v_therussian

I bought the gaskets today and will see if need the heat exchanger itself, when I have the thing off. My indie told me he can somehow pressure-test it to see if it is broken.

Here's the blow up.



LINKY

BIM530I

Please video record it on HD. I am getting the popcorns ready.

v_therussian

When I said I'll "have my thing off", I was talking about the heat exchanger on the engine, pal. Simmer down

I'll try to have a vid, if I'll be at the shop when my tech is working on the car. No HD though - iPhone vid is most I can promise.

BIM530I

I was kidding to your last comment. I doubt if the mechanic would allow you to video record his work. Good luck with your engine, man!

v_therussian

I thought you were


Thanks buddy! I look at it as a win-win - either I get my car back and keep it, or I will be forced to get another car, in which case I'll end up with a newer and faster ride with better nav and all. Either way, it is awesome PS also, there's a chance I might hook up the crap out of this engine and end up with a 300hp N52, which would also be awesome

Thanks for this thread, btw - it is very helpful to me, since I've actually been puzzled by this oil residue on my engine for a long time. And not many people know about this heat exchanger+gaskets issue at all, apparently.

rctmthouse

The more I think about this topic, the more think I might have this filter leakage problem. Noticed some oil near the filter door area when I did my pump, thought it was probably transmission fluid leaking from the gasket. Now I definitely need to jack up the car to double check it this weekend.

Thanks for the write up.

jay bimma

When the gaskets leak there is usually oil in the galley between the filter housing and the heat exchanger. There will also be oil residue which splatters on the air box cover.

rctmthouse

Thanks Jay. Didn't see any oil splatter on the air box cover so at least that looks promising. Now need to narrow it down and confirm if the oil leak is indeed coming from the tranny gasket.

v_therussian

I didn't see any oil on my air filter housing either. I've purchased the gaskets and am now wondering whether I should just buy the heat exchanger and swap the whole thing out.

BIM530I

Hi Jay,

Again thank you for your help!

I took my car to the shop to get the gaskets replaced yesterday. I figured the cost should not be much more than me buying the tools and stuff to do the job. When they said $300 for parts and labor, I think I am up to the challenge to really do it myself.

I order the two gaskets from www.getbmwparts.com last night. They were very cheap (around $32 for both)!

While waiting for the parts to arrive, I have a few questions about your instructions:

1. Do I need to remove the hose from the oil filter housing too? Or just the hose from the heat exchanger? To remove the hose(s), do I just use a flat screw driver to push up the clamps (appears to be round metal clips) and simply pull it out after that? Or is there more to it?

2. You mentioned that you use a Stubby GearWrench to take out the one bolt under the intake manifold. Were you able to put your whole hand through the small gap (hole) or enough to do the job? Please post a picture of the wrench(es) that you used (if you don't mind). That would help me and others tremendously without having to remove the intake manilfod just to get to the one and only bolt.

Anyways, I went to Sears and bought myself a Craftman 200 piece mechanic set yesterday. As you can see, I am picking up a new hobby and journey into the world of DIY.
Next stop, Bentley Service Manual...
Thanks for helping me avoid breaking things up.