535i is leaving oil spots. Is it pan gasket or rear main??

[Derek A.]

Anyone have a definite way to determine on an M30 if it has a rear main leak or an oil pan gasket leak. Motor has 225,000 miles on it.

[Jeff N.]

Yeah. Get under it and look. Pan gasket is most likely candidate.

[ryan roopnarine]

stick your finger in through the torque converter/flywheel access hole, and see if your finger comes out with atf or motor oil on it.

sorry, didn't realise you had a 5 speed. i guess gear oil will be nastier on your fingertips than motor oil.

[winfred]

unless it blew out chunks of the oil pan gasket you can usually snug up the pan bolts on m30s, if you need to change the gasket get the gasket for a e28 535 if they don't list a fiber gasket for the e34 535, the e34 cork gasket sucks

[Derek A.]

Car has had three rear mains put in it, yet its still dripping oil. If Iook at the bell housing where it meets the block - there is a collection of oil there. The question is - if a pan gasket is leaking will it leak into that area ?

[winfred]

it's possible for the pan gasket to leak back there but unusual, is it oil or tranny fluid? the front seal on the tranny can go out and a new seal won't fix it due to the converter bushing walking forward in the pump covering up the drain back hole, unless someone is ****ing up the seal on installation bmw rear main's just aren't problematic, double check that the oil is not coming down from the seal on the back of the head and dripping down through the bellhousing

[Derek A.]

its definitely engine oil, the car is a stick and I already went through the issues with the front seal on the trans. It took a rebuilt Blanton box to fix that. I have already soaked a few clutch discs in the process of repairing rear main seals, so I don't think its coming from the head, as one time when the trans was out that seal was replaced. Is there any updated m30 rear main seal?

[winfred]

not that i know of, it's the same damn seal that fits pretty much every 4 and 6 cylinder bmw made


Is there any updated m30 rear main seal?

[Derek A.]

I see two numbers listed:

11142249533

11141706785

Any ideas what the differences are ?

[632 Regal]

dude, thrust bearing is wasted on the crank... case closed.

[Derek A.]

Put a pry bar on the nose of the crank. Doesn't seem to be any fore and aft play. Although I have seen instances where its taking more time for the oil pressure warning to shut off. No bottom end noise though.

[Mordan]

Anyone have a definite way to determine on an M30 if it has a rear main leak or an oil pan gasket leak. Motor has 225,000 miles on it.

got the same problem on my M20 with an auto box.
mechanics says it is the main shaft seals. I still haven't fixed it.