Oil Pan gasket.

[RRSperry]

Is the BMW oil pan gasket really worth almost twice as much as aftermarket gaskets? ECS lists aftermarket gaskets for about $20, and the BMW gasket is $38? I think I only really want to do this once...lol

While I have it on the lift, I inspected all the bushings. (77,000 miles all original).

Flash light, pry bar, magnyfing glass...lol Not one crack, deformation or seperation . Strange... No bearing or ball joint play... Just an interesting observation.

I do have the sagging transmission tunnel insulation, (sucks...) and the bump stops are disintigrating.

I love winter projects...

[bluptgm3]

You really want to do ALL that work, save $18 only to have another failure?

How are the RTABs, at this age and mileage you should see/feel some failure/play.


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[RRSperry]

I installed limiters at about 10k miles, they really do look almost new.

[MauiM3Mania]

The RTABs and guibo on my 99 had a few cracks at nine years/55k miles. My 04 were trash at 13 years/62k miles.

Both cars are garage kept since day ones, and exist in a moderate climate.

[SamGrant951]

Ive used the $19 one twice with no leaks.

[pbonsalb]

Who makes the $19 one? Might be made by same company that does BMW. Or another good company.

[AlpineM3OldAsMe]

Try Elring, They are OE and made many of the BMW branded gaskets. The pricing is right around 20 I believe

[TostitoBandito]

As long as it's a German OEM go for it. Doesn't have to be "genuine BMW". Just don't buy any cheap crap from China.

[boarder2k7]

I've had the Victor Reinz in my car for about 18 months now with no leaks yet.

[RRSperry]

Thanks guys, seems it really doesn’t matter.

[hli]

Yeah, I don't really understand the fascination with genuine BMW parts. I also used an Elring and had no issues the past year since I've replaced it.

[LockDots]

Yeah, I don't really understand the fascination with genuine BMW parts. I also used an Elring and had no issues the past year since I've replaced it.

Elring and Victor Reinz are both great brands. I would have no hesitation using either. That being said, for certain items OE/OEM is the best way to go. This isn't a high stress/pressure application so I would go aftermarket in a pinch.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Elring and Victor Reinz are both great brands. I would have no hesitation using either. That being said, for certain items OE/OEM is the best way to go. This isn't a high stress/pressure application so I would go aftermarket in a pinch.

Ugh. No. VR is not a great brand. VR makes some good products, but also a lot of crap. Unfortunately, they are now in the OE parts chain as "Genuine BMW."

[LockDots]

Ugh. No. VR is not a great brand. VR makes some good products, but also a lot of crap. Unfortunately, they are now in the OE parts chain as "Genuine BMW."

Can't say i've ever had a problem directly related to a VR gasket.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Can't say i've ever had a problem directly related to a VR gasket.

My experience with VR gaskets is that they are obviously crappier than, say, Elring. It's less of an issue for E36es, but, for example, the VR M20 head gasket is utter garbage.

[newman995]

Ive heard both good and bad about Victor Reinz, but i have never had a problem with them myself. I had like 10 of their gaskets in my e30.

[hotdish]

I don't know if I botched the installation or not, but I used an elring on my 190k mile s50 when I took the pan off to tap it and ended up having to pull it off again and use a little RTV to stop the gasket from leaking.

[NeilM]

VR is usually cited as the head gasket you should never use. On the other hand that's a more demanding application than the oil pan.

Neil