Xi, X-Drive engine oil pan gasket replacement on a 2006 325XI

mp-E46 · 03-26-2017, 08:09 AM

PhaseP - Many thanks for writing a very detailed procedure. You put a great deal of time to help out fellow fanatics.

I would imagine this would be the same for the 2011 e90 XDrive?

PhaseP · 03-26-2017, 08:28 AM

Yes, XI and XDrive are same thing, just change in marketing terms.

mp-E46 · 03-26-2017, 08:44 AM

Cool. My car is in at the dealer with three days left on the CPO warranty to expire. Thank God.

I took the belly cover off and noticed leaks on the front diff, OFHG, Transmission cooler and Oil pan. So they are replacing the Front diff, OFHG, VCG and rear diff seals under warranty. I am trying to get them to replace the Oil pan gasket as well. I will find out more on Monday. There was a little sign of oil near the rear bolts where it attaches to Transmission.

I assume they will not need to take the passenger axle out to replace the front diff.... I wouldn't mind if I had to pay a reasonable amount since they are taking majority of the component off.

What would you say it takes time wise? Also I have a four post lift which would make things a bit easier. I also have e46 that need the same job

PhaseP · 03-26-2017, 08:53 AM

I would say dedicate a weekend for the work. How long it will take will depend on if you will have to fight with rust frozen bolts or not and whether you have previous experience with similar work or not.

Dealer maybe only replacing the driver side axle seal, which is where it common to leak in my experience. Then they won't remove the front differential, and lower the frame, only remove driver side half axle.

mp-E46 · 03-26-2017, 09:03 AM

The dealer is replacing the front diff. The gasket is leaking.
They confirmed it on Friday and the part is on order.

Greyfox · 03-26-2017, 10:09 AM

This is another post that I've pulled down and going to create a pdf of.

I've had found a couple informational posts that because of the age of them, links and pictures have disappeared.

I'll put it up as soon as I finish editing and cleaning up.

mp-E46 · 03-27-2017, 02:41 PM

PhaseP - Does the Passenger side axle definitely need to come out to replace the gasket. If you remove the front diff with subframe lowered. Is there enough room to drop the oil pan and slide it toward the driver side to remove the passenger side axle and be remove the oil pan....

PhaseP · 03-27-2017, 02:48 PM

I don't think so. I don't think you can remove the differential without removing both axles anyway. You can try to remove the differential from passenger axle in place, but you can break something. The o-ring holding protrusion that goes into the tube on the oil pan is not very thick. You will have to pry on it to free the axle's c-ring.
If you ask me you won't be saving any time, and will make it more difficult. It is up to you though.

mp-E46 · 03-27-2017, 03:35 PM

Reason I ask is the dealer replaced the front diff this morning and i had contacted the dealer to see while they have everything apart, they might as well replace the OPG. They told me OPG was not leaking.... Again the job is a CPO warranty....
I wish they had replaced it. They have made a note of it though.

Farroar · 10-11-2017, 05:33 PM

This IS an amazing write up. I started doing this project but hit a HUGE snag. If anyone is going to attempt this with a 335XI you're going to have a bad time

On the 335, you can't access all of the pedestal bolts. The exhaust is in the way due to how the turbos are situated. You'd have a whole new project getting the exhaust all the way up to the turbos off. It added a whole new dimension to the project.

Looks like I'm pulling the plug on this one. Maybe next year I'll give it another go!

Thanks again for all of the effort put into this. My brother has a 325xi, so at least I could help him with this if he wants to do it.

PhaseP · 10-11-2017, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farroar

This IS an amazing write up. I started doing this project but hit a HUGE snag. If anyone is going to attempt this with a 335XI you're going to have a bad time

On the 335, you can't access all of the pedestal bolts. The exhaust is in the way due to how the turbos are situated. You'd have a whole new project getting the exhaust all the way up to the turbos off. It added a whole new dimension to the project.

Thanks for the feedback.
It has been a long while since I did this on my 325XI, so my memory is vague even how crowded or not with mine there. But wouldn't it be possible to drop the oil pan with the pedestal on your 335XI once you got the subframe dropped all the way? Then you can remove and replace the pedestal o-ring outside of the car.

PhaseP · 10-11-2017, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farroar

This IS an amazing write up. I started doing this project but hit a HUGE snag. If anyone is going to attempt this with a 335XI you're going to have a bad time

On the 335, you can't access all of the pedestal bolts. The exhaust is in the way due to how the turbos are situated. You'd have a whole new project getting the exhaust all the way up to the turbos off. It added a whole new dimension to the project.

