Not so much BMW in general, but yours in particular.

Necessary preliminary tasks: Remove engine guard. Secure engine in installation position. Lower front axle. In all-wheel-drive vehicles: Remove drive shafts. Remove front axle differential.

the tightening torque is very low, and the gasket crushing turn is rather high, 60° and 180°. Shadetree mechanics do not understand the gentle crush of the gasket.

 

I have a 2011 328i, automatic, 4 door, with 61,000 miles on it (round numbers).

Had the local independent auto repair business (excellent reputation) do a routine oil change. They suspected an oil leak. Cleaned engine, put some dye in the oil, and road tested. Sure enough, the oil pan gasket is leaking, and must be replaced. Estimate is $2700 and might take two days overall. That's a shock. They're not sure about the rear main seal.

How common is the oil pan gasket leak for a BMW of this approximate age, and is it rather involved to replace it?

Thanks

1. How much does it leak. If not much, live with it.
2. Rear main seal? Why? That is key. Rear main seal leaks usually bcs. faulty PCV.

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If it's just seeping a little, I wouldn't fix it. If it's causing your oil level to drop and leaving drips all over your floor, then maybe fix it. Can you try to just snug up the bolts yourself, or ask them to do it? That might not be the best fix but I'd certainly try that before going all in at $2700.

 

It's not all wheel drive, which I guess is fortunate in this case. They aren't saying for sure that the rear main leaks. Just taking a closer look. This hasn't been a major leak (wherever the leak is; about a month ago I had to put a full quart in, but I think that's the first time I've done that since owning it for something like 6 years, with regular oil changes not by me but by folks in the business. If I just let them torque the bolts, isn't there a risk that the gasket, which is most likely OEM, will get crushed someplace and we're back to fixing the leak?

 

It's not all wheel drive, which I guess is fortunate in this case. They aren't saying for sure that the rear main leaks. Just taking a closer look. This hasn't been a major leak (wherever the leak is; about a month ago I had to put a full quart in, but I think that's the first time I've done that since owning it for something like 6 years, with regular oil changes not by me but by folks in the business. If I just let them torque the bolts, isn't there a risk that the gasket, which is most likely OEM, will get crushed someplace and we're back to fixing the leak?

$2,700 is too much for xDrive, let alone RWD. Check do you have oil leak on oil filter housing gasket of valve cover. Those are dangerous ones. Pan gasket is just nuisance.

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How would torquing the bolts, crushing the gasket and being back to fixing the leak be worse than where you are at right now, except for the cost to torque the bolts?

 

I've done this job in my garage. $2,700 is WAYYYYY too much and it's not a 2 day job on a rear wheel drive car. It's actually pretty easy with the right tools. I've done BMW engine swaps so a pan gasket is no big deal. I would not do this unless you're adding oil like crazy, as in a quart a week - that's if the pan gasket is leaking. BMW pan gaskets are BEEFY sons a bytches. They don't just break down and leak. It's not like it's a cork gasket.

Support the motor using support brace or engine hoist, support the sub frame using a floor jack. unbolt the subframe (4 bolts with an impact gun zip zip zip zip) disco the control arms, lower the subframe using a floor jack, about 6 inches. unbolt the pan, new gasket and reverse the procedure. It's really not a big deal once you've done it.

All wheel drive cars you also disco the front axles, the transfer case is a bit of a pain but doable, and the subframe is considerable larger, but still doable.

The rear main seal is pain in arse. You have to separate the trans and the motor to get to it.

I just can't see a pan gasket with 60k miles failing.

Good luck. You can DM me if you need further advice.

BTW I'm ex NAVY too. USS THEODOORE ROOSEVELT CVN-71.

 

$2700 for a non AWD? That’s a lot. My Indy did my oil pan gasket for a little under $1,000 and I’ve got a AWD. They used BMW parts and gave me 2year 24k miles warranty on parts+labor. Mine wasn’t seeping bad enough for me to add oil. But, my Indy shops quote was lower then the other shops I had contacted so I just went ahead and got it replaced instead of worrying about it. Initially I went to get the car checked for suspension issue and got the call Fr my Indy stating the oil pan gasket as some seepage. I went the next day to take a look at it and it was seeping a little so I just went on ahead and got it done 🤷🏽‍♂️.

 

Thank y’all for your service. USN SS ‘69 - ‘75 SSN-660

 

Thank y'all for your service. USN SS '69 - '75 SSN-660

Glad to see some Navy here. I was a destroyer officer during the cold war, and very beginning of the Vietnam War. Homeport Long Beach Calif. Operated mostly with aircraft carriers all over the Pacific. Primary mission was anti-submarine warfare.

