A bit of an update here:
I had two rather irritating issues that were not serious enough for me to sort out immediately and it is normally worthwhile to plan these things if possible to get the most out of labour charges. One was an oil leak from the turbo oil feeds and the other was a coolant leak. Both of these were extremely slow and tiny. What was irritating was that I had started to smell the oil faintly which is a pet hate of mine, particularly on a car like the M5... burning Rubber? Fuel? Hot Brakes? No problem! Oil and coolant is almost embarrassing!!
BMW Bryanston had suggested I bring it in to properly diagnose these during the last trip there, but I simply haven't used the car enough nor had the time since then. There were a few preventative items that I wanted to tackle so collected a few of these to do as a mini project so that I could pre-order all the parts, leave the car with the workshop for a week and collect it ready for another set of happy miles.
There were also instructions to inspect everything in the general area that might need replacement as well as the DCT transmission. They pressure tested the cooling system and identified two spots (in the process identifying another oil leak as well).
This is one of the larger bills I have had (but when you get into it you will see why), but still only around half of one F90 instalment in total, so I can't complain LOL. It could have been a lot worse: If any of you follow Legit Street Cars on Youtube you might have seen his video of the SL65 repair (engine out and apart) to replace a part that seems to perform a very similar function "completing" some of the channels within the block! This is one of those R1000 parts and R7000 labour scenarios. I think many people would probably have just lived with the leak behind the block, but the car has looked after me so well these past 6 or 7 years that I couldn't bring myself not to make sure everything was done properly. JSN/BMW Bryanston also came to the party with good pricing on the 'package' of work.
Of course this is a good opportunity to inspect the flywheel and make sure the gearbox is not leaking anything...
I will update with the 'top side' pics as well when the car is on the ground again.
One of the points that was leaking fluid was the hose close to the temperature sensor. This is a different failure point to the normal rubber hoses at the top of the motor, close to the turbos. I opted to replace the lines, the rad hoses and the sensor - probably overkill, but the parts pricing made it a no-brainer to just do this all at once and not chase down issues later on.
I also changed out the power steering reservoir which has been sweating for years now - it gets wiped clean when I clean the engine bay, but I really just wanted to have this one done and this was an opportunity to do so.
The 'main leak' and source of the smell was actually at the turbo oil feeds. These are apparently O rings that needed to be replaced.
Will post another update soon.
EDIT: Few extra pics of the new parts - Various coolant hoses, clamps, a sensor, the cover, some fluids etc.
... one day
