[Beaming]

wants $1400.00 to fix. I check my levels regularly and have not noticed and perceivable drop in level.How critical of an issue is this ? Need to be done?

[bimmette]

I'm no expert but I've had that done and I think the quote you got is pretty high.

[Boland01]

Depends on how much oil you are losing. More than likely it can be delayed. The cost to fix with the exception of a new gasket and bolts is all labor as you have to drop the sub frame and support the engine. I did mine myself in my garage on jack stands.

[Texus]

$1400 buys a bunch of oil.

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by Beaming

wants $1400.00 to fix. I check my levels regularly and have not noticed and perceivable drop in level.How critical of an issue is this ? Need to be done?

It's a common issue with our cars. I have it too. Mine also doesn't affect oil level between oil changes, so I'm not going to bother. I may even drive my car to the ground for many years without even changing oil pan gasket lol. If it doesn't spill on your driveway and your oil levels are fine between oil changes - I say save the money and keep an eye on oil levels and oil drops on your garage or driveway. Meanwhile, shop around for some local indy shop that may do this job for a lot less.
According to some forum members BMW allotted time is around 4 hours for that, so even if they charge $200 per hour - that should be $800 + gasket, so your $1400 estimate seems high. It requires 4 hours because oil pan is behind front frame that needs to be lowered/dropped. BMW of course has all tools and hoist and expertise and they can do it quickly, but some forum members were able to change it in garage for almost same 4-5 hours. So ideally some indy shop should be able to do it for $500 I guess all included and your gasket (which is like $25), but it's not easy to find a good indy shop that has mechanics you can trust lol

Anyway, it's not a urgent issue, but keep an eye on oil levels and any oil spots at your parking place and order an oil pan gasket and keep it in your trunk or garage until better times

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by Beaming

Dealer says I have a oil pan gasket leak..

lol that's like a doctor diagnosing an 80 year-old man with "gray hair".

[GottWhat]

Other people have mentioned getting under the car and torquing the oil pan bolts to spec might temporarily stop/slow some of the leaks. The shop that replaced my leaking rear main (@99,000 miles) checked my oil pan gasket and it was dry but he went ahead and torqued the bolts to spec as some of them were slightly loose.

Also, if you decide to have it done I highly suggest finding a trustworthy independent shop to do the work. Looking in the regional forums here might help you find one.

[brads2002]

Originally Posted by GottWhat

Other people have mentioned getting under the car and torquing the oil pan bolts to spec might temporarily stop/slow some of the leaks. The shop that replaced my leaking rear main (@99,000 miles) checked my oil pan gasket and it was dry but he went ahead and torqued the bolts to spec as some of them were slightly loose.

Also, if you decide to have it done I highly suggest finding a trustworthy independent shop to do the work. Looking in the regional forums here might help you find one.

This is true. My buddy has a 2006 325 and had a little dripping from the pan. Several bolts had backed out to less than hand tight. I retorqued them all and he hasn't seen a leak in 10K. Roughly the same mileage as above.

[MadeInPhilly]

you can try retorquing but be careful. seen lotta other members break the bolts. If it's not leaking much where you don't have to top off often I would just wait till you sell the car lol.

[Mezzy113]

Originally Posted by brads2002

This is true. My buddy has a 2006 325 and had a little dripping from the pan. Several bolts had backed out to less than hand tight. I retorqued them all and he hasn't seen a leak in 10K. Roughly the same mileage as above.

It's worth mentioning that if you are going to tighten them up yourself just be careful not to overtighten and snap the heads off. I haven't had to do this myself but I know it's happened to others.

[GottWhat]

Definitely, torque them to spec.

[Miller335]

Do not try to put any torque on the oil pan bolts.
You'll snap the head off with the slightest amount of torque.

[GottWhat]

Originally Posted by Miller335

Do not try to put any torque on the oil pan bolts.
You'll snap the head off with the slightest amount of torque.

If they are loose and you are simply tightening to the correct torque spec, there shouldn't be a problem, right?

[ArcticRik]

Originally Posted by Beaming

wants $1400.00 to fix. I check my levels regularly and have not noticed and perceivable drop in level.How critical of an issue is this ? Need to be done?

Got mine done by an Indy for $600... Don't pay stealership pricing

[AWF10M5]

Having a hard time finding the part on realoem

[AWF10M5]

Having a hard time finding the part on realoem

[ArcticRik]

Originally Posted by Beaming

wants $1400.00 to fix. I check my levels regularly and have not noticed and perceivable drop in level.How critical of an issue is this ? Need to be done?

Got mine done by an Indy for $600... Don't pay stealership pricing

[Beaming]

honest opinion if this was critical and he told me not to do it and that he had a larger leak than mine and had for a while lol ! Keep an eye on the levels and should be fine for the foreseeable future.
Noted on torquing the bolts. Will do that next time I'm under the car.

Great info and thanks again !

[smass]

Originally Posted by GottWhat

If they are loose and you are simply tightening to the correct torque spec, there shouldn't be a problem, right?

The bolts for the 06 are aluminum (not sure of other years). It is pretty easy to break them off when they are old. A complete new set is $30. I am going to replace all of mine as a cheap attempt to fix a very small oil pan leak. The only reason I see drips in the garage is my belly pan is off.

[Miller335]

Originally Posted by GottWhat

If they are loose and you are simply tightening to the correct torque spec, there shouldn't be a problem, right?

They are TTY aluminum and they're aging. I snapped the very first one I tried this on.

GL if you try.

[racermp]

Originally Posted by NGEE

lol that's like a doctor diagnosing an 80 year-old man with "gray hair".

What he said

[Efthreeoh]

Here's my two cents on the subject. I found my pan gasket leaking at 205,000 miles when the car was about 7 years old. The N52's always leak at the right rear of the block near the bell housing. I retorqued the bolts at that time. I didn't know the spec (the Bentley service manual doesn't say), but I knew they were aluminum... It slowed the leak a bit. I retrouqed them a few times after 205K. The oil leak just makes a mess on the belly pan and with the road grime a car accumulates it pretty well acts like oil dry and contains the oil in a sandy mess on the belly pan. At 293,000 I replaced the clutch. That's when I discovered the real problem with an oil pan leak on the N52.

The rear of the pan protrudes into the bell housing. When the pan gasket leaks, the air circulation created by the clutch (the pressure plate has fan blades stamped into it to cool the clutch) draws the oil from the rear of the pan and spreads it all over the inside of the bell housing. It made a mess in mine. On top of that, I thought the rear crankshaft seal was leaking because oil was leaking from the clutch inspection port at the bottom of the bell housing. Once I removed the flywheel I found the rear seal dry as a bone. There was so much oil spread around that it drips out of the bell housing making it look like the rear seal is bad.

The pan gasket is a POS. It is metal with three tiny ribs of rubber (like mini wiper blades) on the pan side with a pre-sprayed glue on the engine side that is meant to bond the gasket to the mating surface. Over time and heat cycling the tiny rubber ribs harden up and lose their resiliency. The slant (canting) of the engine and the windage tray under the crank lends the oil to migrate to the lower edge of the block/pan seam on the right side of the engine. The oil then accumulates on the seam inside the engine allowing it to leak through the seal on the right side of the engine. When replacing the gasket use gasket sealer on both sides to help seal the new gasket.

Here's pics of what I'm talking about: