So I have an oil leak

[Dr Evil]

looks like I have an oil leak on my e46 320i, I looked around the engine bay but can't see anything, only sign is the leak at the bottom of the car after I have driven it, otherwise nothing, I checked my oil and I def need to top up. Does anyone know if M1 Auto (old Bruce's) is open this week?

 

[msm]

Check the location just above your headers/branches - the valve cover gasket is often a source of leaks.

If you stand in front of your car, run your hand on the left of the engine block all the way to the firewall in the back - sometimes the leak is right at the back where you cannot see it.

 

[Raybimmer]

BMW problem-tappet cover gaskets....

 

[Dr Evil]

Thanks guys, I'll have a look and report back

 

[Philip Foglar]

Thanks guys, I'll have a look and report back

Well, my Wife's identical car is also losing oil from a leak somewhere - I suspect the valve cover gasket towards the back of the engine. Can't see any traces of oil seeping or leaking out, no puddles of oil on the garage floor, but every now and again there is a distinct hot burnt oil smell, so from what I've heard it is most likely leaking there and then dripping onto the exhaust. Going to get all the bits and pieces together in the new year so that I can sort this out...

 

[Bayn46]

If it's not the valve cover gasket then it could be the oil filter housing. Remove the airbox and you can take a look down there to see if you can find any sign of leakage. Mine needs to be replaced.

 

[Philip Foglar]

If it's not the valve cover gasket then it could be the oil filter housing. Remove the airbox and you can take a look down there to see if you can find any sign of leakage. Mine needs to be replaced.

I had the airbox out a while ago and didn't notice any oil, but then again, wasn't really looking. Will take a look! :thumbs:

 

[Bayn46]

If it's not the valve cover gasket then it could be the oil filter housing. Remove the airbox and you can take a look down there to see if you can find any sign of leakage. Mine needs to be replaced.

I had the airbox out a while ago and didn't notice any oil, but then again, wasn't really looking. Will take a look! :thumbs:

You need to look quite carefully to see if it's leaking. It's a mission to DIY if you aren't confident with taking stuff apart.

 

[Dr Evil]

Thanks Bayne, I'm gonna have a look in the morning and see what's klapping. If I can't find anything I'll book it in and see what they say. I'm assuming that they'll need to do an oil change if they fix it, so I may as well have my oil sensor changed cos its on the fritz since I bought my car, comes on for 20 seconds on startup then goes off.

 

[freerider]

I highly doubt its the valave cover gasket, I replaced it in Dec 2009, so its probably only about 30k kms old now.

 

[zaleonardz]

do not rule out main front seal, I am seeing this more and more on the e46's.

 

[freerider]

I would get the front of the car up and drop the oil pan, should make finding the leak a bit easier.

 

[Dr Evil]

Don, dude, the closest I got to DIY with the car was installing the angel rings LOL if you feel like getting dirty with your old ride you are more than welcome to invite me over :-D I'll bring the kfc and coke

 

[Dr Evil]

Ok, so yesterday I topped up my oil as previously stated. I then used the car after that and drove it quite hard as I normally do, when I got home last night I put flattened boxes under the car to see if it's leaking any oil because the car only gets driven on weekends and is parked on carpet so if its leaking the oil might dry up. This morning I checked and there was nothing on the boxes, not a single drop of oil. I'm gonna check the oil level later when I go out and the car is up to temp but this leaves me with 2 questions, either my car is fine and not leaking any oil because some (afrikaans box) used my parking bay and left a puddle of oil leaving me to think my car is leaking OR I'm missing something? Any ideas?

 

[TOOFAST MP]

Ok, so yesterday I topped up my oil as previously stated. I then used the car after that and drove it quite hard as I normally do, when I got home last night I put flattened boxes under the car to see if it's leaking any oil because the car only gets driven on weekends and is parked on carpet so if its leaking the oil might dry up. This morning I checked and there was nothing on the boxes, not a single drop of oil. I'm gonna check the oil level later when I go out and the car is up to temp but this leaves me with 2 questions, either my car is fine and not leaking any oil because some (afrikaans box) used my parking bay and left a puddle of oil leaving me to think my car is leaking OR I'm missing something? Any ideas?

I had a similar problem on my old e 90 the vacuum pump on the back of the engine has ao ring seal on it my one was perished and causing a intermittent leak the. Pump is on the back of the engine directly above the exhaust pipe ,I don't know if if. E46 have these
Cheers

 

[Philip Foglar]

That's interesting and worth investigating. :thumbs:

 

[Sankekur]

Is the splash cover and the sump cover still under the engine? If there are still in it might be a good idea to to remove them and check on them to traces of leaked oil that might have dripped on them.

 

[Dr Evil]

So after extensive driving the last 3 days I checked my oil level and its absolutely perfect, the level hasn't dropped at all.

 

[Funky Toyz]

I had a similar problem on my old e 90 the vacuum pump on the back of the engine has ao ring seal on it my one was perished and causing a intermittent leak the. Pump is on the back of the engine directly above the exhaust pipe ,I don't know if if. E46 have these
Cheers

This was my issue as well, only thing is, when my pump came off I found sealant everwhere... obviously this pump gave issues while the car was in plan and BMW just sealed it up, instead of replacing the pump. In other words, it could be the pump itself as well.

 

[Dr Evil]

Car is booked in by M1 Auto (old Bruce's) in kenilworth on thursday. Will let you know how it goes.