Bill109

hello,
finally took my car to school, got it on the lift and took a look to find its leaking oil. haha who would of guessed
05 525i 6MT M54 with 140k

i've come to the conclusion its the oil pan gasket. cleaned everything and put it back on the lift the next day to confirm it..
few questions...
I have a e60 with m54 engine in it. a lot of posts seem to be an e46 with the m54...

-Do you have to remove the subframe and suspension components? looking at it, it appears you have to. however i saw a post in a long thread saying you don't have to remove it.. just drop it a little but to get it out. how true is this?
i really don't want to get into removing everything but if its loosening the subframe to drop the pan it would be an easy fix. all the threads i find are the e46 with a m54. not sure how similar the subframes are along with the procedures.. seems more of a guideline than a how to.. naturally.
-If i dont end up doing this, whats a good price to pay someone to do this? my friend knows someone who is a local bmw tech and the stealership and has a lift as his house.. so im shooting for this rather than a shop but am considering price at this point..

any help you can give me would be great.

Bill109

anyone done this?

pcy

I have not done this.

However, I read [on one of these forums] one member has done it. He didn't drop the entire pan. Loosened the subframe and lowered the oil pan by couple of inches and he was able to replace the gasket. It's not impossible but it'll take lot of patience (and small hands).

Bill109

i had sort of thought about this.. however the possibility of making a huge oil mess after install and having t redo it bugs me. def worth a shot tho if i can get access to a lift.
what im lacking info on is this job done in an e60.. plenty of info on an e46 with this m54 motor..

almandee26

I had my oil pan replace I was charge by my mechanic $ 240 for oil , labor & seal . I did had to buy the oil pan which I purchase for $ 140 for everything . So $ 140 + 240 = $ 380 total and my car is Perfect know . Just so that you could have an idea of the cost .