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[Alnico Blue]

Daughter wanted a BMW . . .much to my disgust & Daddys advice not to get one  . .

Long story short  . .  she looked at a couple herself & then I went to check em over to see she was not throwing her cash away  . . .she was on those ones.

Found her a '05 318i Sport . . . . got it at a good price as it needed a few  niggles sorting .

I am shocked how, after researching deeper ,  it seems almost all BMWs leak oil . BIGTIME

Should have known really as young lad at work has 2 Bmw's & he did tell me a while ago they leak oil & coolant  constantly  & to quote him "as do all BMW's"

On top of it now  . .. but this was leaking from the oil dipstick tube joint at the sump  . . o ring failure  & the oil level sensor at bottom of the sump.

On top of it now though     just a slight coolant leak from the bottom hose temp sender to sort .

O ring again I think 

& I thought the only engines that leaked oil  in several places at the same time to this extent were the old Royal Enfield motor bikes ,  often referred to as Royal "Oilfields"   

Daughter loves her "new motor" . . .I'm pleased as got it  for half price of a couple the same I've seen at used car forecourts  . . .

[Lizzie Zoom]

That's very good news for her.

But is for dad who will have all those great hours working on her car?

[Alnico Blue]

That's very good news for her.

But is for dad Muggins who will have all those great hours working on her car?

Exactly Lizzie  . . she would not  know what a garage repair bill is  . . .Dad will sort it 

[Lizzie Zoom]

That's very good news for her.

But is for dad Muggins who will have all those great hours working on her car?

Exactly Lizzie  . . she would not  know what a garage repair bill is  . . .Dad will sort it 

Tell her to enrol in a night school basic mechanics course and buy her a nice complete set of tools for Christmas!  That is how I started

[TheBoy]

15yr old beemers are known for incontinence as they age - the 4.4 v8 is a particularly bad example for both coolant and oil.  Time will tell if the current ones have resolved this.

Proper beemers - those designed in the 1980s (and sold up into the early/mid 90s - are usually so much more robust, which is why you saw so many of those era 3 series around, now mostly all gone as the tin worm has got to them.

[Doctor Gollum]

Breather cleaning is essential, as the are quite heavy on oil. Also the seals go hard and brittle especially cam cover and oil filter casing seals. Not difficult to sort but time consuming.

The cooling systems have far too much plastic to last long term in an engine bay.

The way they drive is almost worth the effort...

[Alnico Blue]

Breather cleaning is essential, as the are quite heavy on oil. Also the seals go hard and brittle especially cam cover and oil filter casing seals. Not difficult to sort but time consuming.

The cooling systems have far too much plastic to last long term in an engine bay.

The way they drive is almost worth the effort...

Has got this "cyclone crankcase ventilation"  system on it .  Looks an absolute barsteward to replace.  But . . .will have a go 

Small coolant leak sorted now 

 

[Doctor Gollum]

Easy enough, air filter housing, alternator and power steering reservoir to one side much improves access... An easy afternoon and actually more straightforward than trying to remove the inlet manifold on an Omega 

[Alnico Blue]

Easy enough, air filter housing, alternator and power steering reservoir to one side much improves access... An easy afternoon and actually more straightforward than trying to remove the inlet manifold on an Omega 

P/S  reservoir is low down on opposite side on this model    But yes can see removing those other item will give much more access.  You tube videos vary on advice to remove inlet manifold or not.
Have you done one of these Doc ?  Seems rather involved to me 

Have  an issue with the oil drain  pipe going to the lower end of the dipstick tube it is of a different type to what is shown on the videos.  This is one of those push together & then pull connections . on the videos I have watched it seems it should just be a simple push on rubber pipe   

Maybe have to join up the Bimmer forum    and ask a few questions.

[Doctor Gollum]

Have done it in the straight 6, from what I have seen, the four pot is similar

I changed them at the same time as the cam cover gasket and the oil filter housing gasket, so alternator was already off for that Also most of it has to come off in order to access the lower manifold bolts

They're quite straightforward to work on once you have the sequence figured out, and certainly seen to be more thoroughly bolted together than the GM lumps

Plenty of internet support, especially in the US

[Alnico Blue]

Have done it in the straight 6, from what I have seen, the four pot is similar

I changed them at the same time as the cam cover gasket and the oil filter housing gasket, so alternator was already off for that Also most of it has to come off in order to access the lower manifold bolts

They're quite straightforward to work on once you have the sequence figured out, and certainly seen to be more thoroughly bolted together than the GM lumps

Plenty of internet support, especially in the US

Will be having a go at this . . .  after i've had the upcoming break in Lanzarote