby and extra length swivel head ratchets. No torque wrench for me. My full time job as a machinist affords me the ability to know what tight is and what you’re gonna snap that is. Pretty hard to use a torque wrench in places you can barely get to with custom extension swivel setups...
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      09-04-2018, 08:20 AM   #212
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gotturbo View Post
Did mine today... car turned 100,000 miles and I was a quart low on oil. Been leaking a while but hadn’t gotten low enough to add till now. I didn’t want to waste a quart and I had all the parts in my possession already so I decided to do some labor on Labor Day! Took me 11 hours total with breaks for breakfast and smokes and iPad referrals to threads. I take my time and do shit right plus I’m 50 and I kinda run out of gas after 9 or 10 hours under a car in Florida. Not the hardest job ever but very time consuming. Worst part for me was getting the belt back on the pulley at the very end. Too much shit in the way of the tensioner and I really didn’t want to take any of it out at that point. Never unbolted rack... left top of struts alone. harbor freight engine support.... lots of swivels and extensions and stubby and extra length swivel head ratchets. No torque wrench for me. My full time job as a machinist affords me the ability to know what tight is and what you’re gonna snap that is. Pretty hard to use a torque wrench in places you can barely get to with custom extension swivel setups...
I'm glad to hear you got the job done, but I have to stress the importance of using the proper torque specs. There is a chance you might encounter a leak later on.
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      09-06-2018, 08:27 AM   #213
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KrashFinatik View Post
I'm glad to hear you got the job done, but I have to stress the importance of using the proper torque specs. There is a chance you might encounter a leak later on.
I actually ended up checking the torque three times. I believe the Permatex Permashield recommends re-checking the torque. I figure I'm not going to spend all those hours doing the repair and short change a critical part of the process by skipping torquing the bolts properly. Plus, the hard part is figuring out how to get to all those bolts. Once you've done that, it's easy to re-check. I think I mentioned that I was able to get to most of the bolts by simply reaching back over the front of the dropped subframe. The remaining few I could get to from directly beneath the back of the pan.
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      09-13-2018, 01:19 PM   #214
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pohsib View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrashFinatik View Post
I'm glad to hear you got the job done, but I have to stress the importance of using the proper torque specs. There is a chance you might encounter a leak later on.
I actually ended up checking the torque three times. I believe the Permatex Permashield recommends re-checking the torque. I figure I'm not going to spend all those hours doing the repair and short change a critical part of the process by skipping torquing the bolts properly. Plus, the hard part is figuring out how to get to all those bolts. Once you've done that, it's easy to re-check. I think I mentioned that I was able to get to most of the bolts by simply reaching back over the front of the dropped subframe. The remaining few I could get to from directly beneath the back of the pan.
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      09-18-2018, 01:45 PM   #215
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pohsib View Post
I used the Elring. Seems like a good gasket to me. As mentioned in a couple posts above, I used the Permatex gasket sealer (the gooey blue stuff) on mine. Everything seems to be working fine with no oil leak discernible.
I bought Elring as well. Planning on doing the replacement on my wife's 2006 325i Auto this weekend. It has had a small leak since 90k, and has been slowly getting worse. It is now 198k. This is great thread with lots of insights and I will post my experience. Keeping fingers crossed!!
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      11-14-2018, 10:58 AM   #216
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I have to do the Oil Pan Gasket and I was looking at a few diy, but couldn't find the bolt sequence for tightening the Oil Pan. I know the torque is 8Nm+(90 or 180), can anybody help me with the bolt sequence, please?
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      12-01-2018, 08:28 AM   #217
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Excellent information on this job and greatly appreciated as I'm just starting on this job and some other work, my list is quite lengthy but want everything done when I pull it out of my shop. I bought a quickjack 7000 ext and an engine hoist as I do all my own work on my vehicles unless it's just beyond my capabilities.

Oil Pan gasket and oil level sensor seal.
Transmission output shaft seal
Cat back exhaust
330i intake manifold with DISA valves
Water pump, thermostat and coolant hoses
SAS removal/ cleaning
I'm now considering the engine mounts while I'm in there. The Ghost has 101k miles on it and I'm already there.
Rear trailing arm bushings.
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      12-03-2018, 06:44 PM   #218
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No sequence is given in TIS!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dihorul View Post
I have to do the Oil Pan Gasket and I was looking at a few diy, but couldn't find the bolt sequence for tightening the Oil Pan. I know the torque is 8Nm+(90 or 180), can anybody help me with the bolt sequence, please?
No sequence is givne by BMW at:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...l-sump/GOqL9kT

Last edited by 2002; 12-03-2018 at 06:46 PM.. Reason: URL
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      12-05-2018, 07:39 AM   #219
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In general for big pieces like oil pan, start in the middle then go outwards in a combination of cross and spiral pattern. You can google for "valve cover bolt pattern" and have some idea.
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      01-28-2019, 12:13 PM   #220
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
Disassemble the plastic heater hose line running across the front of the subfame. It is affixed to the subframe by two torx bolts along the front and one torx bolt on the drivers side. It will let the subframe drop much farther and move around a lot more. Also jack the engine up as far as it will go in the front. Once you do those two things you'll have plenty of room to put the pan back in.
I think I found a better way to get at those pesky torx bolts that hold the plastic heater hose line in place: remove the air intake duct and housing. Then you would reach down from the top to get those two torx bolts. This is at least an order of magnitude easier to remove those plastic heater hose torx bolts from above. I recommend detaching plastic heater hose because otherwise you’re going to be leaving a lot of weight on it.

Abbreviated procedure
1. Remove two T20 Torx fasteners for the intake duct.
2. Release retaining tabs on each side intake air duct connection at air filter housing and pull duct off.
3. Loosen hose clamp and remove air filter housing fasteners
4. Disconnect mass air flow sensor electrical connector.
5. Remove air filter housing from vehicle
Full procedure here
https://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/tec..._Replacing.htm

Then you’d remove plastic heater hose torx bolts. It helps to know what you’re looking for but they are pretty much in plain sight. If I could ever figure out how to post iPhone pics here on the forum I would show you. I’m going to keep the pictures saved on my phone for the time being.
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