E84 X1 35i oil pan gasket

[E46M3E84X1]

About two weeks ago I decided to tackle the oil pan gasket on the 35i. Not too bad of a job, biggest part was tighten the oil pan bolts. End up replacing - oil pan gasket, control arms/tie rods/struts/shocks/hats, water pump/tstat/radiator/hoses, motor mounts along with other bits just to keep it in good shape. I decided to remove the whole strut w/ axle and it made the job a bit easier.

[cwickberg]

Looks just like mine... 35i MSport Mineral White...

Why did you need to change oil pan gasket? was it leaking or weeping? I just had control arms done...Surprised they were really worn, but before I gave my X1 to my daughter, I did autocross and track it a bit...

How many miles? Was water pump leaking or failed? or did you just do "preventive replacments?"

[E46M3E84X1]

Originally Posted by cwickberg

Looks just like mine... 35i MSport Mineral White...

Why did you need to change oil pan gasket? was it leaking or weeping? I just had control arms done...Surprised they were really worn, but before I gave my X1 to my daughter, I did autocross and track it a bit...

How many miles? Was water pump leaking or failed? or did you just do "preventive replacments?"

I checked it last year and it was just weeping I checked it again about a two months ago and it was dripping but mostly was caught on the plastics/belly pans so it was hard to see. It has exactly 100k miles. Other parts were replaced as preventive maintenance.

[cwickberg]

OK Thanks Something else to look forward to

[4ndres]

I have a leaky oil pan gasket, and I'm a bit of a novice mechanic. I've been using newTis and other online references to do the work. Do you have any good reference sites or information you recommend?

[E46M3E84X1]

Originally Posted by 4ndres

I have a leaky oil pan gasket, and I'm a bit of a novice mechanic. I've been using newTis and other online references to do the work. Do you have any good reference sites or information you recommend?

No I just kinda went at it. Just looked up the torque specs etc. pretty straight forward though.

[SharpAndCunning]

Originally Posted by cwickberg

OK Thanks Something else to look forward to

This is what I was thinking.

[cwickberg]

I hope you didn't have any left over parts, bolts or components...

[pfschim1]

2015 MSport X1 35i XDrive just about to hit 40k miles.

I'm past BMW warranty about a year. Car has been great since I bought it new and has only required standard maintenance and new rubber when the original run flats wore out. At 40k over 5 years I clearly don't drive the car too much. I do push it at times when I do drive it but not beyond its capabilities.

I did regular maintenance on the X1 with BMW while it was covered. Since then I have used qualified indy shops to do the basics (Oil change, tires etc.).

Recently the car developed a coolant leak and I took it to BWM. They charged me $250 to diagnose the coolant leak issue. Turns out it was a cracked coolant reservoir. They charged me $605 to replace that, so with the diagnosis and the reservoir replacement, I paid $855 for this work ... which seems high even for a BMW dealership.

In the process of checking the car the tech report said I needed the oil pan gasket replaced and quoted $2,300 (!). Now I understand that this repair is complicated by the the location of the oil pan and that much of the front end of the car has to be removed to just get at the oil pan to replace the gasket. But this seems like a very high price and I have not seen any sign of an oil leak ... no oil on the driveway, no loss of oil as measured by the cars monitoring system or by checking the dip stick. I did find a local qualified indy shop that quoted me $1,500 for the same repair ($800 less than BMW!) but I am still a bit leery of kicking down this kind of $$ for a repair that may not be needed.

Any thoughts on this ? anything I should be looking for to validate that there is actually a leak ?
I am not qualified or equipped to do the work my self (sadly) like the OP.

[cwickberg]

lots of dealers these days lookiing for work...Some folks like to do "pre-preventive" Maintenance... If its not leaking, I wouldnt worry... yet, then perhaps save up for it. Definitely shop around...

I had the dreaded oil filter housing gasket leak... Dealer wanted over $1,800 to fit... 2 years ago... I just had it replaced by my indy guy for under $700.

