Dropping oil pan

[En3D]

I plan on dropping the oil pan on the next oil change and replacing the oil pan gasket and oil level sender gasket.

While I am at it, is there anything else I should replace or inspect?

[M I C H A E L]

make sure your oilpump bolts are tight to spec, i heard those get loose over time. and make sure no bits of plastic pieces or anything else there besides oil is laying in your pan :P

[KGB7]

make sure your oilpump bolts are tight to spec, i heard those get loose over time. and make sure no bits of plastic pieces or anything else there besides oil is laying in your pan :P

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And clean everything. Losts of cleaning and scrubing you can get your hands on. If you can see it then clean it.

[badwayz]

Its already been said... remember its easy to do on our cars, thank god we dont have a 3 series.

[motion]

I'd recommend removing the oil pump and replace the three "O" rings and confirm the relief valve operation and inlet screen is clean. Some say it's not necessary, but I prefer to safety wire the pump and sprocket fasteners. Adjust the chain deflection per specs.(10mm midway). As a side note if you replace the motor mounts it a great time to replace the 6 "O" rings on the oil filter housing supply and return hoses (2 between the block and mount bracket, 2 in the mount bracket and 2 in the filter housing. Just my .02

[stritarja]

Why are you doing it? Is the oil pan gasket leaking? It's unnecessary to do as "preventative maintenance" since you can do it after any oil change if you do ever develop an oil pan gasket leak, which is not very common. Leaking upper timing cover or valve cover gaskets are by far the most common causes of oil dripping from around the oil pan.

Don't do it just to check the oil pump bolts - they have not been a problem in the '01. The rest of the things suggested above are very, very rarely problem areas.

[purplecty]

I would do a liquimoly engine flush (2 bottles) drop pan and check for sludge and anything unusual, clean out pan, change gasket and get 8qts. Of some fresh 0w40 or 5w40 synthetic of your choice... Doesnt hurt to have piece of mind...

[stritarja]

I would do a liquimoly engine flush (2 bottles) drop pan and check for sludge and anything unusual, clean out pan, change gasket and get 8qts. Of some fresh 0w40 or 5w40 synthetic of your choice... Doesnt hurt to have piece of mind...

Why? Just for peace of mind?

[purplecty]

You will know what your working with... I never dropped my pan til my engine started knocking, then did to find huge amounts of sludge and metal pieces... I kept up on oil changes and all maint. But you never know if the previous owners did. Even with records ide check it out... You can catch the issue and solve it before you end up like me and having possible damage to engine... Dont judge a book by its cover... Engine can look pristine on the outside, but you never know how the insides look until you see for yourself... Some feel more confident when they find a spotless insides and others feel relieved when they find sludge or pieces of guides and are ready to catch the issue before having a catostrphic failure to the engine... But to each their own... You dont have to do it...

[stritarja]

But you have a '98 and your engine was knocking. Good reasons to look in the oil pan.

[purplecty]

Yeah but had i checked before knocking as recomended which i brushed off i could of possibly not had my engine need to be replaced... Get where im going here?

[pruner1]

I had to tighten my oil pump chain, it was too loose. 185k miles.

[AquilaBMW]

Dave - Want to do it at the Toy Store? I got tools and space and two set of hands are nice to have yeah?

[purplecty]

An hour or 2 of your time and $20 for a new gasket could save you in the long run...

[kkingsley930]

More power to you for going in there. Even if it's just cause you want to that's a good enough reason. Anything involved with the oil pump listed here follow to a T.

Here's what my oil pan looked like when I dropped it. Oil pump bolts and broken guide pieces... Double check the oil pump bolts even if they arnt in the pan.

[stritarja]

So how often do you guys recommend doing this? Once and you have peace of mind forever after? Or repeat every X miles?

I can see doing it once to check the oil pump bolts for '95 - '98 MY, but the oil pump bolt problem was fixed after that.

[M I C H A E L]

then your fine, and how is it uncommon to have a leaking lower oil pan gasket?..

[motion]

I haven't decided on what frequency, I'd redid one car had 90k, one had 120k and one had 151k, all had slack in the chain and one had a loose fastener. I'll probably check every 18-21k for 25 bolts during an oil change, it allows me to see if anything is in the pan and confirm the condition of the pump, that supply's the life blood to the engine All "O" rings have a life. The pump chain drives are approx. 60-65mm in diameter and right at 1-1 ratio so when you decide to go up on top (lets say 140 -150) the feet per minute that the chain is traveling is very fast, if the side of the chain with the slack decides to jump a sprocket it's over ( there is no tensioner on this chain). Yes. other things might bite me in the butt, but not this. My time, my money and everything I do to my cars is intended to improve reliability and longevity which gives me peace of mind, especially when on top. Just my .02

[purplecty]

I haven't decided on what frequency, I'd redid one car had 90k, one had 120k and one had 151k, all had slack in the chain and one had a loose fastener. I'll probably check every 18-21k for 25 bolts during an oil change, it allows me to see if anything is in the pan and confirm the condition of the pump, that supply's the life blood to the engine All "O" rings have a life. The pump chain drives are approx. 60-65mm in diameter and right at 1-1 ratio so when you decide to go up on top (lets say 140 -150) the feet per minute that the chain is traveling is very fast, if the side of the chain with the slack decides to jump a sprocket it's over ( there is no tensioner on this chain). Yes. other things might bite me in the butt, but not this. My time, my money and everything I do to my cars is intended to improve reliability and longevity which gives me peace of mind, especially when on top. Just my .02

Wish you were my indy!

[En3D]

Thanks for all the info. The list of to do is longer but that's what I was looking for.

stritarja, my reasons are I do see oil residue around the sensor and some around the pan. So I am trying to eliminate both gaskets. Like others have said, the chain tension and bolts I was going to check but now I'll replace the other o-rings too and clean everything in there.

For how easy and cheap the parts are, it's not a big deal for someone to do this.

Dave - Want to do it at the Toy Store? I got tools and space and two set of hands are nice to have yeah?

I'll let you know. But if not, the coilover install. Two of us can knock out both cars in the same day.

[stritarja]

Have you eliminated the valve cover gaskets and upper timing cover gaskets as the cause of the oil you see? They are much more likely causes.

[En3D]

yes, both have been replaced.

[AquilaBMW]

Have you eliminated the valve cover gaskets and upper timing cover gaskets as the cause of the oil you see? They are much more likely causes.

I am curious.... you seem dead set against doing this. Any reason?

A little while ago, I bought a 2000 E39 540iT that had the same M62TUB44 engine as the 740i. The poor lady had a rod go through the bottom of the engine. During my discussions with her and her husband, I asked if by chance the OIL PRESSURE WARNING came on. She said it did, just before the engine went boom!

I mentioned the issue with loose oil pump bolts and next thing, her husband pulls out the dead engine, we take a look and there is a completely seized oil pump. Engine lost oil pressure / oil and went BOOM.

Sorry for the somewhat anecdotal story, but the oil pump bolts issue is not exclusive to just the M60B40 or earlier M62 engines.

[mattwa]

My approach is if you are doing something that makes the inaccessible suddenly accessible, you should take care of everything you can now reach. You already have the pan off, so why not?

[7erfan]

I plan doing this aswell when we tightly up this chevron pipeline job.. goodness I'm sorta hesitant and scared of finding anything guide pieces. Just sorta like that doctor visit you wish you never had. But I'd hate to see my car throw a rod.