Gasket replacement - 1992 525i
 

Well my oil leak on my 1992 525i (150k) turned out to be more serious than
I thought. Here is the list of what the BMW dealership says the car needs:

Valve Cover gasket
Oil filter housing gasket
Front timing cover gasket
Crank seal gasket
Head gasket gasket
Oil pan gasket

And for only $2,400 they will gladly replace them all. As I understand it,
the head gasket is the real expensive chore, requiring lots of man hours.
The BMW service rep said a car with this many miles is normal to have the
gaskets start to fail. My question should I go with the dealership on the
repairs or find a shop that does BMW cars as well. While money is always an
issue, it would be silly to save $500 but then have a shop do the work
incompetently, especially the head gasket. I was told there was an issue
with the upper and lower aluminum covers mating properly when putting it
all back together again. Not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound
fun.

I also asked the service rep if I should consider not going through with
the work if other problems could manifest (I purchased the car, 525i
touring wagon for $4.5k). He said the engine/trans in these cars are strong
and should last 300k and the gasket replacement is normal.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

"Scott" > wrote in message
...
> Well my oil leak on my 1992 525i (150k) turned out to be more serious than
> I thought. Here is the list of what the BMW dealership says the car needs:
>
> Valve Cover gasket
> Oil filter housing gasket
> Front timing cover gasket
> Crank seal gasket
> Head gasket gasket
> Oil pan gasket
>
> And for only $2,400 they will gladly replace them all. As I understand it,
> the head gasket is the real expensive chore, requiring lots of man hours.
> The BMW service rep said a car with this many miles is normal to have the
> gaskets start to fail. My question should I go with the dealership on the
> repairs or find a shop that does BMW cars as well. While money is always
an
> issue, it would be silly to save $500 but then have a shop do the work
> incompetently, especially the head gasket. I was told there was an issue
> with the upper and lower aluminum covers mating properly when putting it
> all back together again. Not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound
> fun.
>
> I also asked the service rep if I should consider not going through with
> the work if other problems could manifest (I purchased the car, 525i
> touring wagon for $4.5k). He said the engine/trans in these cars are
strong
> and should last 300k and the gasket replacement is normal.
>
> Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
>

With all of those gaskets needing to be replaced you must put a quart of oil
a day. Gaskets do go bad but usually not all of them at once.

I think it's worth having it looked at by a repair shop or at least a
different dealer.

>Scott honked his horn and wrote:

> Well my oil leak on my 1992 525i (150k) turned out to be more serious
> than I thought. Here is the list of what the BMW dealership says the
> car needs:
>
> Valve Cover gasket
> Oil filter housing gasket
> Front timing cover gasket
> Crank seal gasket
> Head gasket gasket
> Oil pan gasket
>
> And for only $2,400 they will gladly replace them all. As I
> understand it, the head gasket is the real expensive chore, requiring
> lots of man hours. The BMW service rep said a car with this many
> miles is normal to have the gaskets start to fail. My question should
> I go with the dealership on the repairs or find a shop that does BMW
> cars as well. While money is always an issue, it would be silly to
> save $500 but then have a shop do the work incompetently, especially
> the head gasket. I was told there was an issue with the upper and
> lower aluminum covers mating properly when putting it all back
> together again. Not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound fun.
>
> I also asked the service rep if I should consider not going through
> with the work if other problems could manifest (I purchased the car,
> 525i touring wagon for $4.5k). He said the engine/trans in these cars
> are strong and should last 300k and the gasket replacement is normal.
>
> Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

Can you not tell at all where the oil looks like it is leaking from?
That list of gaskets sounds a bit extreme. I would assume that the oil
filter is situated in the same position as my '92 325 coupe so you
should be easily identified as leaking. You get a new gasket with the
filter when it is replaced so that should cost about £10 GBP tops to do
it yourself in 5 mins. If the oil isn't showing leaking down the engine
block then I can't see how the valve cover gasket and/or head gasket is
gone. The head gasket may also show as oil in the water or water in the
oil (thick creamy brown coloured gunge in filler or dip-stick).
Personally, I would buy a can of engine cleaner and clean any oil off
of the engine and then see where the fresh stuff seems to come from.


