Coupe oil leak but where is it coming from?

[Buckz]

Hi guys

the past couple of days I've noticed a smell of burning oil once every 20-25mins while driving..

here's what I can see, oil collecting near the valvetronic motor. Now at first I thought it was the so common valve cover gasket but it looks like the oil runs over from there and down the side of the cover and onto the exhaust where it burns.

I am thinking it is the valvetronic motors gasket but can anyone confirm my suspicions





you can see tiny puddles of oil next to ignition coils and there's more under the motor it self - which is why I'm guessing that it is the valvetronic seal.

any other ideas? I was thinking oil cap maybe as there was a clear-ish path of oil from the cap but then again it could be over-spill from the last service that the previous owner or me did not notice.

[Newbers]

There are a few of us have this problem (I started a post on it with a few photos now lost to Photofucket about 3 months ago).

I sprayed the whole area with degreaser and washed it off. I haven't looked again recently but when I last did, the oil seemed to be coming out around the filler cap. I presume the seal for this is replaceable. I have had some concerns about rather than the seal having failed this pointed to excessive crankcase pressure. I've had it in mind that I'd change this and the rocker cover seals at some point but I have been hoping someone else would do it first and report back......

[Buckz]

There are a few of us have this problem (I started a post on it with a few photos now lost to Photofucket about 3 months ago).

I sprayed the whole area with degreaser and washed it off. I haven't looked again recently but when I last did, the oil seemed to be coming out around the filler cap. I presume the seal for this is replaceable. I have had some concerns about rather than the seal having failed this pointed to excessive crankcase pressure. I've had it in mind that I'd change this and the rocker cover seals at some point but I have been hoping someone else would do it first and report back......

Aha, so going from your post I can assume that no-one has figured out how to fix it or what's causing it ?

I am still thinking it's valvetronic motor but it could be the oil cap too so I've cleaned it up and I'll see how it looks after today.

If it's the cap then it's a £20 jobbie whereas valvetronic seal will take more

Getting to valve cover gasket is even more of a pain on n52 and requires removal of a lot of parts + moving the full loom out of the way due to limited access..

[jamie_z4]

i paid £50 to a local garage to have my valve cover gasket changed - however im 'up norf' so it might well be dearer in london,

as Newbers said though, get some degreaser out & Steam the engine first so you will get more of a definitive answer as to where its coming from

[Newbers]

'While your down there' it probably makes sense to do the whole lot. The same parts are on a lot of cars so shouldn't be hard/too dear to get hold of.

[Buckz]

'While your down there' it probably makes sense to do the whole lot. The same parts are on a lot of cars so shouldn't be hard/too dear to get hold of.

@jamie_z4 yeah that's the plan, I've cleaned it up a little yesterday but it's difficult to reach behind so I'll see how it looks today after the commute home.

@newbers

I would but it's probably 4-5 hours worth of work - much easier on m54.

from what I Can see -;

remove plastic cover
remove coils
remove battery leads
remove valvetronic motor
remove injectors( a pita with their silly metal clips)
remove a hose from the back of the valve cover(looked at it yesterday and it looks weak)
remove the valve cover
maybe remove the strut brace to gain more working space/access.

[Newbers]

Is that from TIS? There is a lot of stuff there but at least looks easy to get to. I would have thought a bit quicker unless you get distracted/anything goes wrong....

You'll need Torx and Star sockets.

[Buckz]

Is that from TIS? There is a lot of stuff there but at least looks easy to get to. I would have thought a bit quicker unless you get distracted/anything goes wrong....

You'll need Torx and Star sockets.

From a quick look at the engine and a YouTube video that does just that on n52.

This is similar, doesn't seem to require injector removal but then you'll have very little space to work with.

My next steps I think are to identify where it's coming from and see what seal it is.

I'm 99% sure it's not the valve cover because of where the oil is collecting which should make things simpler.

Worst thing about it is the smell when it drops on the exhaust..

[Joycey]

I'm doing this exact job tomorrow, I bought the rocker cover gasket along with valvetronic gasket and one other BMW recommended changing. Came to about £24 for the bits. Mines been doing the same, every half hour or so it drips onto the manifold and stinks. Looks wet under the valvetronic body.

[Buckz]

I'm doing this exact job tomorrow, I bought the rocker cover gasket along with valvetronic gasket and one other BMW recommended changing. Came to about £24 for the bits. Mines been doing the same, every half hour or so it drips onto the manifold and stinks. Looks wet under the valvetronic body.

Where did you get your bits from ? Let me know how that goes

[Joycey]

I'm doing this exact job tomorrow, I bought the rocker cover gasket along with valvetronic gasket and one other BMW recommended changing. Came to about £24 for the bits. Mines been doing the same, every half hour or so it drips onto the manifold and stinks. Looks wet under the valvetronic body.

Where did you get your bits from ? Let me know how that goes

I already had the rocker cover gasket from GSF (£24) When I spoke with my local BMW they recommended another seal on the rocker cover to change, was only an extra £8 I will take a few photos and report back.

[Buckz]

I'm doing this exact job tomorrow, I bought the rocker cover gasket along with valvetronic gasket and one other BMW recommended changing. Came to about £24 for the bits. Mines been doing the same, every half hour or so it drips onto the manifold and stinks. Looks wet under the valvetronic body.

Where did you get your bits from ? Let me know how that goes

I already had the rocker cover gasket from GSF (£24) When I spoke with my local BMW they recommended another seal on the rocker cover to change, was only an extra £8 I will take a few photos and report back.

That extra seal is probably the valvetronic motor one isn't it? Let me know how it goes as I'm now sure it is coming from the valvetronic motor, after cleaning it up yesterday I can see oil running down the cover to the head and down to the manifold.

[Joycey]

Just a little update. Replaced the Valvetronic unit seal on Saturday and now all is well. Although it did take a second attempt to get it to seal. It was evident the rubber seal has a sweet spot, doing up the outer bolts first before the body bolts. Once I had everything removed it was clear the rocker cover seal was ok so I didn't want to disturb it.

Seal removed showing the leak.

IMG_6202.JPG (215.22 KiB) Viewed 3288 times

Valvetronic unit

IMG_6204.JPG (126.79 KiB) Viewed 3288 times

New seal from BMW.

IMG_6203.JPG (146.72 KiB) Viewed 3288 times

Showing alignment

IMG_6205.JPG (180.46 KiB) Viewed 3288 times

It took about half hour to do and you will need some slim female torx sockets.

[Taz]

[Buckz]

Awesome thank you! I believe mine will have be the exact same issue. I pulled the coils out this weekend and oil is directly under the motor so makes perfect sense.

Did the seal come with the outer part too ? Or just the center bit? Aka this -;

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1dbo3RVXX ... 86-E90.jpg