Help! My M3 is leaking oil!

Just picked the car up a week ago and noticed it's leaking oil! Traced the leak and it seems to be coming from oil housing unit. Could it be the gasket???

M3inthecity wrote

Just picked the car up a week ago and noticed it's leaking oil! Traced the leak and it seems to be coming from oil housing unit. Could it be the gasket???

You have a picture? Is it coming from oil filter house gasket area?

Here are some pics

Pic of side

First make sure the cap is screwed on tight. If it is, then remove it and check if the o-ring around the cap is in place and isn't twisted. These usually come with a replacement oil filter. It wouldn't hurt to just get a new filter and replace it and the o-rings and torque the cap correctly. If that doesn't work you may need to replace the cap or the housing.

You can see the o-ring in the filter kit:

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pn.aspx?sku=14369145-11427837997&vehicle=2008%20BMW%20M3%20E90%2F92&brand=Mann&utm_source=google&utm_medium=nonpaid&utm_campaign=froogleSKU_BMW&gclid=Cj0KEQiAuonGBRCaotXoycysvIMBEiQAcxV0nF-ya_KHQxZKSKOKVLVyln_IvMeeMVzH4zJVc_Qw08UaAm6P8P8HAQ

Okay just checked and it seem to be tight I took some pics, so you don't think the problem is the oil fill housing?

I meant the cap to the filter housing, not the oil filler cap. Sorry.

Check the cap of the oil filter housing. There is a o-ring around the cap that could be out of place causing the leak. If there is oil on the oil filter housing I would say the cap is the issue.

If you see oil under the oil filter housing I would say the oil filter housing gasket is leaking. Which is a gasket that seals the mating surface of the housing against the engine.

bkdore wrote

I meant the cap to the filter housing, not the oil filler cap. Sorry.

This. My wife's X3 got an oil change and they didn't fully tighten it and oil was all over the place afterwards. If it's completely tightened I'd get a new gasket.

So i had the same issue. Noticed oil leak on my belly pand and it tracked to oil filter housing. I thought it was oil filter cap O-ring which was not. Then replaced oil cooling hoses O-rings, still leaked. It ended up being a crack in oil filter housing above oil cooling ports. It only leaked on cold start. I had to replace the oil filter housing which is pain in a a$$. You will have to remove pretty much everything from the front inculding radiatior and much more. So just make sure you do a right inspection and O-rings before anything else.

ThatWhiteM3 wrote

It ended up being a crack in oil filter housing above oil cooling ports. It only leaked on cold start. I had to replace the oil filter housing which is pain in a a$$. You will have to remove pretty much everything from the front inculding radiatior and much more. So just make sure you do a right inspection and O-rings before anything else.

I _think_ that I may have the same problem but not sure if it is the gasket or a crack (or maybe the leak is the filter O-ring). I have to clean up that whole area and look more carefully.

Did you do the replacement yourself?

I saw somewhere that the factory procedures mentions that you have to remove the harmonic balancer. Were you able to do so without removing it?

EDIT: Doesn't appear as if you have to do so from another thread, will reference it below (although the BMW service procedure specifies it...)

...this thread appears to have some good info on the seal replacement:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1312849&highlight=oil+filter

How to diagnose:
After completing the oil change (so the oil filter cartridge would have a new O-ring), I "hosed" down the oil residue near the oil filter and the oil filter cap last night with cleaner.

As soon as the engine was started, I started to see the car "bleeding" (weeping) oil from what appears to be the metal-metal junction of the oil filter assembly to the block. Too dark to video it so others can see.

Looks like at a minimum, I need to replace the gasket.

bkdore wrote

First make sure the cap is screwed on tight. If it is, then remove it and check if the o-ring around the cap is in place and isn't twisted. These usually come with a replacement oil filter. It wouldn't hurt to just get a new filter and replace it and the o-rings and torque the cap correctly. If that doesn't work you may need to replace the cap or the housing.

You can see the o-ring in the filter kit:

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pn.aspx?sku=14369145-11427837997&vehicle=2008%20BMW%20M3%20E90%2F92&brand=Mann&utm_source=google&utm_medium=nonpaid&utm_campaign=froogleSKU_BMW&gclid=Cj0KEQiAuonGBRCaotXoycysvIMBEiQAcxV0nF-ya_KHQxZKSKOKVLVyln_IvMeeMVzH4zJVc_Qw08UaAm6P8P8HAQ

This. Get a new filter kit and change the oring.

bond_007 wrote

I _think_ that I may have the same problem but not sure if it is the gasket or a crack (or maybe the leak is the filter O-ring). I have to clean up that whole area and look more carefully.

Did you do the replacement yourself?

I saw somewhere that the factory procedures mentions that you have to remove the harmonic balancer. Were you able to do so without removing it?

EDIT: Doesn't appear as if you have to do so from another thread, will reference it below (although the BMW service procedure specifies it...)

