Oil leak on the M50 12 qts/1000 miles

After 1000 + miles on the new/used M50 engine I have gone through 12 qt of oil. Yeah, I could have checked for the leak a long time ago… but I’m lazy.:D

Anyway today I spent some time investigating the leak and determined that the leak is coming from the aluminum oil filter bracket where it mounts to the cast iron engine block.

I pulled the assembly off my dead M50 engine to see what is involved in replacing the gasket. Looks like the gasket is actually a rubber thingy that fits into the grove on the aluminum oil filter bracket. I would imagine that this type of gasket shouldn’t ever go bad.

Has anyone else had an oil leak in this area? I suspect that something made this gasket go bad, unless it is a common problem.

Can you say Exxon Valdez!!! Damn dude- you're polluting enough for everyone on the board!!!!!

Can't comment specifically on the seal, but it sounds like a typical BMW o-ring or rubber gasket- they can (and do) fail just like a paper, cork or rubber gasket. Shouldn't be too hard to fix with a new seal.



Bret.

My other toy car is a Triumph Spitfire.. ‘ya want to talk about an oil leak… Damn thing should be called a Spit-Oil.

In case some of you don’t know what a Spitfire is… Its an English car.. nuff said.

sounds like a total loss oil sysem ,never needs changing....

Like bret said, replace the rubber gasket, they harden over the years and when they should expand they tend to...well.. harden and sit there.

bill bass and another gentleman put some helpful pics into this thread
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthr...m50+oil+filter

Evidently this BMW and others are very predictable. I only need to access the forum and I’ll see someone posting the same problem that I have. The help is invaluable for new enthusiasts.

I have had many minor issues crop up during the first 1000 miles and posted some of them. The help I received was almost immediate on all occasions.

Thanks everyone!. Perhaps someday I’ll be able to post an answer to help someone in distress.

The Exxon Valdez type oil leak on my M50 was corrected today. The $9.00 gasket took less than an hour to install. The old gasket had hardened and was no longer able to make the seal. I'm sure most of 'ya don't care.. I just thought I would update the thread.