Tejas

update.. found out that one of my main leaks is the valvetronic motor. the gasket is new but i somehow must have stripped the threads for one of the bolts and its leaking oil like crazy. I am going to helicoil that now. next is oil pan gasket. I am going to do that with the control arm and wheel bearing job since its going to make my life a lot easier. apart from these 2 leaks i do not see any more signs of leak. hopefully my consumption will reduce. I just did a 1500 mile non stop journey from TX to NJ. I used 10w40 oil and the consumption reduced despite the leaks. i am going to do my own oil changes from now with castrol edge gold 5w30. All this oil leak issues started after the dealer started using 0w40 mobil1. I think its too thin and easy to leak. also my solenoids somehow got jammed up after using 0w40. i have new coils and solenoids in the mail. hopefully that will solve my rough idle and misfire issues along with power loss. !!!!!
Any idea on doing the oil pan gasket without removing the subframe ?

scottalexander

You say, the valvetronic motor gasket is new but i somehow must have stripped the threads for one of the bolts and its leaking oil like crazy.

I just checked the Bentley manual and the torque setting for the valvetronic bolt is 7 ft lbs.

Tejas

yes I think I stripped it somehow. I used a 1/4 inch wrench to just hand tighten it. But somehow it must have been stripped. Looks like its happened with quite a few people. I am attempting to helicoil it today or maybe tomorrow. Il keep you guys posted. In the mean time any advice or diy on pan gasket change ? i do have an engine hoist and will be changing all the control arms and wheel bearing. so how bad is dropping the subframe ? is there any diy on our car ? i saw one post for a car with dynamic or active steering and it looked a bit complicated. but if anything is available for our car with standard steering that would be great.

scottalexander

When you are changing the pan gasket, it would be good to make a video and post it on Youtube (and cover the costs of your car parts).

Tejas

will definitely do that. thanks for the suggestion. hard to do it alone but worth it.

kgunde

First thing is the N52 is known for high oil consumption. I don't care what kind of oil you use! Is the car used for short Trips? Have you ever replaced your Oil Level Sensor? Its known for being erratic. Possibly your oil filter housing rubber gasket is bad and your loosing oil to your coolant. The coolant holes are right next to the oil passage and when your seals melt it mixes with the coolant. This is a very common problem since these engines get so hot the rubber gaskets melt because there attached to the engine block. Mine did that and I had to do 3 flushes.
I used a qt of oil every 600! I had oil mixing in with my radiator fluid. At a certain point the oil will be forced out of your radiator reservoir and will coat the engine bay, not a pretty sight!