Yesterday I watched a pretty good one hour video a guy made while replacing his oil pan gasket on a similar BMW to mine. I fast forwarded in several places. But there is no way I could do that job by myself. For openers, I don't have anywhere near the tools, jacks, hoists etc that are needed. He had to remove the radiator and steering, and unbolt parts of the front suspension geometry, along with everything else mentioned in other posts in this thread. I may have made a mistake by not getting another bid, or by not just having them torque the large number of bolts holding the oil pan and nothing else. I didn't count but there could easily be 20 to 30 of them. Leaks don't get better; they get worse. At least I'll have some peace of mind.....at a cost! I'm really puzzled about why BMW made this so inaccessible. Did they think that gasket would last forever?

 

Depending on your point of view, owner or BMW Service Center, they do last for ever.

Be careful. I believe that the gasket‘s effect is the turn AFTER torque crushing the resilient gasket just a bit.

So far, thank goodness, mine is leak free.

The only liquid under the hood of a BMW that is not deleterious to the elastomer plastics is rain water and diesel exhaust fluid. EVERY other fluid is harmful and is cautioned against somewhere in the TIS. Work it may, shine it must. A clean engine compartment wil have fewer problems than a dirty one, greasy or muddy.

I was enlisted nuke, but I stayed with Navy Nuclear Power for my career and retired Nuclear Shift Test Engineer (Start-up Engineer in civilian world). Apropos, at the end of my career our experience was leveraged by preparing Work Packages, everything needed to accomplish jobs from simple to refueling, documenting our skills for the sailors. Work isolation, access, procedure, test, re-test URO.

That’s much the same as BMW Technical Information System is growing into. BMW TIS 2.0 uses VR Goggles to overlay the mechanics view with pictorial and audio instructions by their expert system. BMW TIS 2.0 is not available to the public that I know. BMW TIS (1.0) subscription is $30/day $2500/year. NewTIS is available by much more reasonable subscription, licensed from BMW. Just now recovering from a copyright take down notice flap - that may not yet be over.

 

Mine started leaking at 94k miles. I've never owned a BMW that didn't leak from the sump/pan gasket at some point? Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

It's a major pain in the butt on these cars (was for me at least) without having access to a lift though. I recently replaced mine, it involved a lot of crying and blood, haha! Not really, but it was painful, lots of time on the floor working in tight spaces, and challenging with such limited accessibly to the gasket surface on the block. Getting the pan in and out was a game of millimeters. I had to literally design and fabricate a fixture to mount to the subframe and then to a transmission jack to lower/raise the subframe (might not have been necessary but I did it anyway). Procedure is a little tricky, gotta think about suspension of the engine from above while using some kind of jack to support the subframe from below in tandem. Power steering pump, intake manifold, engine mount brackets, a couple other components have to come out in order to access several pan fasteners on the left side of the engine.

Took some pictures though, see below.

Would not do it again (unless the was on a lift ) without completely disconnecting the subframe from the steering stuff and removing it entirely. Total parts cost was around 300$ if I recall correctly.

 

Jesus is that a XI (AWD)? I wouldn't be able to do that myself. Maybe if I had a lift I would've attempted it ?.

 

I was in the Navy when the ships were wood, and not just the PT boats.

That said, your first step should be to find another shop, as they are triple charging you for the oil pan, which you probably don't need anyway, especially if it just weeping.

Of note, mine with 58K miles, does have a small weep from the valve cover gasket.

Also, if you have an SULEV, many of the gaskets are covered.

 

I have a 2011 328i, automatic, 4 door, with 61,000 miles on it (round numbers).

Had the local independent auto repair business (excellent reputation) do a routine oil change. They suspected an oil leak. Cleaned engine, put some dye in the oil, and road tested. Sure enough, the oil pan gasket is leaking, and must be replaced. Estimate is $2700 and might take two days overall. That's a shock. They're not sure about the rear main seal.

How common is the oil pan gasket leak for a BMW of this approximate age, and is it rather involved to replace it?

Thanks

I just had this done by dealer service in SF Bay area. The following is informational:

• Parts involved: $287, of which gasket $93, aluminum bolts $78, hex screws $75 were the most expensive individual items
• Labor: $1880 (metropolitan SF Bay dealer prices)

I presume I could have saved a little on labor, but indy prices around SF Bay are not majorly cheaper.

I have been putting off the gasket change literally for years...consumption of 1 qt per year with about 10k per year of driving. But this year the mechanic reported the leak had become major and he asked the SA to look...a phone call to me was a result, not merely an afterthought noted on the service report, so I bit the bullet.
OTOH I managed to drive 60k miles with no need for any brake work done to the car, (purchased as CPO with 30k on the odometer) until front pads and rotors replaced finally this week. The pads were down to 2mm and I had not broken the sensor wire yet, but rotors were below min. thickness. On my prior models of BMW I would have had two sets of front and rear replaced by now.

 

Thanks, Wilt. That gives me a good baseline for whatever final charges I get from the independent shop.

Marvinstockma: we're not putting a new oil pan on the car, so they're not charging me anything for an oil pan, unless the damned thing has a hole in it that was not reported to me. But as Wilt reports, it is routine to replace all bolts with new ones since they are aluminum.

