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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > DIY - Your Oil filter housing gasket is leaking.



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      11-04-2013, 04:01 PM   #111
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Yeah, this was an answer to somebody already facing a jammed bolt. By all mean avoid touching the manifold if you can.
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      11-05-2013, 03:11 PM   #112
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meeni View Post
Yeah, this was an answer to somebody already facing a jammed bolt. By all mean avoid touching the manifold if you can.
Ha funny story. i noticed a leak a few days after i did the ousing gasket and sure enoough another common issue is a bolt head breaks off and oil seeps out...

see post 70/71

so when your in there keep an eye out for that broken bolt.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...d+bolts&page=4
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      01-04-2014, 11:54 PM   #113
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmwusa-e90 View Post
guys, i couldnt get the third bolt lose with any tools (gear wrenches). so i opened my german tool set, and i found the perfect tool. just took my 20sec, to get to the bolt and totally unscrew it. i was worried about this job, but at the end it just cost me 27USD for the gaskets. job was done in 45minutes, and 40 minutes were for cleaning the parts. the car i did it is my wife's N52 e60 530xi, attached are some pictures
OP: great write up.

Bmwusa: great suggestion. I also used an 8mm socket with 1/4 drive, 1/4 extension, and 1/4 universal joint.

What I did:
*did not drain coolant
*removed oil filter (used turkey baster to remove oil from housing)
*removed top radiator hose that attaches to the housing only (after removal, directed hose to spill coolant in between the fan and the belts). Hose is a PITA to get off.
*did not use a wire brush on anything. Didn't want to create grooves. Used engine cleaner (on a paper towel) to clean external housing, surface area of housing, and surface area on the car. Be careful not to get any in the passages. Do not use engine cleaner inside the oil filter area.
*venting procedure after putting everything back (in order to get air out of the system).
*top off coolant.

My 8mm gear wrench broke while doing this repair. . But it has a lifetime warranty.

Noticed oil not only on the belts, but also going toward the valve cover and making a right turn toward the back of the car.

Part only costs $15 at the dealer. Probably the least expensive part at the dealership!

Thanks again!
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Last edited by Chriztofor; 01-07-2014 at 12:48 AM..
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      01-07-2014, 12:44 AM   #114
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I will be doing this in the next couple of days. My car is an 06 330i with 185,000 miles, my gasket has shown slight signs of seeping for a while but it has now progressed to the point this needs to be done. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to share your experiences, it makes it much easier when you have some information going in. I have been doing all of my own maint and repairs since the warranty expired and have picked up tons of information through this website.
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      01-12-2014, 02:59 PM   #115
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Used this tutorial to fix the leaking gasket on the housing of my ’06 325i yesterday. Dealer wanted over $500, and the local independent shop that has been reasonable on other items gave me a quote of $472, admitting it was a $15 gasket but claiming 3.7 hours of labor, which included ‘significant cleanup’. I used the recommendation of the 6” extension ($6) and universal ($9) with the 8 MM socket (Craftsman offers a nice metric socket set for $10 designed for a variety of bolt profiles, including torx, that worked perfectly with no damage to the bolt head). The bolt on the bottom of the housing requires a 8 mm wrench due to lack of clearance, but it’s the shortest of the three, so a ratcheting wrench is not necessary. I sprayed the bolts with penetrating oil a couple days before the repair. I removed the airbox, but did not drain any coolant or remove the intake manifold. Took about 50 minutes to remove airbox, loosen three bolts, cover electronics with tarps, remove housing and gasket, clean the housing, insert new gasket and replace bolts. I then took a break to purchase degreaser, Simple Green and a $10 garden pressure sprayer; replaced the airbox, and then spent about a ½ hr carefully cleaning the front of the engine, letting degreaser soak, then scrubbing with Simple Green and an old toothbrush, then rinsing with the sprayer. I lost about a quart of coolant replacing the gasket, so I topped that off then went through the coolant bleed process which took about 12 minutes. (Took a few minutes to figure out the ‘insert key and hit start without starting motor’ – I was engaging the clutch so it started every time until I did a little research here on forum discovered that you should not put your feet on clutch or brake, then the motor will remain off and the heater will activate.) So my totals were about $60 and approximately 1 hr 30 minutes of work time. I’ve used this forum many times in the past, along with videos on Youtube, to evaluate the difficulty of handling repairs myself. The BMW is a fantastically well engineered car that is easy to work on so long as you are aware of the ‘secret processes’ like the coolent bleed which are not intuitive and require details such as those provided in this tutorial. Thanks to all who take the time to post to the forum and share their experiences and expertise.

