Oil Leak on my 528i

[boloughlin]

Hi. I've got a 528 with 80,000. When I was idling at a stop light the other day, I smelled oil. I parked it with the engine running and saw two small drops of oil on the concrete directly under the rear of the engine. When the engine is off, the drip stops. It looks as if it may be coming from the rear of the head gasket. Is that easy for me to change? Are there any other areas the oil may be coming from when it's running? Could there be too much oil since it was just changed? Thanks in advance. -Bryan

[318daily]

You have to jack it up and check.

Mine developed an oil pan gasket leak at 112K miles. I would normally try this but since it requires dropping the subframe and supporting the engine, I decided it was over my mechanic ability and I paid a shop 5 hours of labor.

Once you find your leak, check the Bentley's manual and see if you can do the repair yourself.

good luck.

[Skipper5]

if you want to get under there yourself, don't let dropping the subframe intimidate you. i really was not looking forward to doing it when i intstalled my front sway bar, but it turned into an 90 minute job. two guys working together. i used a 3 ton floor jack, two jack stands, and an air-wrench+sockets, etc.

jack up the car on the subframe from the front, place jack stands under the jack pads. move jack under motor (i placed a wood block on the jack to spread the weight on the motor) rip off the subframe; 8 bolts i think. hmm, funny thing is, i think we supported the motor on the oil pan, LOL. so not sure if this techniqe works. haven't been under there enough to tell you anything else. :) i tried.

when you put the subframe back in, start at the front of the car, and work your way back with the bolts. this will align everything easier. specificlly the motor mounts.

[boloughlin]

Thanks for the info. So do you think it's the pan or the head gasket? The thing does not drip when the engine is off and it drips from somewhere that hits the exhaust and causes it to smoke. I also heard that it might be that there is too much oil.