[Bims328i]

After doing a pan gasket service I noticed there were remnants of BMW retainer clips stuck in my oil pickup. I'm still trying to wrap my head around HOW they got there.

Wouldn't the valve cover need to be off in order for these to all fall down and wind up at the oil pickup? There were small approximately 4mm parts along with half of the clip in there.

I had so much to do on this job I didn't take pictures of the small pile of the remains, but they were retainer clips for sure. I also found two small flakes of metal. Kind of similar to what you find on the oil pressure switch connector.

What do you think?

[mainbearing]

I am not sure what retainer clips those are, or whether clips from the top side can even work their way to the oil pan. Maybe fuel injector retainers when the cover was off?

Also, the aluminum bolt for the pickup tube does not have the blue paint on top. I wonder if that tube was removed at some point. Unless BMW changed the practice, I could have remembered wrong but my 07 has the blue paint for those.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I am not sure what retainer clips those are, or whether clips from the top side can even work their way to the oil pan. Maybe fuel injector retainers when the cover was off?

Also, the aluminum bolt for the pickup tube does not have the blue paint on top. I wonder if that tube was removed at some point. Unless BMW changed the practice, I could have remembered wrong but my 07 has the blue paint for those.

I think they changed practise because my 2 335is I had did not have any blue markings on aluminum bolts. But OP's car is 2008 so hmm.

[Bims328i]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I am not sure what retainer clips those are, or whether clips from the top side can even work their way to the oil pan. Maybe fuel injector retainers when the cover was off?

Also, the aluminum bolt for the pickup tube does not have the blue paint on top. I wonder if that tube was removed at some point. Unless BMW changed the practice, I could have remembered wrong but my 07 has the blue paint for those.

Something like that. They were pieces of the round steel retainer clips of some sort.

You sort of see the similar shape on one of the clips in the oil pickup but they have that rectangular lower shape so not sure exactly.

[Bims328i]

It's difficult to say for sure. I really should have saved the little bits but you could tell they were remnants of these types of retainer clips for some kind of connector. The style BMW uses. I did valve cover gasket at 90,500 mi and didn't drop anything.

Are there oil passages on the side they could have fallen down? Starting to think maybe someone tried to sabotage the motor. No one else has touched the car except a tire shop and I don't assume they could get down there just tossing them in the oil fill.

Had the car since June 2020 and the guy I got it from didn't do a lot of stuff right as I've slowly discovered. Who knows, maybe they did this while working on the car.

While doing the sunroof drains I noticed there was silver paint on the drivers side tubes and two of the front bolts for the sunroof cassette assembly were just chilling loose.

[StradaRedlands]

[Bims328i]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Clippy nooo not you! You were supposed to be a beacon of hope. Not your family members stuck in my oil pickup lol. Always showing up when you least expect 😭