[Macadacious]

So i did an oil change this weekend and cleaned abit of the engine and looked around and didnt see anything like leaks, but i didnt inspect carefully just a quick glance.. then went for a cruise, and everything was fine until yesterday morning i noticed a very small amount of oil smell in car for a min and went away and didnt smell it until today after work i smelt abit of it again in traffic, so i checked under the hood about an hour later when i got home and looked around and saw some wet spots, its definitely leaking isnt it? It looks like a slow leak though. Does the oil filter housing look ok? Or does it look like it needs replacing too? Btw im in the ottawa, ontario area, so if anyone here knows a good mech i can go to id appreciate it alot. Honestly having some family problems at home, been hectic with surgery in the family, just not the time to now. I wish i had time cause i can do the oil filter housing myself, but definitely not the vcg I dont wanna tackle it atm, especially for my first time.

Thanks. Ive attached pics.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/sygPtf2

[Nick.B]

Yeah, the VCG is leaking a little at the front. It's not bad yet. OFH looks nice and dry.

[Soden82]

You can wait to change it until it gets worse. Looks really really minimal so far. When a VCG gets bad, you'd see smoke coming from the passenger side, or obvious oil seepage down the front of the block or spark plug wells

[Macadacious]

Originally Posted by Nick.B

Yeah, the VCG is leaking a little at the front. It's not bad yet. OFH looks nice and dry.

Oh okay, thanks. so the burning smell here and there should be fine to drive? Just searching for a decent mechanic atm just incase when it does happen, but definitely want to get it done before it does

[Macadacious]

Originally Posted by Soden82

You can wait to change it until it gets worse. Looks really really minimal so far. When a VCG gets bad, you'd see smoke coming from the passenger side, or obvious oil seepage down the front of the block or spark plug wells

Very minimal, i barely see wet spots but i smelt oil today for like 30-40 seconds and it was gone. Ok been on the lookout for that thanks.

[infinite_creations25]

Check the exhaust side of the valve cover close to the firewall for leaks. That's where mine was leaking pretty badly and every so often I would get a whiff of burning oil in the cabin because oil would occasionally drip onto the exhaust manifold.

[Nick.B]

Another possibility is the valvetronic motor gasket. Oil leaking from there can pool in the valve cover until you make a sharp left, and it'll spill over onto the exhaust manifold, resulting in a sudden burning oil smell and smoke that goes away after a minute or so.

Pull the plastic cover off the engine and it'll be easier to spot leaks.

[Macadacious]

Originally Posted by infinite_creations25

Check the exhaust side of the valve cover close to the firewall for leaks. That's where mine was leaking pretty badly and every so often I would get a whiff of burning oil in the cabin because oil would occasionally drip onto the exhaust manifold.

I check just now it looks clean no oil there but the corner of the gasket in the picture its a little wet there again, i only smelt it abit today for like 10 seconds so its not much but definitely slow leaking. Im parking it inside tonight and taking my other car to work, ill let it rest till Saturday and jack up the car if i have time and check under for any leaks by the pan and exhaust

[Macadacious]

Originally Posted by Nick.B

Another possibility is the valvetronic motor gasket. Oil leaking from there can pool in the valve cover until you make a sharp left, and it'll spill over onto the exhaust manifold, resulting in a sudden burning oil smell and smoke that goes away after a minute or so.

Pull the plastic cover off the engine and it'll be easier to spot leaks.

Oh really, hmm 🤔 now that you mentioned it, i do recall making a few sharp turns especially going through a yield, and i smell some oil 3-4 blocks later down the road, Ive never removed any of the covers before so i guess ill be youtubing to watch a few vids to see how to remove it lol

[Nick.B]

Originally Posted by Macadacious

Ive never removed any of the covers before so i guess ill be youtubing to watch a few vids to see how to remove it lol

The big plastic one that covers the engine? Grab it, pull up. It pops off.

[Macadacious]

Originally Posted by Nick.B

The big plastic one that covers the engine? Grab it, pull up. It pops off.

Yeah the main black engine cover, i see that theres a couple torx screws holding it down not even sure i have those lol but I'll see, thanks

[Nick.B]

You don't need to remove the torx screws. It's a metal ball in a rubber grommet thing. They pop out when you pull if up, and pop back in when it's lined up and you push down on it.

[mapleleaf1773]

Depends which engine he has. Some of the beauty covers are attached with those torx screws

[Macadacious]

Yah mine has the torx screws lol, i went for a drive this morning and the oil smell was there but it was very faint today and smell didn't linger around long, went to buddys place and had her parked about 3 hours, started her up and headed home, and no smell of oil 🙂

[Macadacious]

Ok guys so i decided to open the cover today since i bought leds to replace the halogen angel bulbs. Anyways i was surprised these bulbs have never been changed, even the warranty sticker is still intact until i opened it today lol. But BMW wdf how did they allow qc to pass the crimp on this pin.. wow.. the insulation is sticking out.. i know its covered with a seal, but i wrapped electrical tape around it anyways..

so after that i started on the cover, the bolt inside was a pita to get.. i had to use the hex socket and had vise pliers holding it sideways under that tight spot and loosened it just enough to where i could loosen it by hand.. anyways finally got it off..

First thing i checked was if any leaks around the valvetronic, how does it look to you guys? Also what really pissed me off and i think i found the problem to the oil leaks.. so im pretty sure the mechanic the dealer sent me to left it loose on purpose cause he kept telling me "please call me if anything happens my friend" he repeated that nonstop, shouldve known something was up, something was telling me and i had a gut feeling aswell it was telling me maybe check the bolts holding the gasket they could be loose.. and of course i checked today and honest to god im not exaggerating, the torxs bolt on the corner had about 3 turns left until it felt snug.. and others felt like they were hand tightened.. what the f is that.. im pretty sure the mechanic did that on purpose so id call and come back and he'd charge me $$$ saying i need to replace the vcg.. but i wiped off any oil around the engine and whatever else i could after tightening the bolts, also left the cover off so itll be easier to check tomorrow if i see any leaks.

But seriously?.. first 2 weeks i owned the car i didnt smell oil like this, and conveniently i do smell it here and there after i get the car back, and today i check it and they're loose.. insanity.. thats why i dont trust alot of mechanics.. so hard to find a honest one.. also one of the clips on the vanos is missing.. and does anyone know why the outter ring isnt lit up as much? Seems like the halogens light up both angel rings better

[Nick.B]

Halogen bulbs emit light in every direction. The angel eyes count on that. LED replacements don't neccessarily emit light in all directions. My LCIs do the same thing after the LED replacement. One car is better than the other. I just accept it. Wife's '06 is fine with the LEDs.

Re: your suspicions of the mechanic: There's reasons I do all the work on my cars myself.

Your engine looks pretty clean.

[Macadacious]

Originally Posted by Nick.B

Halogen bulbs emit light in every direction. The angel eyes count on that. LED replacements don't neccessarily emit light in all directions. My LCIs do the same thing after the LED replacement. One car is better than the other. I just accept it. Wife's '06 is fine with the LEDs.

Re: your suspicions of the mechanic: There's reasons I do all the work on my cars myself.

Your engine looks pretty clean.

I found out that theres different led bulbs you can buy that'll light up both rings equally, but Abit on pricey side, yes definitely hard to trust mechanics. Thank you i bought the car like that and try to keep it clean as much as possible