[alwino]

164k kilometers or 90.7k mi on a Manual 320i efficient dynamic edition here with N13 engine.
Images: https://ibb.co/album/1JvL25
Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/k4LLAC8S47Q

EXTRA video: https://youtube.com/shorts/1DgDy60oSyM


Could this be the oil filter housing gasket? During cold start it also emits some blue smoke.

To me an indication that it started from the top?

Let me know if you want another clearer video and what i should focus on.

Thank you so much for looking

[Billfitz]

First clean everything, then find the leak with UV dye. There are youtube videos on that.

[alwino]

I barely slipped my phone in between. I don’t have a bridge and/or jackstands so I can’t really clean. Guess i gotta bring it to the dealership ��

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Originally Posted by alwino

I barely slipped my phone in between. I don’t have a bridge and/or jackstands so I can’t really clean. Guess i gotta bring it to the dealership ��

Probably the right idea. If you have no way to put eyes directly on the leak, nothing anyone on the forums says matters. You would be surprised how oil leaks propagate throughout an engine bay.

[alwino]

Just wondering, I have an appointment at the BMW dealer in my city (here in Netherlands) on August 24th to do a diagnose first and then they will repair it. Should I say upfront to clean everything before assembling the whole engine bay again? Or do I just wait and check if they have done it afterwards and if it’s not clean go back and tell them.

I don’t want to give an impression that I don’t trust them or that they don’t know what they’re doing. I mean if they are not cleaning it when they are fixing it, how am I to tell the leaking has stopped in a month or so? Again this screams trust issues if I tell them this. And I don’t want to upset anyone

[Billfitz]

Ask them what they're going to do. Have them explain it. You're the customer, the only person you should be concerned about being upset is you.

[alwino]

Just wanted to let the interested (lurkers) know:

Alright, so I went to the dealer and they diagnosed the vehicle.

They are going to replace the following:
coverlid 11117540057
coverlid 11117540058
intake solenoid 11368610388 (including plug and whatnot 12527590931 & 12527613115)

and then the most sketchy one: 83190404517 which is a liquid gasket used to seal the coverlids? I don't know...

They will also renew the oil and coolant (because it has oil in it).

Including wages, this will set me back $938.33 (converted from EUR)


edit: Wages also include diagnosis, cleaning of the engine bay

[freakystyly]

Strange engine... it just has two holes in it with flat plugs? I guess they must serve some kind of purpose. The loctite does sound like it is necessary to seal the holes.

Sounds expensive but they may need to remove several parts to get to that area so I assume there's much more labor involved than parts.

[Billfitz]

Plugs like that are usually placed in the block over a coolant duct. Called freeze plugs the intent is to blow out of the block if the coolant freezes, rather than having the block crack.

[alwino]

What the dealer concluded was this:

“
There is indeed a leakage, and it is caused by various things:

2 front engine block caps are leaking
Oil is leaking from the mechanical valve while the engine is running
As a result, a plug and the coolant hose have been affected and need to be replaced.
“
I suppose the block caps she mentions are the cover lids aka freeze plugs?

[Billfitz]

If they are freeze plugs they wouldn't explain the oil leak, as they seal coolant passages, not oil passages. I suppose they could seal oil passages, but I've never seen that before. First time for anything, though.

[Daikii]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

If they are freeze plugs they wouldn't explain the oil leak, as they seal coolant passages, not oil passages. I suppose they could seal oil passages, but I've never seen that before. First time for anything, though.

hello, here's an interesting video about these engine stoppers, enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/-EUPaXWjaeg?si=iWaKiBhEx7IaqK3E&t=782

[alwino]

Originally Posted by Daikii

hello, here's an interesting video about these engine stoppers, enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/-EUPaXWjaeg?si=iWaKiBhEx7IaqK3E&t=782

So basically, to remove the sand that was used as a mold to cast the engine they created exit holes to let the sand out afterwards which caused my leakage

By the way: I had a 2nd leak after this which was the oil pan gasket. I repaired that and then decided to sell it cus they say plastic bits in the pan, from the chain guides.
Got a 630i GT now.