Sump / oil pan question

Roberltd2

Roberltd2

Active member
 Village of The Dam
Hi all,
Took the car for a well deserved oil change a couple of weeks ago. My mechanic asked me if I'd noticed any increase in oil consumption. Yes, I answered. Even before he'd unscrewed the protective cover beneath the sump, he suggested the cause could be corrosion of the (pressed steel) sump around the area where the oil level sensor goes in. Sure enough, once the cover was removed, there was a huge amount of oil residue to be seen at the bottom of the sump & not much evidence to my eyes anyway that it was coming from anywhere higher up on the block. I dared to suggest that the oil sensor might have worked itself lose over time, the mechanic gamely applied a professional amount of torque on the fasteners but there was only about a twelth of a turn on one the three screws. So much for that.
I'm wondering if anybody else has been in this situation? When I took the car in, the mechanic said I would find loads of other similar cases on the "forums", but to be honest, I can't seem to find a single one. Could there be another reason for the leak?
So the question is, being as I'm damned if I'm going to pay BMW £500 for a new pressed steel item which probably cost pennies to make, what other sumps would fit? I'm thinking in terms of a good second hand one off a similar N52 engine. But were the ones for the Z4s specially designed on account of them being sports cars?
Some of the sumps being advertised "on a popular internet auction site" state that they are compatable with the Z4 (2007 2.5si in my case). And they have a dipstick as well as an oil sensor. And made out of aluminium. Too good to be true surely.
The car is a 2.5si 2007 facelift model (160 KW / 218PS).
Any advice in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Robert.
 
Here are a couple of pics of the offending item....
ATTACH]


Robert
 
Might be best to see if there are any cars being broken up or look on some of the breakers sites.

Certainly don't remember seeing anything like this before.
 
Real OEM becomes your friend as there is a cross ref to what other cars the part is fitted to you need your VIN number to search with confidence
 
That doesn't look good, but I'd start by checking the oil filter housing and cam-cover gasket for leaks as those seem to be the main problem areas on N52 engines.

Any sump that has a dipstick isn't for an N52 engine!
 
Thanks all for the replies. Advice duly noted.
Just so happens there's 2.5si on ebay being broken up right now, I've sent a message so wait & see on that one.
When I bought the car four years ago it only had 32k miles on the clock, and I think it had only done about 10k in it's first three years (it's a 2007 model). So might it be that it spent a lot of time standing in a damp environment which could have started all this? Either way, mechanic says it'll only get worse unless I replace it. Engine block is dry above it. Must be pretty unusual though as nobody else (in the Google universe) seems to have had the same problem.
Robert.
 
Good move to replace that soonest, you dont want a sudden loss of all your oil.
 
Exactly.

I had a feeling this thread would eventually inspire nightmare scenarios
:|
 
Helo again,
I eventually ended up buying a new sump from BMW. For the latest developments, see another thread which I started called "For those (sumps) about to rot...". There are details there about part numbers and prices as well. Feel free to contact me as well.
Cheers,
Robert.
 
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