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Fluid on my drive way. Oil or Transmission Fluid is the Question?

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Old 03-12-2011, 07:20 PM
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Hello,
I recently purchased E60 530i Sport with only 30k miles. I assumed the dealer changed the oil prior vehicle delivery. My iDive System indicates 14k miles to next the oil change. I noticed some fluid patches on the my drive way. I am trying to understand if the spots are from engine oil, transmission fluid or some other fluid?? I checked my engine oil level. It?s little bit over the max mark. I don?t like this at all.
I have been keeping eye on the oil level and it does not seems that I am loosing any engine oil. The plastic cover under need the car has some wet spots somewhere between the passenger seat and engine compartment. Hard to tell exact spot / source of the leak. Now my concern is the transmission fluid, which I am not sure how to check. How difficult is to differentiate the engine oil from the BMW transmission fluid?

Any comment / advice are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Vince
Old 03-12-2011, 08:33 PM
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It's not that hard.

Motor oil is VERY black. Transmision fluid is lighter and tinted like red or green etc.

You also have power steering fluid and anti-freeze.

The best thing is get under there and check out any wet areas.
Old 03-12-2011, 11:34 PM
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I would say it's condensation water from the the A/C --> if so, harmless.
Old 03-13-2011, 12:45 AM
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get it on a ramp and get the undertray off and you'll know what it is. the location says tranny fluid to me, had it on 2 different e60s. the sump under the gearbox cracks easy, made of egg boxes.
Old 03-13-2011, 04:11 PM
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Confirmed:
The fluid is actually transmission fluid.
Originally Posted by vessval
Hello,
I recently purchased E60 530i Sport with only 30k miles. I assumed the dealer changed the oil prior vehicle delivery. My iDive System indicates 14k miles to next the oil change. I noticed some fluid patches on the my drive way. I am trying to understand if the spots are from engine oil, transmission fluid or some other fluid?? I checked my engine oil level. It?s little bit over the max mark. I don?t like this at all.
I have been keeping eye on the oil level and it does not seems that I am loosing any engine oil. The plastic cover under need the car has some wet spots somewhere between the passenger seat and engine compartment. Hard to tell exact spot / source of the leak. Now my concern is the transmission fluid, which I am not sure how to check. How difficult is to differentiate the engine oil from the BMW transmission fluid?

Any comment / advice are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Vince
Old 03-13-2011, 05:02 PM
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Originally Posted by vessval
Confirmed:
The fluid is actually transmission fluid.
A common source of transmission leaks is in the mechatronic valve - could be a seal; Mine was replaced at about 30K miles.
Old 03-15-2011, 08:27 AM
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Mine was replaced last week. The sleeve was the leaking point.
Old 07-22-2018, 11:30 AM
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how easy is it to replace that seal/ sleve cuz im leaking lil spots on my driveway and like you guys am having a hard time telling if it is oil or tranny fluid,
Old 07-24-2018, 08:32 AM
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it could also be an old transmission pan gasket that's leaking.


if you can't identify the source, take it to a shop.
Old 08-17-2018, 09:03 PM
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another thing is that the drip only happens while the car is running, if I turn car off the drip dries up, what color should the fluid be if it was transmission fluid that is coming out?


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