00 740i - Losing oil

my 2000 740il has an oil leak at the rear of the engine

Rear main seal failure/or rear gasket (to fix that engine has to be removed).
Most likely is valve cover gasket. they are leaking on the block (under the intake manifold/ between heads), but the block has 2 draining hols at the rear, which will fool a rear seal failure.
In pic attached the draining holes are clogged. One draining hole is where the yellow ring is.

What happens if those draining holes get clogged?

Sent from my HTC Wildfire S using Bimmer

Then the oil will have a hard time draining and just pool up there. Am I correct Joyism.

Originally Posted by silverhair

Then the oil will have a hard time draining and just pool up there. Am I correct Joyism.

Yeap! You will get so much oil in there , it might be visible under the throttle body. Finally will drip at the rear of the engine because of gravitation.

@ Bimmer boz
Is the leak visible through the transmission bell housing inspection hole? If its your rear main seal, you don't have to remove the engine. My indy quoted $500 to drop the exhaust, drive shaft, and transmission. All three have to be removed to replace the seal. Good luck.