Looks like I'm pulling the plug on this one. Maybe next year I'll give it another go!

Thanks again for all of the effort put into this. My brother has a 325xi, so at least I could help him with this if he wants to do it.

I think you should reconsider and take a look again. I don't own a 335XI, but it doesn't seem to me the exhaust would prevent removal of the pedestal bolts. Because they cannot be on the way of the passenger side axle going into it. I would think if you remove the passenger side axle you would access the bolts from the space left by the removal of the axle from wheel well. But even from under the engine you probably will be able reach them. And then worse case as I wrote in previous post you should be able to drop it bolted to the oil pan and remove it outside if you chose to replace the o-ring that seals its on the oil pan surface, which I do recommend because I heard those O-rings can leak, why not do it when you have the perfect opportunity to do so.

This is a picture I could find of an 5 series N55 or N54, three of bolts are exposed in this picture accesable. Granted 5 series is bigger so should have more room, but still:

http://cdn4.pelicanparts.com/techart...mall/pic11.jpg

I couldn't find any reference that mentions need of removal of exhaust to replace the oil pan for N55/N54 3 series.

Jacebror · 10-11-2017, 11:51 PM

Holy crap what an awesome write up. When I did my first oil change on my 335(xi, ix, xdrive), I noticed the pan leaking some. I never have oil in my garage, and it had been 7k miles since last oil change and it only just said I was under the high mark on the "dipstick" in the last couple weeks. Since I only drive it maybe a 150 miles a week haven't been too worried about adding oil since it was only a quarter of a quart. So I kinda wonder the same with the gasket leak. I never see drips on the pavement...

PhaseP · 10-11-2017, 11:58 PM

It may be your oil filter housing (called OFH here in short) gasket leaking, and or valve cover gasket. 3 most common. If OFH is leaking it is better to take care of it early, because if oil gets to the accessory belt, it is known to slip off and then get chewed up and sucked into the engine by the front crank seal. If you have oil on the front surface of the engine behind the belt and pulleys your OFH is leaking. There is a ton of info and DIY on that since it is most common and the easiest to fix. Valve cover gasket leak usually ends up on the passenger side wall of the engine due to engine being slanted towards passenger side, you can check there. There is a lot of DIY and other info on that too. The oil pan leak visible under engine inspection. The most it leaks again on the passenger side and again because engine is slanted that side of the gasket internally exposed to returning oil. Some of the engine oil comes down on the transmission bell housing area from oil pan gasket leak.
People complain about the oil sensor and not having dipstick, but it has an advantage, it does tell you when you are low a quarter.

Farroar · 10-13-2017, 07:07 AM

Here are two shots of where the top left pedestal bolt is located. It's right behind the wider downpipe from the turbo. I could pop off the clamps above and try to finagle my way in there but that's not a guarantee.

If I can drop the pan with the pedestal in place, then that's the solution! Anyone confirm that is possible?

I'm also trying to see if there are any other differences with the 335 vs the 325 that would cause other issues. On the passenger side of the engine, you have to deal with the charge pipe from the turbo in order to get to the engine mount. It's a super tight fit there too. I think suspension is the same since they are both XI and similar weights

Farroar · 10-13-2017, 07:12 AM

PhaseP Thanks for looking up that image. It is similar but you can see in my situation, the pedestal is a lot closer to the exhaust. I'd say that the bolt in question is maybe 1" away from the downpipe, probably closer.

So let's assume that I'm going to leave it there. I can't see any issues with that? I'll have to take a look under the car again but the only that's down there is subframe parts, which I will be removing anyway.

PhaseP · 10-13-2017, 07:52 AM

Quote:

On the passenger side of the engine, you have to deal with the charge pipe from the turbo in order to get to the engine mount

You don't have to undo the top engine mount nuts, unless you will be replacing the engine mounts too. I did it for convenience to get as much as out of the way, but if I were to do it today I would probably skip it, because it is extra work to do not really needed. I need to clarify better in the write up that it is optional step.

You just have to undo and remove the two bolts under each engine mount that attaches them to the subframe. Then drop the subframe, engine mounts will be hanging on the engine with the top nuts in place.
When putting the subframe back make sure the locating protrusion that put on the engine mounts under surface match the whole for it on the subframe, otherwise they won't seat correctly. Again going from memory but I think they had this.

The suspension is identical as far as I know.

That pedestal nut, you may be able to get to it with a box wrench. But you probably just can drop it with the oil pan together.
Good luck!

