Need advice on Transfer Case leak issue

[indyb]

I own a 2007 328xi and recently have been told by the dealership that my car has a leak in transfer case. The dealership has fixed the problem.

Is this going to be a problem area in the long run?

What should be my next step?
1. Keep the car
2. Sell the car immediately
3. Wait and watch

Any advice will be really appreciated.

[fun2drive]

Way more important than the leak is draining and refilling your transfer case. It only holds 0.6L of the special transfer case fluid at 80 bucks a L. That is the life blood of your drive train and I hope they did drain and refill that for you as it is an easy job. You can only drain out 0.5L so the good news is you can use the fluid for two drain and refills..

Leaks happen but most materials are so good anymore that this should not happen again.

If you plan to keep the ix a long time do the changes or have them done every 30K miles...

[lesrrt]

I wonder would have caused a leak in that? I know the rear driveshaft has to be dropped to refill this. Just keep a watch.

[smc850ci]

Do you know how much they were able to drain? In other words, were you driving around with it way low? And for how many miles?

If it was only a little bit low, and/or you didn't drive it low for much, then I wouldn't worry about it. Like fun2drive says, do the changes and you'll be good.

Be sure to check the possible trans leak from the wire harness rubber grommet/seal. That was an issue with mine.

Check part # 1 & 2: here (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=VT13&mospid=48840&btnr=24_1047&hg=24&fg=15)

[floydr]

I wonder would have caused a leak in that? I know the rear driveshaft has to be dropped to refill this. Just keep a watch.

No, you don't have to remove driveshafts. There is a drain plug and a fill plug. See http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=VC93&mospid=49549&btnr=27_0032&hg=27&fg=15

If one of the driveshaft seals was leaking, that shaft would have to be dropped.
A more common place to leak would probably be the positioning motor seal.

[fun2drive]

Agree this is one of the easiest change and refill transfer cases I have ever done. Break open the fill plug so you know it can be refilled than get a container under the drain plug and drain it out. Refill using a cheap hand pump at Harbor Freight or the like.

How long should you keep the car is a crap shot. If it has treated you well and the leak is resolved I would change all fluids if you have not already and enjoy the car.

You never posted mileage but somewhere between now and in a couple years you will need new brake pads, rotors and brake flush new struts and shocks too. If you plan to keep this locate a good independent BMW shop which can perform these tasks cheaper than the dealer or if you have any auto skills and interest do these tasks yourself. None of them are hard to do...