--
Cheers

Rick

'92 E36 325 Coupe
http://bmw.aqua-maniac.co.uk

"Scott" > wrote in message
...
> Well my oil leak on my 1992 525i (150k) turned out to be more serious than
> I thought. Here is the list of what the BMW dealership says the car needs:
>
> Valve Cover gasket
> Oil filter housing gasket
> Front timing cover gasket
> Crank seal gasket
> Head gasket gasket
> Oil pan gasket
>
> And for only $2,400 they will gladly replace them all. As I understand it,
> the head gasket is the real expensive chore, requiring lots of man hours.
> The BMW service rep said a car with this many miles is normal to have the
> gaskets start to fail. My question should I go with the dealership on the
> repairs or find a shop that does BMW cars as well. While money is always
> an
> issue, it would be silly to save $500 but then have a shop do the work
> incompetently, especially the head gasket. I was told there was an issue
> with the upper and lower aluminum covers mating properly when putting it
> all back together again. Not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound
> fun.
>
> I also asked the service rep if I should consider not going through with
> the work if other problems could manifest (I purchased the car, 525i
> touring wagon for $4.5k). He said the engine/trans in these cars are
> strong
> and should last 300k and the gasket replacement is normal.
>
> Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

Looks like the shotgun approach to oil leak repair to me.

I'd try and find a more concientious repair guy that will actually determine
where the leak is before tearing the engine apart.

-Fred W

In article >,
Scott > wrote:
> Well my oil leak on my 1992 525i (150k) turned out to be more serious
> than I thought. Here is the list of what the BMW dealership says the
> car needs:

> Valve Cover gasket
> Oil filter housing gasket
> Front timing cover gasket
> Crank seal gasket
> Head gasket gasket
> Oil pan gasket

Unless it's been leaking for ages and got progressively worse, the chances
of all those gaskets and seals failing at once is remote.

Unless, of course, the engine breather system is blocked and the crankcase
is pressurized. This can cause the engine to leak everywhere. If it is
leaking from several different places, this would be the first thing I'd
check.

--
*OK, who stopped payment on my reality check?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

All but the head gasket are mostly pretty easy. Ask around your area
what shops do good work. Find your local BMW club and ask them. As
long as the leaks are minor(?), you have time to learn who can do a
good job on it. Just keep an eye on the dipstick.

"Rick Clark" > wrote in message
...
> >Scott honked his horn and wrote:
>
> > Well my oil leak on my 1992 525i (150k) turned out to be more serious
> > than I thought. Here is the list of what the BMW dealership says the
> > car needs:
> >
> > Valve Cover gasket
> > Oil filter housing gasket
> > Front timing cover gasket
> > Crank seal gasket
> > Head gasket gasket
> > Oil pan gasket
> >
> > And for only $2,400 they will gladly replace them all. As I
> > understand it, the head gasket is the real expensive chore, requiring
> > lots of man hours. The BMW service rep said a car with this many
> > miles is normal to have the gaskets start to fail. My question should
> > I go with the dealership on the repairs or find a shop that does BMW
> > cars as well. While money is always an issue, it would be silly to
> > save $500 but then have a shop do the work incompetently, especially
> > the head gasket. I was told there was an issue with the upper and
> > lower aluminum covers mating properly when putting it all back
> > together again. Not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound fun.
> >
> > I also asked the service rep if I should consider not going through
> > with the work if other problems could manifest (I purchased the car,
> > 525i touring wagon for $4.5k). He said the engine/trans in these cars
> > are strong and should last 300k and the gasket replacement is normal.
> >
> > Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
>
> Can you not tell at all where the oil looks like it is leaking from?
> That list of gaskets sounds a bit extreme. I would assume that the oil
> filter is situated in the same position as my '92 325 coupe so you
> should be easily identified as leaking. You get a new gasket with the
> filter when it is replaced so that should cost about £10 GBP tops to do
> it yourself in 5 mins. If the oil isn't showing leaking down the engine
> block then I can't see how the valve cover gasket and/or head gasket is
> gone. The head gasket may also show as oil in the water or water in the
> oil (thick creamy brown coloured gunge in filler or dip-stick).
> Personally, I would buy a can of engine cleaner and clean any oil off
> of the engine and then see where the fresh stuff seems to come from.


Sounds like a right hosing to me too.

you can get a dye that reacts to black light. clean the engine and add the
dye. you'll need a black light as well.

>
>
> --
> Cheers
>
> Rick
>
> '92 E36 325 Coupe
> http://bmw.aqua-maniac.co.uk