Well, I will most likely be lifting the engine in my 1991 535i tomorrow to attempt to remove the oil pan. Over the years, I always snugged up the pan bolts when I had it up and it looks like the gasket right at the front has "squirted" out enough that it's leaking terribly. I spent today taking pieces off and loosening others per Bentley and other posts from the board. But before attempting to lift the engine, I have a couple of questions.

1. Is it necessary to completely remove the nuts that connect the middle exhaust to the headers? I have the nuts backed all the way to the end of the threads right now so the exhaust is still loosely connected to the headers.

2. When I get ready to raise the engine, will I be able to use a single jack with the lifting head positioned against the oil pan, or will I need two jacks? Also, if I can use one jack, exactly where does it need to be positioned to evenly lift the engine? Does the aluminum oil pan really take the weight of the engine? For that matter, when I get ready to lower the engine back onto the mounts, will all the engine's weight on the new pan gasket cause problems for it once again?

3. Will I only need to drop the oil pump in the pan to be able to slide the pan out?

I think that's all the questions I have for now. I've searched the archives and read about every post on this job. It doesn't sound like much fun. But the huge oil leak I have isn't much fun either, so I'm going to just get it done. After that, I just need to figure out what's causing the slight miss at highway speeds and I'll have my car in great shape. Of course that would be a great time to sell it and buy a Honda or Toyota or something that didn't need fixing all the time. Just kidding...sort of. That Infinity G35 sure would be nice....


Grace and peace,

Robert K
1991 535i