Just degreased the undercarriage of e36

[mbogosia]

I noticed a couple of days ago that our new 92 e36 has a **** load of oil,dirt, and grease on the bottom of it. Not a good sign, but the car has extensive maintenance history and it is 13yrs old after all. I got it on ramps and started spraying and wiping with a degreaser. I am trying to locate any leaks mainly, not just clean it for the hell of it.Anyone have any luck doing this to find possible leaks? It looks like the small trans oil pan gasket is leaking and the regular oil pan seems to be also.

[winfred]

you don't say if it's 4 or 6 cylinder but both are prone to leaking oil filter housing to block gaskets, certain 6 cylinder units the housing itself will leak also

[mbogosia]

Its an M50 non vanos. I looked tonight when she got home and one little drip appeared on my garage floor. I looked at the filter housing and it is a little wet up there and especially below it on the engine. Could it trail down the engine and all around to make it appear the oil pan is leaking?

[winfred]

it runs right over the lip of the pan and will follow it all over the place, the rubber o-ring looking thing that seals the housing gets hard as a rock and pukes, not too hard to change but you need to remove the alt and power steering pump as they are bolted to the housing

[mbogosia]

Seems like a good cheap weekend project.

[mbogosia]

Okay, finally got a good look at the oil filter housing and it is definetly leaking. Its possible I have another leak somewhere, but this is on top and leaking down so it should be fixed first. Can you give me a quick write up on how to do this and if it is DIY work or not? What tools and other gaskets are needed also? I want to make sure I have everything I need before I start this.