E85 3.0i manual - Oil leak

[Oscar21]

Oil filter housing gasket has just started to leak, wondering what parts I need and any advice, been told the gasket should be cheap but will require a couple hours of work.

Hope someone could help, Thanks!

[Matty_Z4]

Ive not done it myself. A garage did it for me when I first got the car, dont ask me for the price because I have never been back to that particular garage because reasons. I found a much better and more reliable specialist (hes been looking after my car for ~5 years now)

Looking online it doesn't seem too difficult if you have the tools.

- Remove the accessory belts,
- Remove the Alternator
- Remove a few more bolts (housing comes off)
- new Seal and then button it back up.

I would say a pro could do it in 30-40 minutes, for me DIY with a couple of cups of tea give it an hour to an hour and a half.

[colb]

Simple enough to change that small gasket out they are on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304284836466 ... ULSr_7CBYw

The time consuming job is getting the Alternator off once the belts are removed, you will need to move the lower idler to get at the lower alternator bolt. Also reset the alternators pivot point bush at the base to aid refitting the unit, the bush tightens up again when the bolt is done up. With it reset its far easier to reinstall the alternator rather than fighting with it. Should take you around and hour and a half if you haven't done one before.

[Z4Mariner]

Oscar21 - The advice above is sound, but it's for a pre-facelift car with M54 engine - if that describes your car, you can ignore the rest of my post.

For a facelift (N52 engine, 2006+) car, the job is similar, but the detail differences could be frustrating, if not expected. On an N52 engine, consider changing the oil cooler gasket and the "Mickey Mouse flange" coolant hose at the same time. And you'll need slightly different tools. Here's what I did some months ago: viewtopic.php?p=1985350&hilit=OFHG#p1985350