jprovence

As I was leaving the gym, I look under my car to a shiny spot in the parking spot, I grew uneasy and concerned. I bent down and dragged my finger though the spot only to find it is ladden with BMW High Performance motor oil. My heart suddenly sank. I promptly checked the oil. I found the level was low, but still good. I decide to grab some lunch and think about it. After an hour or so, I get the car over to my buddies shop. We get the car on ramps and begine to investigate. He is what we find:

The oil is coming from the front of the engine. Around the pan is perfectly clean. Higher up A/C is covered with oil, so are some of the surrounding lines. I think this is because of oil dripping onto the A/C belt. Looking higher up, we find the oil to be leaking no higher then the vacuum pump. This leads me to think the seal behind the pump is leaking.



My first plan is not to take it to the deal or a shop. I picked up the right internal torx socked set the other day. So I am going to order the o-ring. Pull the pump off. Clean everything from under the pump. Replace to o-ring and bolt it all back together.

Does this all sound logical?

I received no warnings from idrive about low oil (am I supposed too?) I thought these cars had an indiciator.

dbond698

Funny timing (or not). I have a 2004 545 and ran into the same problem. Slow leak, front end. I took it to the dealer this evening and they found it to be a leaking seal in the vacuum pump. Their solution was to replace the pump at a cost of $756.

If it is just an O-ring and reasonably accessible, I'd be interested as well. Have you found a source for the O-ring? Where is the pump located?

tbal

All of a sudden so many 4.4's having oil leaks...

jprovence

Yeah we will proably start seeing alot more of these motors show their age. They arn't even that old though. I mean 75k isn't that much.

The o-ring can be found at the dealer for between $5 and $7 depending on the dealer. I am picking up one tommorow. I had to order it in. So tommorow, I am going to take the pump off. While it is off, I am going to inspect the housing to make sure it isn't what is leaking. The vacuum housing has its own gasket that could leak as well and maybe that is why the dealer is tell you to replace the pump. I found the pump itself for $340. But asking over $700 to replace it is wrong. It is 3 bolts. They are internal torx bolts. I picked up a socket set at NAPA that should cover alot of sizes on this car. If it is the pump, I will still be under $400 including the tools.

jprovence

The pump is at the top right of the motor. Your left as you are facing the engine. Right behind the alumiumn coolant line and next to the thermostat. Its really easy to get too.

dbond698

Thanks and great info! Heading out of town for a couple days but will take a look when I get back or over the weekend - doesn't sound too difficult (for that kind of money).

Any idea whether this requires an oil drain or is it dry at rest?

jprovence

It "shouldn't" I highly doubt the oil is filled up by the cam gears. At least is shouldn't. I will report back this evening.

flyingpuck

Hmm, I've got a 4.4 in the garage too, I wonder if I should be concerned??

jprovence

It is not something that I saw looking at the top of the motor. But I got the new ring today. Pulling the pump is a PITA. The power steering line is really hard to mess with. The bracket is bolted on in 3 places. I tweaked the line upward a a few mm's to gain access with a short extension for the bolts on the pump. I had to undo the PS resivoir to allow enough movement to pull the pump out. The pump is inside the motor almost 2" or so. So keep that in mind when dealing with the lines in front.

dbond698

So did that fix the oil leak in your case? Did the original O-ring look damaged/torn?

Trying to decide if I should just order an O ring and try that route first. Thanks again for being the guinea pig!