tprindle

My 535i (August 08 build) has 18,000 miles on it. About a month ago I noticed some small oil drops on the garage floor. Since I was close to the recommended oil change I decided to wait, but the amount of oil on the floor of the garage kept increasing. When I looked inside the engine compartment there was noticeable oil on the engine compartment floor and some oil had been splattered on the various hoses and pipes.

Now more concerned I took the car to the dealer fearing the worst - an engine oil seal breaking down. The SA called and said the oil line seal to the turbo has been leaking. It will take overnight to replace the part since they did not have it on hand.

Looking back I should have taken the car in as soon as I first noticed the oil on the floor of the garage. I'm grateful this leak did not develop into a larger problem.

ITNurse

Glad to hear that it wasn't something major!

MiamiPhill

Damn 18,000mls on an Aug. 08 build ........anyway gald to know it got sorted before any damage was done.
Still though, I wonder if this is a random leak or is there a potential problem brewing with all the 535s

tprindle

woops - meant Aug '07 build.

sixcard

Sharp eye, Phil. I missed that!

tprindle

A follow up to my oil leak problem (April 9th) ? when I picked the car up I learned it was the oil line from the oil filter to oil cooler than had been replaced. So I drove home (about 10 miles) and stopped out in driveway to take a look at the engine. Yes, I could see the new oil line coming off the oil filter and snaking down into the depths in front of the engine. When I looked under the car I saw a significant amount of oil dripping from the engine area. In the couple of minutes I spent looking at the engine enough oil had leaked out to start a small stream running down my driveway.

As you can imagine I was just a little upset ? back to the dealer?s (United BMW of Roswell, Ga). Calling enroute I got a SA (my original SA had left for the day ? it was at closing time), told him the problem. I insisted on bringing it in and getting another loaner car.

The next day I was told that the oil cooler was leaking and had to be replaced. Hummm?. Strange how a perfectly fine part develops a leak after a new oil line was attached to it. Anyway it took across the weekend to have the oil cooler part shipped in and replaced.

When I got home I verified that there were no leaks. The next week, April 18th, I placed a call to the Service Manager and left a voice message. My intent was to point out the unusual circumstance of one part replacement causing an adjacent part to fail. I did not plan to do anything, but be informative in a nice way. The Service Manager never returned my call.

Guess what? On Sunday, April 27, it is leaking oil again. I don?t know how long as I haven?t cleaned up the kitty litter in the garage (used to absorb the previous oil that leaked), but when I was moving the mower out of the garage I left the car running in the driveway. You can imagine how concerned I was when I noticed about a 3 inch circle of new oil on the driveway where my car had run for about 3 minutes.

So on Monday, April 28, I dropped the car off and got another loaner ? this time it is a POS Enterprise rental car that is scary to drive. The original SA?s comment was ? hummm? this shouldn?t have happened, we?ll get it fixed. He never mentioned I was going to get an Enterprise rental car instead of a BMW loaner or that he apologized on behalf of the service department for this recurring problem.

Hopefully, I?ll find out today what is leaking. I certainly suspect a component that was involved in the repair of the 2 previous oil leaks. I do know one thing ? once I?m sure it is fixed. United BMW of Roswell Georgia is going to get a letter and I will most certainly take my business and recommendations to other friends elsewhere!

Hyper_545i

That is horrible! Hope everything gets fixed this time around. No one troubleshoots problems anymore. I really don't think issues are properly diagnosed. And it is always at the customer's expense. All they can say is we will fix it. But how many times can they say that? My driveway is concrete, and if I had oils spots on the driveway, you better believe that they would be paying to have it cleaned.

Good Luck.

HotLap

So the original diagnosis was the oil line seal to the turbo and yet they replaced the oil line to the cooler...have you verified that is the same line or did they replace the wrong one in the 1st place? I'd be concerned too...three time for the same oil leak is scary. Are they also detaling under the hood and car to clean up all the leaked oil - that must be a mess

HPIA4v2

Wow, thats' bad dealer by any standard, can't imagine if you show up with problem that can't be seen(like fuel pump problem, BPV valve leaking, or wastegate not closing fully etc).
If the tech is not sure what leaks due to so much oil for so long, they should pressure wash the engine compartment, put die in the oil and drive it for a little while and use th UV light to see the source of the leaks. Won't take more that 20-30 minute instead of charging BMW 3 separate invoices.

That's why I heard to have a good relationship with a good SA is important, since he/she knows who is the good tech and who ia apprentice tech.
Hope the leak problem is solved once and for all.

bigbadbull

Since you live on the north side of Atlanta , have you tried either Global or the other United By Giwnette (sp). You might try actuly talking with the Service manager there in Roswell in person. If no luck might be time to put a call in to BMW NA.

That was kinda the order that VW/Audi esclation would go (had to deal with both but usally VW never had to go that far took care of the problems at the dealer very quickly), has gone. Service Adviser >Service manager> BMW NA/USA.

The sacary thing is I was thinking of bringing my car over there to get it serviced since I 'm less than thrilled with the service I have gotten here.