06 325ci
I’ve been leaving a wet spot. I pulled the plastic cover off and it seems to be coming from the oil filter housing gasket. It’s coming from the front left of the engine and running down and blowing back on everything.
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Very common issue. It’s a bit of a PITA but it’s doable. Make sure you buy the new gasket from the dealer. Aftermarket gaskets are a no no.
Hey, it’s German. They build motors that weep. Try a Brit car. They stop leaking oil when the oil ya gone!!
A little tip: once you’ve got the housing out, clean the mating surfaces with CRC Brake Clean and allow everything to dry. Then put a veeeeery thin bead of high temperature rtv on the outermost mating surface of the housing. Allow it to dry for at least an hour. Then carefully reassemble with the new gasket from the dealer. Make sure the bolts go in their correct holes. Tighten the bolts using fav star oattetn. Torque them to the correct value.
That should read “tighten the bolts using a star pattern.” Tighten them gradually.
You're welcome.
Rule of thumb...antiseize or loctite on everything.
Red is strongest, might have to use heat to get it off.
Blue is medium, works for nearly everything.
Green is weakest, to be honest, I've never used it.
Loctite or Permatex also makes a sealant (white paste like) for bolts that go through into water jacket.
Helped a pal with an X5 (similar motor) and it turned out to be the oil line at the banjo bolt. When you take off the oil line, the crimped end fitting should be tightly bound to the hose, not swiveling around. But having gone that far we also replaced the gasket.
Charlie
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to add value to these threads, either by pictures or by descriptions, so the next person with the same or similar problem stands on your shoulders.
If you do the oil filter housing gasket, change the vanos oil line as well. It's another common source of leaking and is inexpensive "while you're in there".
Here's the OFHG for M54 video DIY guide I made recently, airbox is different on the E46 but the rest is pretty much the same basic M54 stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCgnUkDvJk
If you think it's leaking, it probably is.
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