Oli77's other maintenance thread: 2010 E93 space grey, 6MT

[Oli77]

About 74000K and the rear left shock absorber sprung a leak!
Happened on my e46 several years ago, and I changed them during one of the family reunion at Dane's place. Anybody remember helping me?

I wonder if on the e93, it has to do with doing some spirited driving a couple week ago with 4 of us in the car. Did a bit of torqueing around the back roads of KY. I don't think I will be doing this on my own on this platform, seems way more involved and complex with the convertible tidbits.

I will be looking up youtube tutorials for now.

[Oli77]

Come to think about it, there was one turn in particular where I thought there was no reason for the rear to suddenly and temporarily feel loose. Thought maybe there was some oil on the road, but I bet that's when that shock just lost compression or something.

[Oli77]

At 74xxx miles,

Had my trusty local mechanic install some Bilstein in the rear.
They changed bump stops and small hardware bits back there and also took the opportunity to change the oil.
Expensive but its done and I didn't have to do it.

[Oli77]

Dropping my car at the dealership this week for the VANOS bolts recall. I hope they do me good and replace the VCG (pretty sure it is leaking as I smell oil burning pretty regularly).

Been reading on e90post that if bolts are broken, they have to locate them and may need to drop the oil pan. That is apparently leaking too, so I am hoping for a miracle.

Out of 3 leaking spots (OFHG is seeping as well), I hope they at least fix one of these.

[fredo]

Dropping my car at the dealership this week for the VANOS bolts recall. I hope they do me good and replace the VCG (pretty sure it is leaking as I smell oil burning pretty regularly).

My 2011 X3 (N52 engine) went thru the same job some years ago. I paid for the valve cover ($600) just to be on the safe side, free labor of course. You may want to consider the spark plugs if they are due.

I will look at the invoice when I'm back home and check if it says anything about the oil pan gasket.

[Oli77]

I changed the plugs this summer. I just hope they actually pull the valve cover (and don't just scope it). I think that on this motor, you HAVE to change the valve cover if you open it up. I will let you know. Some people report new gaskets (3 on top of the engine), some people report new covers.
...

[fredo]

I found my invoice, it's from June 2018. The X3 had 85,700 miles at that time. The description in ticket is:

"Due to bolt heads missing, removed cooling fan is order to spin cranskshaft to set on top dead center, since bolt head were missing, removal of oil pan was necessary, removed subframe and front differential replaced oil sump gasket and installed new bolts".

This gasket is included in the list of parts:

11137600482 = oil pan gasket *** looks like your 328i uses a different part #

But wait a second, from my E46 experience, if they need to remove the subframe then it's a good time to replace:
1) oil pan gasket
2) engine mounts
3) steering coupler

My mechanic recommended to replace the valve cover ($526 + tax) because they get warped. I bet the dealer will install a new VCG if you decide to skip the whole cover.

[Oli77]

Whoa, you lost bolts so they had to do your oil pan.
I will have to see what they find.
Thanks for looking this up.

[fredo]

If the engine mounts are in your radar, this is the best time to replace them. Just pay for parts, labor will be free.

The subframe has been removed on my IR ZHP on 2 different occasions. The first one was shortly after purchase, my mechanic replaced the OPG but didn't mention anything about engine mounts and steering coupler.

Some years after that, the subframe was removed again to replace the mounts and coupler. If I knew about this, everything would be done on the first round. I ended paying twice for the same labor.

[Oli77]

Bugger, no news from me except that I dropped the car at 8 and at 5 PM, they were not finished.
No loaner, no shuttle to take me to work.
Hoping I will get it back tomorrow.
The work was scheduled to take 4 hours...