Help! Lost in France

[Newzedhed10]

Hello all,

Firstly, great forum, great community. Thank you for your collective wisdom.
Secondly, HELP!

[Deepseaskateboard]

I think you have said it yourself.

Get it recovered back to the UK and have it fixed.

If you want to continue your holiday, get a rental car.
You don’t need to go back with the Z. Meet up with it later.

[B21]

I think you are in deep doo doo…

Get it recovered as suggested..

You already may have ruined the engine…any further use is likely to be catastrophic…

Importantly you don’t state which version of an E89 it is…

If it’s a N20 version 5 litres is all the oil in the engine…

N20 RWD have plastic sumps…so easy to crack…

[Newzedhed10]

N52 Engine

[Silverstar]

How do you manually check the oil, I believe there is no dipstick on the N52. As others have said get it towed back to the UK.

[Chris_D]

Sounds like you may have disrupted the main seal between engine and gearbox when you ‘grounded out’ per your description.
How hard was the impact?

[Oilyfingers]

Try to get it on a ramp somewhere and remove the bottom cover. It is only a handful of torx screws.
That will enable you to see where the oil is coming from or what has been damaged

[Scubaregs]

This is what your breakdown cover is for, get it recovered and deal with it once home.

[Newzedhed10]

Update - no oil recovered in the drip pan or on the ground from overnight.
A little oil smell from the vents on startup but faded immediately. This could have been a little spill near the cap from pouring at the roadside...
Having a closer look at the engine bay - it's very clean. No evidence of oil anywhere.
There's a bit of a clutch smell...
Impact - it's a badly designed V shaped underpass connecting the street to the building's parking. It was very low speed but there was a noise.

Agreed on recovery.
If it's a main seal replacement what are we looking at cost wise? The oil sensor also seems to need replacing...

Any suggestions for London or South East dealers or indie garages? The recovery can be to anywhere in UK so if you have a great mechanic recommendation I would take it!

I love the car but the lack of a dipstick is a TERRIBLE idea.

[Newzedhed10]

Also thank you all!

[Chippie]

Are you sure it’s engine oil that’s leaking, did you feel/smell it? could it be water for the air conditioning?

[Chris_D]

Just taking a few steps back and re-reading your first post;

How did you 'manually check' the oil level? My fear would be that you might now have over-filled the engine now if your oil level sensor has packed up and you miscalculated the loss quantity. If you have over-filled then it would become catastrophic to start the engine up due to the pressure buildup that would take place. Make this your primary consideration before doing anything and get the oil level clarified.

2nd, which part of the 'undercarriage' as you described it, is 'raised next to the oil leak' ?
If this is the impact point of the 'grounding out' then it may help to narrow down where the leak is coming from. The main seal guess was just a guess based on your description of the leak location, the clutch smell (out of alignment now?) and the fact that the engine bay is bone dry.
It could actually also be that you have whacked the sump and the oil has travelled/dripped backwards along the inside of the undershield to an exit point.
In any case, don't start/drive it before clarifying the oil level and get it recovered as others have suggested.
good luck.

[Silverstar]

Update - no oil recovered in the drip pan or on the ground from overnight.
A little oil smell from the vents on startup but faded immediately. This could have been a little spill near the cap from pouring at the roadside...
Having a closer look at the engine bay - it's very clean. No evidence of oil anywhere.
There's a bit of a clutch smell...
Impact - it's a badly designed V shaped underpass connecting the street to the building's parking. It was very low speed but there was a noise.

Agreed on recovery.
If it's a main seal replacement what are we looking at cost wise? The oil sensor also seems to need replacing...

Any suggestions for London or South East dealers or indie garages? The recovery can be to anywhere in UK so if you have a great mechanic recommendation I would take it!

I love the car but the lack of a dipstick is a TERRIBLE idea.

For London I've heard good things about Gilberts BMW in Ealing and also you have Birds BMW in Iver who I know to be very good be it a bit pricey.

[Deepseaskateboard]

Update - no oil recovered in the drip pan or on the ground from overnight.
A little oil smell from the vents on startup but faded immediately. This could have been a little spill near the cap from pouring at the roadside...
Having a closer look at the engine bay - it's very clean. No evidence of oil anywhere.
There's a bit of a clutch smell...
Impact - it's a badly designed V shaped underpass connecting the street to the building's parking. It was very low speed but there was a noise.

Agreed on recovery.
If it's a main seal replacement what are we looking at cost wise? The oil sensor also seems to need replacing...

Any suggestions for London or South East dealers or indie garages? The recovery can be to anywhere in UK so if you have a great mechanic recommendation I would take it!

I love the car but the lack of a dipstick is a TERRIBLE idea.

I have heard good things about “Mike Smith” based in Leicestershire.

https://www.mikesmithcars.co.uk/mot-services-repairs

Pretty far out, but could be worth it.

[N4LLY]

Used these guy's many time's. Good honest.

Could be handy for your return to UK from France Short cab ride from the ferry.

https://bmsgarage.co.uk/