Last edited by WBR 3E; 01-12-2014 at 07:30 PM..
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      01-20-2014, 07:55 PM   #116
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i cant believe the prices the dealer is charging some of you for this. I just had them replace mine and it only cost me $275 including labor, parts, and top off oil/coolant at the dealer!
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      02-06-2014, 05:18 PM   #117
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whats the best way to drain a little coolant?
removing IC to access drain?
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      02-22-2014, 11:17 AM   #118
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wdeerfield View Post
i cant believe the prices the dealer is charging some of you for this. I just had them replace mine and it only cost me $275 including labor, parts, and top off oil/coolant at the dealer!
Where are you located? Great price!
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      02-22-2014, 11:19 AM   #119
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Quote:
Originally Posted by parabmw View Post
whats the best way to drain a little coolant?
removing IC to access drain?
For the purposes of changing the OFH gasket, you can just pull off the hose that's attached to OFH, just have some plastics bags or bottle handy to catch the coolant.
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      03-21-2014, 12:27 PM   #120
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Can you reuse the bolts you unscrew or do you need new ones? Anyone have a part number for the bolts? I hear too many of you guys saying you broke the bolts doing this and it gets me worried that if I reuse the next time they'll all break apart. (although hopefully there won't be a next time I do this).
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      03-24-2014, 09:05 AM   #121
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Coolent also

So does this also have coolant going through some of these ports? I actually had my valve gasket replaced and I am seeing oil still just in the first few cylinders and on top of the oil filter housing. Also I have been losing coolant from somewhere I can't find.

Would be nice if this was actually all related.
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      03-27-2014, 04:51 PM   #122
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According the to Bently publishers, for both the N52 and N54 engines, the bolts you are referring to are M8's, torque is 22 Nm (16 ft-lb). Article 119-31
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      04-28-2014, 12:27 PM   #123
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Thanks for this write up, I wondered what the issue was with all of the oil at the front of the block and along the side under the manafold was.

Right now mine is leaking so much the dam Belt came off due to all of this oil.

When I check to see how much oil I have, I am like at the half mark, I had 3/4 of oil at one time now i'm at 1/2 so I am so hoping this is the issue.

Again great write up!
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      05-14-2014, 12:04 PM   #124
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Oil filter housing gasket

Quote:
Originally Posted by sneaks View Post
You would think the gasket material chosen to fit this application would be compatible with the coolant used in the system. This car was designed around 2005 and I would hope this kind of testing is done. OEM coolant suppliers provide this to manufactures. Use this material for gaskets.... avoid any contact with x metals.....
Is it possible the factory fill coolant was replaced with an incorrect type to create this gasket issue?
BMW screwed up this gasket design .The gasket body should be round "O" ring type not taper, . so as the groove like "U" shape .All the hydraulic valve using round body type gasket regard less of the shape . With the proper body diameter the gasket sealing well . The rubber is not compressable .Also the material should be Viton .
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      07-17-2014, 10:42 AM   #125
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      07-17-2014, 12:03 PM   #126
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The top most bolt of the housing busted for me while I was trying to pull it out, there was no way of avoiding it. As I tried to back the bolt out it just kept getting harder and harder until it snapped.

The only solution I had that worked after 15 hours of effort was to drill the hole in the head out and use a helicoil.... which worked amazingly well. Those things are freaking life savers, really need to give who ever invented those a pat on the back.
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      07-20-2014, 04:55 PM   #127
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So much easier than it was on the M54. >.<
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      07-21-2014, 09:51 PM   #128
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shushikiary View Post
The top most bolt of the housing busted for me while I was trying to pull it out, there was no way of avoiding it. As I tried to back the bolt out it just kept getting harder and harder until it snapped.

The only solution I had that worked after 15 hours of effort was to drill the hole in the head out and use a helicoil.... which worked amazingly well. Those things are freaking life savers, really need to give who ever invented those a pat on the back.
this happened to me as well except the housing cracked in the area as well -_-

ended up welding a nut onto the bolt then backing it out the rest of the way
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      08-05-2014, 08:47 AM   #129
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I have to do this project this weekend. I have three questions. Do I need to remove the engine cover? I read where someone didn't disconnect the coolant house from the filter housing. If I do this, can I get away without draining the coolant?
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      09-11-2014, 09:58 AM   #130
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Pulled the oil housing off last night. Total piece of cake job. Like other mentioned, be sure to have a 1/4" ratchet, 8" extension, and swivel adapter and E10 socket.

Remove upper coolant hose from oil housing. Give it a good pull, about 8 oz of coolant spills out, try to catch it in a container

Remove oil filter cap and extract remaining oil.

Remove 3 bolts, use small wrench on the one that is inverted.

Housing pulls right off.

EZ, 20 mins.
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      09-14-2014, 08:18 AM   #131
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N52 versus N54?

OP - I think you will save people some time and aggravation by inserting "N52" into your subject title. I have a separate DIY for the N54 (http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=791674), and my first line in the DIY directs N52 owners here to your DIY.
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      10-16-2014, 09:45 PM   #132
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Quote:
Originally Posted by revlimit View Post
Another thing I failed to mention is that if you removed the coolant return house, (the one with 2 9mm bolts) I suggest replacing the o-ring or else you might coolant leak issues. My o-ring was harden and broke in half.
Do you have the part # for the o-ring?
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