Farroar · 10-15-2017, 08:41 AM

Thanks for the tips! I dropped the subframe and all is looking good. Going to pull the oil pan today. I've been taking my time and triple checking everything as I go. Once I got all the pieces and parts moved aside/removed, it came down without trouble. What worked best for me was to have two hydraulic jacks. One under the front lift point and one under the rear bar of the subframe. Then I dropped one a bit, moved to the other and dropped that a bit, etc.. One thing I missed was the sensor wire to the ride hight module on the driver's side. It ended up holding on and didn't get damaged but something I overlooked.

I think you are right about the pedestal, it looks like it will come down with the entire unit. Wondering about the pedestal. There looks to be some kind of extra 'gasket like material' around it. Kinda looks like it is squished between the pan and the pedestal. Any idea what that is all about? Does that need some kind of gasket compound when I put it back on?

Thanks again!

PhaseP · 10-15-2017, 10:17 AM

That gasket material you noticed is on a plate that is under the pedestal. It is part of the oil pan, pedestal comes out without it getting disturbed. There is only the o-ring on the pedestal that needs to be replaced once pedestal is removed.
That plate is there because they could not cast the oil pan in one full piece due to the tube section of the oil pan that the passenger side axle goes through. The plate closes up the oil pan on that side. It is bolted to the pan with its own bolts which you don’t touch.

Farroar · 10-16-2017, 07:01 AM

I found a few things that I needed to add on top of this list for my 335xi.

1. Had to remove the bolts that attach the power steering pump from the front side of the oil pan. Needed to remove tension from the belt (of course)

2. You may have this in your post, but I also had to remove a few other bolts that were going horizontally into the bell housing as well as a bracket.

Once i got all of that, a few bumps with a rubber mallet and it came free onto the jack I had below it. Slowly lowered and 'bob's yer uncle'! It's out. I made a nice little wall chart for where the bolts go in the end

PhaseP · 10-16-2017, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farroar

I found a few things that I needed to add on top of this list for my 335xi.

1. Had to remove the bolts that attach the power steering pump from the front side of the oil pan. Needed to remove tension from the belt (of course)

2. You may have this in your post, but I also had to remove a few other bolts that were going horizontally into the bell housing as well as a bracket.

Once i got all of that, a few bumps with a rubber mallet and it came free onto the jack I had below it. Slowly lowered and 'bob's yer uncle'! It's out. I made a nice little wall chart for where the bolts go in the end

It reminded me of my small drawing I had made on a piece of paper on the ground. I had used it to track which bolts I had torqued as I went one by one, checking each one I did on the paper.

So there is not much difference between 335 and 330/25/28 xdrive oil pan.
Thanks for sharing your experience, others can go with your additional information for the 335.

Farroar · 10-18-2017, 09:38 AM

The only other thing I noticed that I don't think was in your original post; I had to disconnect the power steering pump from the oil pan. Not sure if you experienced the same. That involved loosening the belt and removing three torx bolts, one in the front of the oil pan, and two in the side.

Going to finish putting the rest of the pieces and parts back together today. Here's to hoping that the gasket holds!

