[rw335i]

2008 335i 78k miles. Has anyone tried this? My leak isn't real bad yet - a little over 1/2 qt in 5k miles but of course it may get worse. Just had an oil change and the mechanic suggested I add the Lucas product when the oil level has gone down far enough. He said he has done this before and it worked. My main concern would be the Vanos system.

[WoodE30]

Originally Posted by rw335i

2008 335i 78k miles. Has anyone tried this? My leak isn't real bad yet - a little over 1/2 qt in 5k miles but of course it may get worse. Just had an oil change and the mechanic suggested I add the Lucas product when the oil level has gone down far enough. He said he has done this before and it worked. My main concern would be the Vanos system.

If the leak isn't bad I wouldn't add that stuff. Our engine have pretty tight tolerances and the vanos system might not like that stopleak. Just fix the leak when it's gets worse.

[JM98]

Stop leak products work in generally three ways: by causing seals to expand via a chemical process, physically plugging pinhole leaks via suspended media (ex. radiator stop leak), or increasing oil viscosity to a point where the oil will no longer weep pass the seals.

I cant find a single reason to recommend using them unless you are trying to sell an old car and are being dishonest about the condition of the engine.

You are better off just topping off as needed and doing the gasket when you can.

[BarraCuda]

The only thing that belongs in a crank case is the best oil possible! Period!

Treat your BMW like its the ultimate driving machine and she will take good care of you!

[whyzee125]

Definitely not. Maybe try some AT205 reseal either in the engine oil for 5 hours of running or in a spray bottle sprayed around the perimeter od the gasket.

[porsche959]

Meh. The 3 series is like the Corolla of the bmw world. Should be fine.

[Efthreeoh]

The seal leaks because the design sucks. The seal is basically three little rubber ribs that eventually carbonize and get brittle. No chemical will bring any resiliency back to the gasket.

Further, the engine in the E9X is a slant-6, so it's canted over about 30 deg., which means the oil drips off the windage tray right into the seam between the bottom of the block and the oil pan. Once the pan gasket hardens, the oil seeps through. It makes a mess in the bell housing and tricks you into thinking the rear crank seal is bad.

Just replace the gasket.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by porsche959

Meh. The 3 series is like the Corolla of the bmw world. Should be fine.

How does this help the OP? Stop being a troll.

[marvinstockman]

More likely you are burning 1/2 qt in 5K miles, and you need to just ignore it.

Now is your oil pan leaking or weeping? Is there a puddle of oil on the ground where you park?

[CTinline-six]

Any mechanic who recommends stop leak is a hack doing a disservice to their customers. I've personally seen stop leak cause owners thousands of dollars in repairs, especially when used in cooling systems. It's one of the biggest scams out there and can easily ruin an engine, oil/coolant heat exchangers, etc.

The only fix for the oil pan gasket is to replace the gasket. If you use a little Ultra Black RTV on the gasket when re-installing it, that will help it last a bit longer.

The oil pan leak is just a minor annoyance that won't really hurt anything besides your driveway unless it is really bad and dumping oil all over everything. The critical gaskets on these engines are the oil filter housing and the valve cover. One can dump oil on the belts causing the belt to shred and get sucked behind the crank seal, and the other dumps oil straight onto the hot exhaust manifold.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The seal leaks because the design sucks. The seal is basically three little rubber ribs that eventually carbonize and get brittle. No chemical will bring any resiliency back to the gasket.

Further, the engine in the E9X is a slant-6, so it's canted over about 30 deg., which means the oil drips off the windage tray right into the seam between the bottom of the block and the oil pan. Once the pan gasket hardens, the oil seeps through. It makes a mess in the bell housing and tricks you into thinking the rear crank seal is bad.

Just replace the gasket.

