Mysterious Big Oil Leak

What's up guys, first post on here,
Just bought a '96 740il for cheap money and needed some repairs. After getting the car up and running there is now a steady oil leak when the car is running. I put it on ramps and degreased ALOT of gunk under there. I then started the car, went back under and looked for the leak. Its coming from the front drivers side near the tire. The oil is running off other parts steadily onto the driveway, making it hard to locate the exact location. Any ideas as to where it could be?

Other Info:
- oil filter housing is fine, but I think the leak may be in the hose(s) off there
*any info on those hoses is awesome
- not leaking from oil pan
- not leaking from vcg's
* just replaced them
- no coolant on ground, but seems to piss through it

Any help or thoughts is awesome!

Moved to e38 section

Yea I put it in the wrong section by accident

Two things - are you sure it's oil that is leaking? I'm asking because power steering hoses are a known leak source in our cars, especiallly near the driver's side front wheel.

Second, if you're loosing coolant, but you don't see any leaking, it could be the valley pan gasket. If you take off the engine acoustic cover & look in the valley in the back corner on the passenger side, can you see any evidence of dried up coolant, or is it damp/wet next to the valley pan? I have to kinda lean over the passenger side front fender and wait until it's dark & use a flashlight for me to see in that tight space.

Originally Posted by sealbeach740

power steering hoses are a known leak source in our cars

If it's the power steering hoses, a quick /power steering F3 in the E39 bestlinks nets these links which should apply to the E38 as well:
- How to clean the power steering fluid reservoir internal filter (1) & how to replace the cap o-ring (1) (2) & why you want to fix the power steering hose drip onto the alternator (1) (2) (3) & how to debug PSP power steering pump noises (1) (2) (3) or steering rack noises (1) & a nice power steering pump autopsy photo (1) & how to flush cloudy ATF fluid (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) & what PS fluid to use (1) (2-pdf) (3-volume) & what volume is needed to buy (1) & DIYs to replace the power steering hoses (1) (2) (3) (4) (5).

Originally Posted by sealbeach740

it could be the valley pan gasket.

If it is the valley pan gasket (and it will eventually happen to all the E38 & E39 V8s), then a quick /valley pan F3 in the E39 bestlinks nets the following which should be helpful to the OP:
- BMW E38/E39 V8 M62 engine valley pan gasket coolant leak DIY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) & what parts to order in a valley pan gasket kit (1) (2) & what is the purpose of the valley pan anyway (1)

Sorry I have not been home in a while. Thanks for the input I'll check it out now and get back to you guys.

Originally Posted by sealbeach740

Two things - are you sure it's oil that is leaking? I'm asking because power steering hoses are a known leak source in our cars

yea it's definetly not the power steering hoses those look fine

if it was a valley pan issue though, would it have a steady stream of oil leaking from it?

Originally Posted by Coffey92

yea it's definetly not the power steering hoses those look fine

if it was a valley pan issue though, would it have a steady stream of oil leaking from it?

My valley pan did have oil in it when I replaced the VP gasket. But, it wasn't anywhere near what I'd call a steady stream. More like a minor oozing.