03-26-2017, 08:09 AM	#23
mp-E46 Second Lieutenant 19 Rep 203 Posts Drives: E90, E60 & E46. Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: CT iTrader: (0)	PhaseP - Many thanks for writing a very detailed procedure. You put a great deal of time to help out fellow fanatics. I would imagine this would be the same for the 2011 e90 XDrive?
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03-26-2017, 08:28 AM	#24
PhaseP Colonel 1006 Rep 2,105 Posts Drives: 325XI Join Date: May 2010 Location: Earth iTrader: (0)	Yes, XI and XDrive are same thing, just change in marketing terms.
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03-26-2017, 08:44 AM	#25
mp-E46 Second Lieutenant 19 Rep 203 Posts Drives: E90, E60 & E46. Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: CT iTrader: (0)	Cool. My car is in at the dealer with three days left on the CPO warranty to expire. Thank God. I took the belly cover off and noticed leaks on the front diff, OFHG, Transmission cooler and Oil pan. So they are replacing the Front diff, OFHG, VCG and rear diff seals under warranty. I am trying to get them to replace the Oil pan gasket as well. I will find out more on Monday. There was a little sign of oil near the rear bolts where it attaches to Transmission. I assume they will not need to take the passenger axle out to replace the front diff.... I wouldn't mind if I had to pay a reasonable amount since they are taking majority of the component off. What would you say it takes time wise? Also I have a four post lift which would make things a bit easier. I also have e46 that need the same job
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03-26-2017, 08:53 AM	#26
PhaseP Colonel 1006 Rep 2,105 Posts Drives: 325XI Join Date: May 2010 Location: Earth iTrader: (0)	I would say dedicate a weekend for the work. How long it will take will depend on if you will have to fight with rust frozen bolts or not and whether you have previous experience with similar work or not. Dealer maybe only replacing the driver side axle seal, which is where it common to leak in my experience. Then they won't remove the front differential, and lower the frame, only remove driver side half axle.
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03-26-2017, 09:03 AM	#27
mp-E46 Second Lieutenant 19 Rep 203 Posts Drives: E90, E60 & E46. Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: CT iTrader: (0)	The dealer is replacing the front diff. The gasket is leaking. They confirmed it on Friday and the part is on order.
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03-26-2017, 10:09 AM	#28
Greyfox Colonel 1208 Rep 2,835 Posts Drives: 2007 328xi E91 - 330k+ (miles) Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: USA iTrader: (2)	This is another post that I've pulled down and going to create a pdf of. I've had found a couple informational posts that because of the age of them, links and pictures have disappeared. I'll put it up as soon as I finish editing and cleaning up.
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03-27-2017, 02:41 PM	#29
mp-E46 Second Lieutenant 19 Rep 203 Posts Drives: E90, E60 & E46. Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: CT iTrader: (0)	PhaseP - Does the Passenger side axle definitely need to come out to replace the gasket. If you remove the front diff with subframe lowered. Is there enough room to drop the oil pan and slide it toward the driver side to remove the passenger side axle and be remove the oil pan....
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03-27-2017, 02:48 PM	#30
PhaseP Colonel 1006 Rep 2,105 Posts Drives: 325XI Join Date: May 2010 Location: Earth iTrader: (0)	I don't think so. I don't think you can remove the differential without removing both axles anyway. You can try to remove the differential from passenger axle in place, but you can break something. The o-ring holding protrusion that goes into the tube on the oil pan is not very thick. You will have to pry on it to free the axle's c-ring. If you ask me you won't be saving any time, and will make it more difficult. It is up to you though.
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03-27-2017, 03:35 PM	#31
mp-E46 Second Lieutenant 19 Rep 203 Posts Drives: E90, E60 & E46. Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: CT iTrader: (0)	Reason I ask is the dealer replaced the front diff this morning and i had contacted the dealer to see while they have everything apart, they might as well replace the OPG. They told me OPG was not leaking.... Again the job is a CPO warranty.... I wish they had replaced it. They have made a note of it though. Last edited by mp-E46; 03-27-2017 at 08:04 PM..
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10-11-2017, 05:33 PM	#32
Farroar Private 17 Rep 60 Posts Drives: 2019 G05 xDrive40i Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: MA iTrader: (0)	This IS an amazing write up. I started doing this project but hit a HUGE snag. If anyone is going to attempt this with a 335XI you're going to have a bad time On the 335, you can't access all of the pedestal bolts. The exhaust is in the way due to how the turbos are situated. You'd have a whole new project getting the exhaust all the way up to the turbos off. It added a whole new dimension to the project. Looks like I'm pulling the plug on this one. Maybe next year I'll give it another go! Thanks again for all of the effort put into this. My brother has a 325xi, so at least I could help him with this if he wants to do it.
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10-11-2017, 11:51 PM	#35
Jacebror New Member 0 Rep 28 Posts Drives: '07 335xi Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Prior Lake iTrader: (0)	Holy crap what an awesome write up. When I did my first oil change on my 335(xi, ix, xdrive), I noticed the pan leaking some. I never have oil in my garage, and it had been 7k miles since last oil change and it only just said I was under the high mark on the "dipstick" in the last couple weeks. Since I only drive it maybe a 150 miles a week haven't been too worried about adding oil since it was only a quarter of a quart. So I kinda wonder the same with the gasket leak. I never see drips on the pavement...
