kskane

Guys, I have read while changing the oil filter housing gasket, there are two dowel sleeves on the engine body that needs to be checked for damage. Does anyone know what this is and does it needs replacement. I ordering the gasket, do I need to order these or any other thing related to this gasket replacement?

Also what is the best way to clean the engine and oil filter housing once the gasket is removed?

kskane

I suppose this is not a user friendly DIY.

So to those DIY guys, do you know if the raditor hoses needs to be disconnected just above the oil filter for getting to the gasket?

seanjordan

When I changed my gasket I didnt even check that. That was 40K ago and no issues.

Wolrab

You'll need a couple of new crush washers for the VANOS oil pipe. That's assuming the E60 M54 has the same architecture as the E46 M54, which is what I'm familiar with.

kskane

Yes you are right, the VANOS pipe has two crush washers, but do they need to be replaced? BMW repair manual does not say anything.

SD5Series

Just had my 2 gaskets replaced on my oil filter housing on a N52 engine, no washers was needed to be changed over the weekend. Also had the belt and the coolant flushed and changed.

Wolrab

Yes. Any time you remove a crush washer, throw it away and put a new one on. Same goes for practically all seals - O-rings, gaskets, etc. And vacuum hose and fuel hose and clamps and intake boots and F-connectors, for that matter. They're all cheap. You just need to plan ahead, so you're not waiting for parts with your car in bits. Hence your question and my answer to it.

kskane

Okay, when I asked the $tealer if I need anything else apart from the gasket, he said no. Do these washers have be BMW or can it any washer? Silly question, but I may as well ask cause I am new in this field

Wolrab

The BMW part number is 32 41 1 093 596. I'd suggest just getting them from the dealer. They cost about $1 each here. It's a 14X20 if you want to get it somewhere else. All this is in realoem. Have you ever looked in there?

By the way, your engine was used in the E46 for about 6 years. There's a lot more E46s with the M54 engine than E60s. You might want to have a look at an E46 forum, such as http://forum.e46fanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4 - there's a lot of active discussion about maintaining and repairing the M54. Between realoem.com and E46Fanatics, nearly all of your questions would have been answered. There are lots of people willing to help you in here, but it's a lot more gratifying if we can see that you're making some effort to find stuff out for yourself. Start with realoem, and have the last 7 characters of your VIN handy.

kskane

I did the oil filter housing gasket change, day before yesterday, and it appears to be leaking again. What did I do wrong?

Steps followed;
Removed whatever was necessary and then finally took the oil filter housing out. Took the old gasket out and after rubbing some oil on the new gasket, installed the new gasket. Housing sat nicely on the two dowels and all 6 bolts were torqed 18ft pound.

Any suggestions are welcome.......as it is greatly dis-appointing to have that oil leak keep going on.......

P.S. WolRab, just in case if you are curious the washer on the vanos joint did not leak (I guess I was lucky, will change it next time). Please contribute your experience to point out if I did something wrong or what else could have gone wrong.