E34

Quick question - WHAT ENGINE? 4.0l V8? 3.0l V8? 2.5l I6? What?

No, but that is probably *not* where it's coming from.

Yes, lots. The most common one is the valve covor gasket andthat is even easier than the oil pan. Best bet is to clean it up the best you can and then see if you can locate the oil leak. At the very least put a big piece of cardboard under the car and see if you can tell where the leak is by following the drip back up. Don't forget though that the point from which it drips off is not always (or even usually) directly underneath the point from where it leaked.

go here...

Sorry - the car is a 530i

Yeah, a lot of the underside is oil wet. I'll look things over and look close - good advice.

Brian,

On the V8 engines there is a likelihood that one or more of the valve cover gaskets has hardened and is now leaking. To check this, pull the two plastic covers from over the spark plug coil packs and look around the base of the plugs. If you see any oil pooled in these recesses then that is surely what is going on. There are drainage holes at the rear of each side that will allow any leakage to drip down the back side of the block (where you can't see it) and eventually drip out from three drain holes in the bottom of the transmission bell housing. These holes are normally covered by the large rear belly pan. Remove the pan (5

When my 540i was doing this it was a combination of two things. One, the oil had been overfilled by the prior owner (when I first bought it). and secondarily I had a leaky valve cover on one side. I ended up replacing the cover gaskets on both sides as well as all the donuts that go around each of the 10mm bolts that hold the valve cover on (22 as I recall)

Your leak may be different, but I am told this is a common affliction of the mid 90's V8s...