92 735i/e32 - slight oil leak.

Sep 21, 2005 9 Replies
J

Greetings. I have recently aquired a 735i in great shape. The only downside is a very slight oil leak coming from the front of the engine.



I saw a few other (same era, e32) recently in parking lots & talked to on gentleman; they all appear to have the same very slight oil leak.



This bugs me & I want to fix it.



I cannot tell exactly where it's coming from -- but I've read that it might be the cam shaft seal.



Are there any other likely suspects? These seems like it will be an easy fix; but worried it might be something else.



Thanks



-josh



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D

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 08:15:42 -0700, Josh Assing waffled on about something:

Where exactly on the front? At the top? Under the head? Down the bottom?

In these cases it's always worth a good session with the engine cleaner followed by a short drive and then have another look.

Dodgy.

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F

"Josh Assing" wrote

IIRC, the M30 engine is notorious for oil leaks from the timing chain cover and gaskets. I believe that there was something here recently, or in the tech talk section of Roundel...

FloydR

PS: Did you know that there are currently 3 E32 5-speed manual transmission 535i's for sale in the US (on autotrader?) Sweet car.

FloydR

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D

Don't think the camshaft has a seal. More likely the crankshaft oil seal, or a leaking gasket on the timing chain cover.

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J

It APPEARS to be coming from just above the crankshaft belt wheel...

will try that.

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J

That doesn't sound like an easy fix... :( I'll hope for a simple timing chain cover...

Thanks

-josh

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D

Don't know that engine, but replacing a crank seal isn't usually difficult. They are normally a press fit into the timing chain cover. You also need to look at the crank pulley for wear where the seal touches it.

Generally, another problem area is where the timing chain cover meets the sump - if indeed it does on the 735 engine. Three lots of mating surfaces all with different expansion.

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M

Actually the crank seal is not all that bad. You (they) have to pull the big pulley (aka harmonic balancer) off and the its a simple matter of prying out the old and pressing in a new seal.

In fact, it may be (slightly) less invasive than the timing chain cover.

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J

hehe.

Great -- thanks. I'll just order up the seals & replace them... if anything -- it'll be a good learning experience. (new to bmw's)

OK -- it seems to be somewhere between the valve cover & the oil sump....

Thanks again!

-j

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J

Great news! I don't think I'll stop being impressed with how well the bmw seems to have been engineered.. So much (ok; not the ebrake adjustment) seems to be engineered for some bit of replacement....

Thanks

-j

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