small oil leak? any ideas

J

JINGLE

Veteran
 Norwich, Norfolk
ok so ive noticed the oil going down and noticed a small pool of oil sitting on a drip tray on the side of the engine, also there seems to be a piece of sponge wedged in there aswell....

does anybody have any idea what this is from or can point me in the right direction to investigate?

i sometimes smell buring oil when i 1st get in the car and turn the air on..

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Yeah, appears to be rocker cover gasket. It's a common failure. You could replace it yourself if you're a diy'er!
 
Agree with Dale_B and CR55EDS. The valve (rocker) cover gasket is rubber which hardens over the years and develops a small leak in one place. if this is anywhere near a heat source (manifold etc) when the engine is started from cold it leaks a small amount and, as the heat source gets hotter, it smells of burnt oil. Usually when the engine is fully to temperature everything expands and the leak stops, so no more smell after the original amount is burnt off. It will only get worse. £56 will buy a genuine BMW gasket kit including all new rubber grommets for the nuts that bolt the cover down. Easy enough job to do in 1 1/2 hours or so, lots of videos how on you tube (any M54 or similar engine). There was another recent post with the same question, you may want to check this out. If you do the job yourself don't forget a small tube of the correct sealant(RTV) for the 4 half spherical parts of the gasket, as shown in the videos, and stick to the recommended torque (I believe 6 ft-lbs) which compresses the gasket right down but ensures no over compression.
 
hmmm im guessing its not a big or expensive fault?? and no chance of me attempting it, still learning all the basics as this is my 1st "proper" car i actually care about so want to learn to look after it properly so ill probs get my mates garage to do it and just help/watch him do it and see how it all goes :D

thanks guys, should i just order a standard rocker cover gasket off ebay or does it need to be a decent quality/OEM type?
 
Guaranteed rocker cover gasket failure.

My dad and I replaced mine in the summer. Easy diy job, just take your time.

I'd estimate it'd cost £100 labour. Obviously this depends on how much your local specialist charge for labour, but it shouldn't take them longer than an hour. 2 at the very most! Any more and they're ripping you off.

I personally bought the OEM gasket from BMW as it was only about £40 or so.
 
Thanks for your help guys, it's booked in Saturday morning to have a inner wheel arch liner replaced as it has very slight wear and I can't stand it not being perfect so will get him to double check the rest of the car and get him to pay extra attention to some of the common faults I've read about on here like rear suspension and the rocket cover gasket as he will have a lot better idea than me!

Thanks again for all your help, this forum is so helpful :)
 
Oh and any idea about the sponge? Is it just there to absorb the spilt oil do u think? Should I remove it as a fire risk (I assume it's heat/fire retardant?) or just leave it there until my mechanic has had a look?
 
I don't see the sponge in your pictures, but I would advise against any foreign body around the exhaust manifold. I'd remove it (after clearing up the current oil residue).
 
yea as PVR said, its in the 2nd picture, towards the back/left of the drip tray wedged between a pipe and the tray???
 
Did the previous owner put that there to soak up the leaking oil??? :o

If so that's asking for trouble. As said its probably just the rocker gasket but that sponge does not look OEM!
 
i have no idea who put it there or why the sponge is there, previous owner never mentioned it :/ im worried now so hopefully i can get my mechanic friend to take a look and then replace the rocker cover gasket and fingers crossed thats all the problem is
 
right so got my arch sorted on Saturday and mechanic is also pretty certain its the rocker cover gasket as had a quick look around engine for me, so 2 questions..

1. the price his supplier quoted for a gasket set is £67.... is there anywhere online to find this cheaper? (anybody replaced one recently and can recommend a good quality gasket for cheap??)
2. oil check says add 1.0lt of oil, i dont know what oil is currently in the engine so is there a certain type of oil i should put in to be on the safe side or will it need a fresh lot so i dont mix types??

thanks.
 
I would expect the oil to be 5w-30 fully synthetic (Castrol edge or similar) BMW LL_04 spec from memory
 
Hello Jingle. It's definately the rocker cover gasket. I ordered mine from Soper BMW in Lincoln. I got a 10% discount for being a forum member. They shipped it to me in France. If you order from there speak to Jamie. Top bloke. Very helpful.Nice of the previous owner to stuff a sponge in there for you. By the way the rocker cover set from BMW did not come with the grommets for the bolts. Its just the main gasket and the 2 that go around the spark plug coils. I ordered those from the stealer in Cognac. There not much money. I've not done mine yet as I have to do a vanos refurb at the same time. Slightly bricking myself about that, and i have only just got my garage sorted to be able to attempt it. Good luck with yours.
 
thanks for your help guys! as you can imagine buying a new car then discovering an oil leak is a little worrying but the fact that so many people are adamant its just the rocker cover gasket comforts me a little, so fingers crossed next week once all is replaced and cleaned its as good as new and i can be worry free :driving:

hopz121 said:
I would expect the oil to be 5w-30 fully synthetic (Castrol edge or similar) BMW LL_04 spec from memory
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so if I just get some 5w - 30 fully synthetic Castrol oil and top her up it will be fine? (sorry if its a silly question, im not the most clued up on engines and oils etc so just dont want to unintentionally make anything worse is all, so just double checking)

thanks again :)
 
The gaskets from GSF are decent quality (Victor Reinze I think?) and are £20.

As said, you should also get the gaskets for the bolts (you need 15 of them) and these are around 75p each.
 
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