My 525i has leaked oil since i got it, finally yesterday i looked into where it was leaking from. Turns out its coming from the oil pan drain plug, i thought that it was just loose and tried to tighten in, but it didn't get tight after a turn or 2 so i think the threads are stripped on the plug. I stopped turning since i didn't want to have it break off and exxon valdeez my driveway.

Anyway, how should i go about fixing this? My thoughts are to take the pan off and either get a new one or have this one heli-coiled.

Any other ideas?

I'm not sure a helicoil would work because the oil pan is not very thick. I think you'll have to drill it out and tap it to the next larger size. Removing it would be the safe way to go. I don't see how you could keep the cuttings out of the oil, but maybe someone will have a trick for this.

Last time I changed my oil, I decided to torque the plug. I stopped before I reached the torque specification because I felt it was just too tight. I hope I didn't strip mine, too.

Good Luck.

I'm not sure a helicoil would work because the oil pan is not very thick. I think you'll have to drill it out and tap it to the next larger size. Removing it would be the safe way to go. I don't see how you could keep the cuttings out of the oil, but maybe someone will have a trick for this.

Last time I changed my oil, I decided to torque the plug. I stopped before I reached the torque specification because I felt it was just too tight. I hope I didn't strip mine, too.

Good Luck.

Yeah, i don't know if i can use a heli-coil. Hopefully i can, i'm gonna put the car up on a buddies lift this week and fix some other problems. Gonna pull the plug out then..

I did hear a good trick of not getting metal shaving in the pan is to put grease on the tap.

Either way, this isn't gonna be fun :rofl:

To take the oil pan off do i have to drop the subframe down like on E36's?

That's what the bentley says. Doesn't look like much fun.

That's what the bentley says. Doesn't look like much fun.
:mad

Damn, i guess i have something to do next weekend

Use alot of silicone like the guys at the quick change places. ;)

Seriously, good luck with tapping it.

I was talking to my brother about it, apparently the same thing happened to his 84 533i engine. He did some research and bought a new oversized self tapping drain plug to put in from pepboys. Worked great.

So i guess this isn't gonna be as bad as i thought :)