[proteus290]

i have the same white 35I ultimate and it has the pan leak also @84k miles on the list to fix but does not look easy ,to tear apart again on the lower front of the whole car. not looking forward to this fix. without help need a buddy on this repair to tear apart 1 more time again.

walnut blasting and pulling manifold seemed like a big deal it wasnt to bad,all labor, i think valve cover was worse, than fixing oil filter housing o ring but it just seems daunting dropping subframe and all that for a oil pan gasket. @30 bucks

some day i will get a spare M engine and have 1 ready to go in frame

k

[pfschim1]

I thought I would post an update of sorts on my supposed oil pan seal leak.

Short story is that I have done nothing about it. I have been watching the oil level closely (both in the engine system check and with the dip stick) I do not detect any loss of oil, any smell of burning oil or signs of oil on my driveway. I understand there is a pan that might collect leaking oil, but it seems odd that if the car was truly leaking oil, or even seeping it would show up in the oil level after 6 months ??

If I truly need to get this fixed I have a few options identified aside from the dealer, but the lowest estimate I could get was $1,400 ... which still seems ridiculous for a $35 oil pan gasket ... and yes, I do know that the job is complicated because so much of the front end has to come out just to do the oil pan seal replacement.

Anyway, it seems fine so far and I'm just going to cross the repair bridge down the road if I ever really need it.

sure makes me leery of BMW dealer service though.

[chance91]

Originally Posted by pfschim1

I thought I would post an update of sorts on my supposed oil pan seal leak.

Short story is that I have done nothing about it. I have been watching the oil level closely (both in the engine system check and with the dip stick) I do not detect any loss of oil, any smell of burning oil or signs of oil on my driveway. I understand there is a pan that might collect leaking oil, but it seems odd that if the car was truly leaking oil, or even seeping it would show up in the oil level after 6 months ??

If I truly need to get this fixed I have a few options identified aside from the dealer, but the lowest estimate I could get was $1,400 ... which still seems ridiculous for a $35 oil pan gasket ... and yes, I do know that the job is complicated because so much of the front end has to come out just to do the oil pan seal replacement.

Anyway, it seems fine so far and I'm just going to cross the repair bridge down the road if I ever really need it.

sure makes me leery of BMW dealer service though.

Both N54 and N55 motors are notrious for leaking oil pan gaskets. You can pretty much point at one over 80k and say, oh, it has a pan leak.

To me, its kind of a "cosmetic" mechanical problem, to a point. A small drip or two of oil is not an issue. when they get really bad, they can leave a puddle.

The leaks to be more concerned about are coolant from the actual water pump, valve cover gasket, and oil filter housing/thermostat gasket.

OP, Looks like an expensive weekend! I did the front end service on my 335i, and would not want to do it again anytime soon. Doubly so for the x1 with AWD up front. I would probably do the same if doing the OPG i'd also do the water pump, since its not if but when.

I'm sure it feels good to have that out of the way.

[SharpAndCunning]

Originally Posted by pfschim1

2015 MSport X1 35i XDrive just about to hit 40k miles.

no oil on the driveway, no loss of oil as measured by the cars monitoring system or by checking the dip stick.

Your car has a dipstick?!

[aloyouis]

Originally Posted by SharpAndCunning

Your car has a dipstick?!

This!

[chance91]

Worth noting, you may be able to get some compensation out of the waterpump, based on this settlement.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2...-reached.shtml

[E46M3E84X1]

Originally Posted by chance91

Both N54 and N55 motors are notrious for leaking oil pan gaskets. You can pretty much point at one over 80k and say, oh, it has a pan leak.

To me, its kind of a "cosmetic" mechanical problem, to a point. A small drip or two of oil is not an issue. when they get really bad, they can leave a puddle.

The leaks to be more concerned about are coolant from the actual water pump, valve cover gasket, and oil filter housing/thermostat gasket.

OP, Looks like an expensive weekend! I did the front end service on my 335i, and would not want to do it again anytime soon. Doubly so for the x1 with AWD up front. I would probably do the same if doing the OPG i'd also do the water pump, since its not if but when.

I'm sure it feels good to have that out of the way.

It was an expensive weekend. End up spending $2.5k including tires. (Mine were a bit worn out and needed an alignment after replacing all those parts) IDK how people replace the water pump without completely dropping the subframe PITA. The job itself was not hard. I only end up needing help replacing the serpentine belt. But again, the oil was not dripping on the floor and most of it was visible once uou drop the plastic covers.