Yes I did the whole thing myself. I was so hoping to remove the oil filter housing without taking off the vibration damper but I couldn't do it. It's so tight that I couldn't see any key to possibly getting that 1 or 2 bolts out due to tight clearance between damper and bolt. It was miserable. I had to take off the radiator, power steering pump, and pretty much everything that was on the way. By the instruction it's stating that u have to take the transmission off and lock the flywheel in place which will lock crankshaft and will help to remove those 4 bolts. I didn't do that. I saw on one of the threads where guy just putted his car in a gear so I followed that method. It didn't give enough leverage so taking those bolts off was so much struggle that I ended up braking a socket and eventually broke bolt threads. I ended up getting a grinder and grinded last head off and damper finally came off. My oil filter housing came from 2011 model which had a different placement for the pulley which had different belt pattern(going above I believe instead of under) but I left it the way it is and it seems no difference. But to answer ur question no I couldn't get it out without not touching the vibration damper or to as reffered harmonic balancer. I honestly wish I could it would of saved days of painful and stressful job. Also if u don't lock the transmission in place it will be harder to get the proper torque on those 4 bolts. I have specs If u might need it.

Yikes! I posted in the other thread to see if cmtemauricio has further thoughts as I have been told anywhere from 3 to 8 hours to do it by local indy shops...

No room for an impact wrench to remove the damper bolts?

bond_007 wrote

Yikes! I posted in the other thread to see if cmtemauricio has further thoughts as I have been told anywhere from 3 to 8 hours to do it by local indy shops...

No room for an impact wrench to remove the damper bolts?

Yeah i could of done it in a day or so if I had all the right tools and no complications during the process. And yes I was thinking to use an impact wrench but I don't think clearance between those 4 bolts and ac radiator was enough for it to fit. It was one of the ideas to get it off including welding a nut in on top of it lol. You could try but u won't be able to hold it against bolts tight enough for it not to slip back due to clearance restriction that's if u were to find small enough impact to fit in there. Or u can take bumper off lol then u good. Honestly if I'd have to do it again I'd go straight to grinding it off and buying new bolts(just me thought).

ThatWhiteM3 wrote

bond_007 wrote

Yikes! I posted in the other thread to see if cmtemauricio has further thoughts as I have been told anywhere from 3 to 8 hours to do it by local indy shops...

No room for an impact wrench to remove the damper bolts?

Yeah i could of done it in a day or so if I had all the right tools and no complications during the process. And yes I was thinking to use an impact wrench but I don't think clearance between those 4 bolts and ac radiator was enough for it to fit. It was one of the ideas to get it off including welding a nut in on top of it lol. You could try but u won't be able to hold it against bolts tight enough for it not to slip back due to clearance restriction that's if u were to find small enough impact to fit in there. Or u can take bumper off lol then u good. Honestly if I'd have to do it again I'd go straight to grinding it off and buying new bolts(just me thought).

I did not remove the harmonic balancer. There was 1 bolt that was in between the filter housing and the balancer and the only way I was able to get it was by using one of those small bits and holding it with a large pressure locking pliers.
Nothing else will fit down there, then you just need to break it loose and it will come out by hand.

cmtemauricio wrote

I did not remove the harmonic balancer. There was 1 bolt that was in between the filter housing and the balancer and the only way I was able to get it was by using one of those small bits and holding it with a large pressure locking pliers.
Nothing else will fit down there, then you just need to break it loose and it will come out by hand.

Ow wow that's actually really simply smart. I wish that would of came to my mind. It would of save lots of trouble. How did you torque it tho? I know it's around 8-9 Nm I believe. So u just did it by hand?

ThatWhiteM3 wrote

cmtemauricio wrote

I did not remove the harmonic balancer. There was 1 bolt that was in between the filter housing and the balancer and the only way I was able to get it was by using one of those small bits and holding it with a large pressure locking pliers.
Nothing else will fit down there, then you just need to break it loose and it will come out by hand.

Ow wow that's actually really simply smart. I wish that would of came to my mind. It would of save lots of trouble. How did you torque it tho? I know it's around 8-9 Nm I believe. So u just did it by hand?

Had to torque it by feel the same way back in with the locking plier.
I was digging thru my tool box for a while until I came up with that solution.
It worked perfectly though, 30k miles later and no more leaks still.

UPDATE: Gave my car back to dealer since NYS law requires 30 day power train warranty I figured why not just have them do it. It has been 7 days of them with my car and have not gotten a single call back since the day I dropped it. Debating with myself if I should call them and see what's up. I say this because lemon law for used cars in NYS either 3 occasions in which the car was taken in for the same problem OR 15 days in which the dealer is in possession of your car due to a problem. So in a awkward possession.

M3inthecity wrote

UPDATE: Gave my car back to dealer since NYS law requires 30 day power train warranty I figured why not just have them do it. It has been 7 days of them with my car and have not gotten a single call back since the day I dropped it. Debating with myself if I should call them and see what's up. I say this because lemon law for used cars in NYS either 3 occasions in which the car was taken in for the same problem OR 15 days in which the dealer is in possession of your car due to a problem. So in a awkward possession.

I'd definitely call them and ask for their plan.