100% this.


or, since it's a 1/2 a quart in 5K miles, you just ignore it.

it's probably not gonna get any worse.
Mines been weeping since, forever, and I don't even worry about it.
it's not worth the hassle of dropping the subframe and taking apart the front drive to get at it for me.
if it starts leaking more, maybe, but at 156K miles it's still just a slight weep that doesn't even require adding oil between 7K mile oil changes.

like all old cars you have to determine if fixing it is worth the effort and money, or if you just monitor it because you're driving a ten year old car and it's not.

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by porsche959

Meh. The 3 series is like the Corolla of the bmw world. Should be fine.

hahah, yeah . I've tried it for OP.

I have a small leak , but very small.

Put that lucas oil stabilizer (not the stop leak), and during winter time I don't have any stain on my drive way.

Good or not? I don't know, but so far so good. My car is @ high mileage and don't worth a lot, so I've tested it.

Also note that this is probably linked my Mann filter collapsing issue. Using mahle filter and all good.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by nsjames

100% this.


or, since it's a 1/2 a quart in 5K miles, you just ignore it.

it's probably not gonna get any worse.
Mines been weeping since, forever, and I don't even worry about it.
it's not worth the hassle of dropping the subframe and taking apart the front drive to get at it for me.
if it starts leaking more, maybe, but at 156K miles it's still just a slight weep that doesn't even require adding oil between 7K mile oil changes.

like all old cars you have to determine if fixing it is worth the effort and money, or if you just monitor it because you're driving a ten year old car and it's not.

I agree, and that's how I approached my car. Then at 293K, about 100,000 miles after the pan started weeping, I pulled the trans to replace the clutch, the rear pan leak just makes a huge mess in the bell housing.

That's my only issue about leaving the leak alone. It makes a mess inside the bell housing and makes it appear the rear crank seal is leaking.

[riczon.335i]

If your going to add an additive I would use Liqui Moly Oil Saver.

Originally Posted by rw335i

2008 335i 78k miles. Has anyone tried this? My leak isn't real bad yet - a little over 1/2 qt in 5k miles but of course it may get worse. Just had an oil change and the mechanic suggested I add the Lucas product when the oil level has gone down far enough. He said he has done this before and it worked. My main concern would be the Vanos system.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I agree, and that's how I approached my car. Then at 293K, about 100,000 miles after the pan started weeping, I pulled the trans to replace the clutch, the rear pan leak just makes a huge mess in the bell housing.

That's my only issue about leaving the leak alone. It makes a mess inside the bell housing and makes it appear the rear crank seal is leaking.

autotragic ftw in this case.

[kanovic]

Just use some rtv and you are good to go. Lol

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

lol, lucas oil

[mecheng77]

I used atp 205 on a car I had with slightly bad valve stem seals, it worked amazingly well honestly I was surprised. The labour to replace the seals was insane so it was worth it.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by rw335i

2008 335i 78k miles. Has anyone tried this? My leak isn't real bad yet - a little over 1/2 qt in 5k miles but of course it may get worse. Just had an oil change and the mechanic suggested I add the Lucas product when the oil level has gone down far enough. He said he has done this before and it worked. My main concern would be the Vanos system.

How much of that is leaking out of the oil pan gasket....and how much is the engine burning? It's normal for the N54's to consume oil.

If you are just getting a drip or two on the ground every once and a while...I would not mess with it until you can pull the pan and fix it right. I would never dump any stop leak into my motor.

[aeromarknyc]

i too have a little weep and was thinking of replacing the oil pan bolts with new and tighten to spec. anyone do this with any success and know if any bolts arent accessible on a N55 E90 ix? just want to hold off the repair, not sure how long im going to keep the car.

[Moisture]

Originally Posted by WoodE30

If the leak isn't bad I wouldn't add that stuff. Our engine have pretty tight tolerances and the vanos system might not like that stopleak. Just fix the leak when it's gets worse.

How have you concluded that these engines have "tight tolerances?"

What would you consider an engine with "tight tolerances" and otherwise?