BMW Oil Pan Gasket

Background

Three Oil leaks are just a fact of life with BMWs. They are:

- Oil Pan Gasket leaks

- Oil Filter Housing leaks

- Valve Covers Leak

Why, though?

Theories abound, but we believe that high-performance BMW engines tend to run hotter and spin faster than your run of the mill power plant, and any rubber living in the harsh engine bay conditions will meet the end of its useful life eventually.

The Issue

The oil pan is at the bottom of the engine, and it's where the oil will eventually be stored. See the pic to the left (towards the bottom) The oil pump is in charge of taking it from the oil pan and sending it up to the actual engine. There is a gasket between the pan and the belly of the engine, which with time degrades and starts leaking.

Symptoms

A failing oil pan gasket has some specific signature symptoms in a BMW.

• Regular messages asking you to refill the oil

Because there are shields protecting the engine from underneath, it's unlikely you will see oil in your driveway from an oil pan leak, unless it's leaking to a drip.

The only sure way to check for oil pan leaks is a visual inspection of the bottom of the car.

Repair

This is a major repair that, while not complicated, it's very time consuming and needs a highly-trained BMW mechanic, and very specific high quality parts.

After all the shields have come out, in all-wheel, xDrive cars the entire front subframe needs to be removed, along with the axles. This is a major protect that can take an experienced mechanic 8 to 10 hours of work. Then the pan has to be cleaned, along with the bottom of the engine.

Parts List

This is the parts list we generally use (

• Oil Pan Gasket - always original BMW. You don't want a cheap aftermarket part that will leak again after 3 months!
• For torque to yield applications, new bolts
• A lot of non-chlorine cleaner!

Additional Work

When doing the oil pan gasket, a number of parts need to come out. It's a good time to look for signs of timing chain failure or blockage in the oil pump sump. If you need axles, this is the time to do it as there is overlap in the labor.

Result

No more topping of the oil! A smooth running engine with a stable supply of oil at oil times,  avoiding the expensive risk of a massive mechanical event in your engine.