N52 Oil filter housing gaskets job... where to draw the line?

[Dark Diggler]

I did the belt (only 1 on N52) tensioner and alternator clutch pulley, I read that this fails before the alternator. Easy to do from above when you remove the fan. Do your research and make sure you have what you need before you start. I had no experience at all, youtube was my guide.

[Dark Diggler]

Found the guide I used for the belt and tensioner, this guided me through the job, I did the alternator clutch later as I needed to order a tool. It was very straight forward.
https://youtu.be/QdqfR-yKlyg

[j24]

Out of interest, are N52 alternators a weakpoint?

Good question... I was thinking along the lines of it might need replacing sometime soon due to age/mileage, so might be worth sorting whilst I'm there already. Still 50/50 on it...

I remember needing quite a large torx and breaker bar to take the tension off. Unless you want to cut the belt.

Cheers - yeah a T60 torx from what I've seen - I've got a torx set and breaker on the way from Amazon.

Found the guide I used for the belt and tensioner, this guided me through the job, I did the alternator clutch later as I needed to order a tool. It was very straight forward.
https://youtu.be/QdqfR-yKlyg

Ah, brilliant - thanks!

[j24]

So I've just noticed that on RealOEM, the belt size is listed as 6PK 1827 - but the belt I've ordered from AutoDoc (and from I can see, every other aftermarket belt) seems to be 6PK 1830...

What's that about? I can't find any belt other than the official BMW part that's the exact same size... is that a problem?

[smorris_12]

3mm isn't going to make any odds. BMW can spec "perfect" belts for manufacturing while the aftermarket will cater to many markets so will lump ranges of sizes together.

[j24]

3mm isn't going to make any odds. BMW can spec "perfect" belts for manufacturing while the aftermarket will cater to many markets so will lump ranges of sizes together.

Ah okay, that makes sense - had a mild panic thinking I'd blindly gone along with Autodocs sizing recommendation without double checking RealOEM first! But thinking about it 3mm is so minor that the tensioner should easily pick up the slack (literally).

The cynic in me wonders if the 3mm difference serves any purpose other than being a unique and specific BMW only size...

[Scooba_Steve]

I can't find any belt other than the official BMW part that's the exact same size... is that a problem?

It's 3mm difference, was no issue for me.

[j24]

It's 3mm difference, was no issue for me.

Thanks Steve, good to hear!

[j24]

Chuffed to say I’ve finished the various jobs and put it all back together again!

Honestly, the toughest part of all the jobs is the lack of space at the front of the engine… some of the bolts are a right pain in the arse to get on/off. And I’ve got a lot of souvenir bruises and cuts to prove it

Anyway here’s the write up:

First step was to remove the oil cooler cover. No idea how anyone is meant to do this… I finally got the cover off after a lot of swearing/pulling in various directions. Cover is a little scratched - but no idea how you can remove it cleanly with the lack of space!

Then off came the oil cooler. Bottom bolt is a big pain - but found that a 10mm deep socket did the trick and allowed me to get a wrench in to remove.

Once that was off, I decided I’d need to take the coolant flange off to get access to the painfully awkward to reach oil filter housing bolt, at the bottom. So seemed a good opportunity to install the aluminium coolant flange I’d bought as an upgrade. Again, the bolts for the coolant flange were extremely difficult and fiddly to reach/take off, but eventually managed.

The plastic coolant flange and gasket seemed relatively intact, and not quite crumbling in the same way I’ve seen elsewhere online.

Still, decided to go ahead and fit the aluminium replacement flange as it feels like a worthwhile upgrade whilst I was taking the it off anyway:





Next up, I removed the oil filter housing gasket. Well documented tricky bolt to remove under the manifold, but I found the bolt at the bottom (next to the coolant flange) a huge pain. An 8mm ratcheting wrench was a must for this bolt - couldn’t get anything else to work, so ended up making an emergency trip to Halfords to buy one!

I’d decided I was going to replace the drive belt and tensioner, so next job was removing the belt, which was relatively easy with the oil cooler and coolant flange tubing out of the way. Then off with the old tensioner. Easy enough to do with a breaker bar.

The old drive belt and tensioner both seemed fine, and would be good for a bit longer - but seeing as I was there and had ordered new parts, decided to go ahead anyway.

With the drive belt now off, I spent a huge amount of time trying to clean the front of the engine and pulleys the best I could.

Eventually realised I’ll never be able to clean it 100%, so then moved on to install the new INA tensioner (OE part):



Then installed the new ContiTech drive belt. A little difficult working with the limited space, but not too bad once I’d figured out which way around it needed to go on!



Finally I got around to the things I actually needed to replace - the gaskets! First up new oil housing filter gasket fitted, and bolted back on:



Had a bit of a panic about what was leaking red fluid all of a sudden when reinstalling it, then realised it was me! Managed to get a pretty decent cut on my knuckle tightening the tricky bottom bolt.

Anyway - was mainly relieved it was me and not the car leaking anything!

On the home straight now - installed the new oil cooler gasket, and bolted that back on. The bottom bolt being as frustrating to get back on as it was coming off, but turning the air blue eventually worked for me.

And then the last thing to put back on… the coolant flange. Simple, right? Took me a ridiculously long time to get the bolts back on. Such a difficult place to reach, and an awkward gap. Dropped the bolts a couple of times but thankfully they fell to the ground each time. Many more insults were hurled at the flange, and eventually it decided to behave. Torque the bolts up, and FINALLY - all done…






… well, almost. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how you’re meant to get the oil cooler back on with the need to torque the bolts! So that’s not back on yet. I might struggle and force it back on at some point, but will leave it off for now just to keep an eye for any leaks.

Only fired it up in the garage for a few mins, but so far so good

Honestly I’m really chuffed I’ve managed all of this, it wouldn’t have been thinkable that I’d take on this level of spannering when I first bought the car.

The forum has been a great source of knowledge and inspiration, super thankful to everyone who’s taken the time to help me out on here at one time or another. Wouldn’t have been able to do it without you all!

[Robster68]

by j24 » Yesterday, 9:09 pm

Chuffed to say I’ve finished the various jobs and put it all back together again!

Honestly, the toughest part of all the jobs is the lack of space at the front of the engine… some of the bolts are a right pain in the arse to get on/off. And I’ve got a lot of souvenir bruises and cuts to prove it

Good job!
I imagine Space is even more limited with this engine in relevant 1 or 3 series especially at the bulkhead,something we zed owners don’t have to worry about,I recently change head cover and vacuum pump gasket on my e91 wagon n46 2.0 L engine,that wasn’t fun.