The old saying was "men of iron, ships of wood". Maybe you served on a minesweeper? I think our Captain's gig and motor whaleboat were wood in my day. Now they are all rigid inflatables as I understand it, and go like hell.

 

So to put this in perspective. My oil pan gasket has been seeping for for 50,000 miles (I have 185,600 now) and my dealer wants $1900 dollars for the fix. I only loose about half a quart between 15,000 mile oil changes so I am living with it for the present time. My car is almost 10 years old and owes me nothing, so if I decide to keep it another 3 years I may fix it, if not there is a Z4 in my future!

 

I have two leaking N52 oil pan gaskets in my stable right now...one has been seeping for 5 years...maybe longer? Have to add a half liter between oil changes. The other I've only had the car for a year, but in 15k miles, haven't had to add any oil outside of an oil change. I just added a third N52....don't know yet, but presume it probably is...lol.

 

That oil consumption rate is pretty good. I believe I my N52 is down 1 qt of oil every 6-7K miles since I bought the car 15 years ago. I did notice recently that the rear main seal may be leaking when I cleaned the splash shield. Last year I had the oil pan gasket replaced at a BMW indy for about $1000. When I took off the splash shield this past summer I was surprised to see a lot of sludge in it. Tried to track down the source but on low profile ramps access is limited at the engine transmission junction. The mechanic should have mentioned it when he replaced the oil pan gasket.
As I recall from all my research on all the forums, 1 quart /6-8000 miles is fairly normal. BTW all other gaskets have been replaced recently.

 

I just talked my repair shop down to $2100 which includes parts, labor, alignment, and the necessary oil replacement, and a complimentary loaner which I probably don't need. I now realize I'm still paying too much. Next time this BMW needs routine maintenance or more, I'll go elsewhere. (Buyer's remorse.) This repair shop says its labor "rate" is $155 vs. the BMW dealer at (I think they said) $225, or at least somewhere north of $200. There's another independent which specializes in M-B and BMW and their labor rate supposedly is $135, so I'll try them next time. Keep in mind these are not the hourly pay of the employees. These are the rates billed to the customer, so all the other expenses of the business are built into them plus an unknown profit percentage.

 

That is the highest rate that I have read of. Yes, they pay the expenses like the fantabulous infrastructure overhead.

About 'alignment'; hypothetically, why not align to ZERO toe and ZERO camber? BMW alignment allowances are so wide as to be useless for any particular purpose. Mine very different car is aligned to 0.02° toe-in and balanced mid-range camber.
From NewTIS

 

Another Navy vet here (Diving/Submarine/Undersea Medical Officer - Fast attack subs in Groton and BUD/s in Coronado)

I wouldn't dismiss the oil pan gasket as source at your miles - can definitely happen. It can also be deceptive where the oil ends up but if you look closely it is almost certainly at the rear and passenger side of the oil pan where the tilt/gravity doom the gasket in this car. The oil can track back though and appear to be coming from seal or other location.

Very high quality independent shop in San Diego area is about $1000 so the rate you are saying seems very high.

I am by no means a very experienced or expert home mechanic but I did it myself (95,000 mile E90 N55) and there are very good DIYs on YouTube and forums to guide the way. Right tools are everything. For me, since I never wanted to do it again I followed some others guidance to use RTV on both sides of the replacement gasket. Because of that and because the area is so tight, I removed the entire sub-frame entirely instead of just lowering which includes lots more steps but really gives you far better access and in my opinion would be necessary if you are using RTV so you don't make a complete and total mess... Even with the subframe out I didn't get a 'one-time' press of the gasket as it is just awkward and I was doing it on my own so the RTV application was suboptimal to say the best (couple false touches which disrupted the RTV). But after all the work up to that point I just went for it (as opposed to cleaning it all up and applying it again and finding another person to help me to press it and hold it while I put in bolts - you know, the smart decision) and made sure I was absolutely meticulous about the bolt pattern, sequence, tightening and took careful sequential steps and marked all bolts with marker as I went to make sure they were all evenly torqued and then did 90 and 180 rotations, etc. Took my time, waited a full 24 hours before filling oil, and everything was dry as a bone and will probably be good for another 100,000 miles or even more. It's not hard but it is long if you are not a pro and have done it lots of times. I did with hand tools only on jack stands in garage, engine support is obviously essential.

I'd be a bit nervous going in cold and tightening up aluminum bolts unless I had JUST done the procedure and was making very small tweaks at the end where I saw a little seeping - which I was prepared to do but fortunately didn't have to. I was holding my breath with every last turn on every bolt. These bolts are designed to snap if over-torqued... so unless you are ready to do the replacement right then and there (e.g. be ready to pay the difference for complete job or have all the parts, time and supreme patience to do on your own) I wouldn't green light someone or do that on my own in the garage. Successfully tapping a snapped bolt through the oil pan (i.e. not having to remove the entire oil pan to get purchase on the nub) I suppose is possible in the right hands but I wouldn't trust that as a guaranteed reversal of over tightening and snapping a bolt. I'd be prepared to go the distance.