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10-11-2017, 11:58 PM	#36
PhaseP Colonel 1006 Rep 2,105 Posts Drives: 325XI Join Date: May 2010 Location: Earth iTrader: (0)	It may be your oil filter housing (called OFH here in short) gasket leaking, and or valve cover gasket. 3 most common. If OFH is leaking it is better to take care of it early, because if oil gets to the accessory belt, it is known to slip off and then get chewed up and sucked into the engine by the front crank seal. If you have oil on the front surface of the engine behind the belt and pulleys your OFH is leaking. There is a ton of info and DIY on that since it is most common and the easiest to fix. Valve cover gasket leak usually ends up on the passenger side wall of the engine due to engine being slanted towards passenger side, you can check there. There is a lot of DIY and other info on that too. The oil pan leak visible under engine inspection. The most it leaks again on the passenger side and again because engine is slanted that side of the gasket internally exposed to returning oil. Some of the engine oil comes down on the transmission bell housing area from oil pan gasket leak. People complain about the oil sensor and not having dipstick, but it has an advantage, it does tell you when you are low a quarter.
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10-13-2017, 07:07 AM	#37
Farroar Private 17 Rep 60 Posts Drives: 2019 G05 xDrive40i Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: MA iTrader: (0)	Here are two shots of where the top left pedestal bolt is located. It's right behind the wider downpipe from the turbo. I could pop off the clamps above and try to finagle my way in there but that's not a guarantee. If I can drop the pan with the pedestal in place, then that's the solution! Anyone confirm that is possible? I'm also trying to see if there are any other differences with the 335 vs the 325 that would cause other issues. On the passenger side of the engine, you have to deal with the charge pipe from the turbo in order to get to the engine mount. It's a super tight fit there too. I think suspension is the same since they are both XI and similar weights Attached Images
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10-13-2017, 07:12 AM	#38
Farroar Private 17 Rep 60 Posts Drives: 2019 G05 xDrive40i Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: MA iTrader: (0)	PhaseP Thanks for looking up that image. It is similar but you can see in my situation, the pedestal is a lot closer to the exhaust. I'd say that the bolt in question is maybe 1" away from the downpipe, probably closer. So let's assume that I'm going to leave it there. I can't see any issues with that? I'll have to take a look under the car again but the only that's down there is subframe parts, which I will be removing anyway.
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10-15-2017, 08:41 AM	#40
Farroar Private 17 Rep 60 Posts Drives: 2019 G05 xDrive40i Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: MA iTrader: (0)	Thanks for the tips! I dropped the subframe and all is looking good. Going to pull the oil pan today. I've been taking my time and triple checking everything as I go. Once I got all the pieces and parts moved aside/removed, it came down without trouble. What worked best for me was to have two hydraulic jacks. One under the front lift point and one under the rear bar of the subframe. Then I dropped one a bit, moved to the other and dropped that a bit, etc.. One thing I missed was the sensor wire to the ride hight module on the driver's side. It ended up holding on and didn't get damaged but something I overlooked. I think you are right about the pedestal, it looks like it will come down with the entire unit. Wondering about the pedestal. There looks to be some kind of extra 'gasket like material' around it. Kinda looks like it is squished between the pan and the pedestal. Any idea what that is all about? Does that need some kind of gasket compound when I put it back on? Thanks again!
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10-15-2017, 10:17 AM	#41
PhaseP Colonel 1006 Rep 2,105 Posts Drives: 325XI Join Date: May 2010 Location: Earth iTrader: (0)	That gasket material you noticed is on a plate that is under the pedestal. It is part of the oil pan, pedestal comes out without it getting disturbed. There is only the o-ring on the pedestal that needs to be replaced once pedestal is removed. That plate is there because they could not cast the oil pan in one full piece due to the tube section of the oil pan that the passenger side axle goes through. The plate closes up the oil pan on that side. It is bolted to the pan with its own bolts which you don’t touch.
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10-16-2017, 07:01 AM	#42
Farroar Private 17 Rep 60 Posts Drives: 2019 G05 xDrive40i Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: MA iTrader: (0)	I found a few things that I needed to add on top of this list for my 335xi. 1. Had to remove the bolts that attach the power steering pump from the front side of the oil pan. Needed to remove tension from the belt (of course) 2. You may have this in your post, but I also had to remove a few other bolts that were going horizontally into the bell housing as well as a bracket. Once i got all of that, a few bumps with a rubber mallet and it came free onto the jack I had below it. Slowly lowered and 'bob's yer uncle'! It's out. I made a nice little wall chart for where the bolts go in the end Attached Images
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10-18-2017, 09:38 AM	#44
Farroar Private 17 Rep 60 Posts Drives: 2019 G05 xDrive40i Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: MA iTrader: (0)	The only other thing I noticed that I don't think was in your original post; I had to disconnect the power steering pump from the oil pan. Not sure if you experienced the same. That involved loosening the belt and removing three torx bolts, one in the front of the oil pan, and two in the side. Going to finish putting the rest of the pieces and parts back together today. Here's to hoping that the gasket holds!
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