M60 4.0 Oil Pan / sump gasket questions

[leicesterboy15]

I went to get an oil pan gasket this morning and I got asked if I wanted the upper or lower one. I have a leak from the bottom pan (thought there was only 1?) that contains the drain plug. One of the bolts is missing and I thought I would take the opportunity to replace the gasket.

Do I need both the lower and upper gaskets? Where do each of these go? I thought the procedure would be quite straight forward:

1. Drain Oil
2. Remove Pan bolts
3. tighten oil pump bolts if required
4. Remove old gasket and clean mating surfaces.
5. fit new gasket and bolt pan back up.
6. refill will oil

Am I missing anything? If my oil pump bolts have come loose do I need to replace them or just re-tighten. Any torque figures on these? I read somewhere that the oil pump will be obvious when the pan is off, is this true?

Are there any torque settings for the oil pan / sump bolts?

Thanks Guys. Hopefully this will be another job off my list this weekend.

[Ferret]

Oil pan comes into two parts:
http://bmwfans.info/original/images/10472_p.png

And I never realised how stupid the M60 block looks while it's out of the bay, look's like its got a massive chin :D
http://bmwfans.info/original/images/690_p.png

[leicesterboy15]

Right so going by the diagram above and this one:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HK42&mospid=47398&btnr=11_2191&hg=11&fg=10

I only need the lower gasket (no 4) in the linked diagram which I presume is the lower pan gasket.

And I don't need no 6 in the diagram above because thats the upper pan gasket, as I don't intend to or need to remove this I can leave as is. Is there any worth in removing or replacing this? Is it straight forward?

From what I understand if I remove the lower pan (the one with the drain plug and held on with 25 bolts I can get to the oil pump bolts without the need to go anywhere near the upper pan. The upper pan seems too close to the heart of the engine for the likes of me to be screwing around with.

[pingu]

These two links should sort you out:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/240317/5

http://members.cox.net/revhigh/Oil%20pump%20bolt%20check%20V8.pdf

Can you let us know whether or not you find any loose bolts? (And by way of comparison, roughly how many miles yours has got.) I'm toying with getting my Indy to do this next service, though I'm also wary of sinking money into an 540 that's probably only worth about £1,000 to £1,500.

[pingu]

Forgot to mention, that 740 uses the same engine (but you maybe knew that already).

[leicesterboy15]

Pingu that is superb information! Absolute gold, thank you! Yes I knew the engines were the same, hopefully theres no difference down there between the m60 and m62. My cas has 135k on original engine, I have one service light left so am considering getting it done at service time but I would like to do this job myself, I find it really hard to find a garage that knows these cars. I know any mechanic can do it but I'd rather someone who was familiar with them and could advise on things while he was there.

If I do it myself it will also give me a chance to see how clean (or not) the engine is inside.

Will brake cleaner dry off or does it need a thorough wipe or air dry? Is there any chance of any residue thinning the oil after the refil? Cheers!

I'll post when I do it, probably next weekend, I'm doing the tie rods this weekend and possibly the fuel filter as well (dependent on time and missus!)

[pingu]

My Indy checked the oil pump bolts during a recent oil change and he found (to his surprise but not so much mine) that the oil pump bolts were loose - on a 4.0 litre M60 with 150,000 miles.

So based on my experience and that of others on this board, you'll probably want to get your oil pump bolts checked/tightened too.