The leak is coming from center right side. Any ideas BM Brothers. You can also email @ elg07@verizon.net Thanks for your help. Any have a really good repair shop, who is not looking for my first born as payment would be good. Thanks again.
You'll need to offer more specifics - year & model of car, engine type (6-cyl, 12-cyl, 8-cyl), displacement, etc., so if there's anyone here who can offer a suggestion, they'll know exactly what engine is in your car, and anything you've observed yourself, as there are obviously any variety of things that might be related to some sort of oil leak. Plus your city and state for repair shop suggestions, unless you happen to be willing to drive up to 3000+ miles in any direction to get to any shop that happens to be recommended by anyone in any part of the country - who knows, there might be a fabulous BMW repair shop in the western end of the Aleutian Islands that does great repair work for virtually nothing; all you would have to do is get your car out into the middle of the Bering Sea.
Right side...of what/where? Whose "right"? Which end? Back seat? Trunk? Get the idea? Checked the oil-pressure sender yet?
Oil Leak...Pls Help.... Okay, let me be more specific! 1989 735i Auto transmission I'm located in the Albany, NY area. The oil leak seems to be coming from the area of (center right passenger side front). When it sits over night there are 2 or 3 dime size spots. Thanks for your help. .
Ok, so your car has an M30 engine and you're talking about an engine oil leak (as opposed to anything else that could be leaking, such as transmission, differential, brakes, or cooling system). Without specifics it's pointless to ask for anyone's armchair analysis as there are too many possibilities. Have you looked at the engine yourself yet, and if so, what do you see? Grab a bright flashlight, pop the hood, and take some time to look at it, slowly and thoroughly. Look deep, past what you just see initially. An oil leak will, in all likelihood, will look like a wet area, and/or may build up as a mucky mix of oil and dirt/debris. Start by looking at the upper part of the engine and move your way down. Leaks could come from such things as the valve-cover gasket, possibly the head gasket, the oil pan gasket, and any place where oil runs through the engine; look at the junctures of anything bolted to the engine. Take a look at the underside as well to see if you can locate where the oil is dripping to the floor. You can find some basic engine diagrams here at realoem.com, look at all of them for ideas on where to look on your car, including the others listed (cylinder head, etc.). http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=GB43&mospid=47359&hg=11&fg=10
In terms of a shop, I don't know of any in Albany, but Ekstens is in Rochester and they are great. I know it a far drive from Albany though. http://ekstenautoworks.com/ Try www.bimrs.org for a shop near you.
The most common oil leak on the 3.5 is from the oil pressure switch. It is also the cheapest and easiest fix. The part is located at the back of the head and when it leaks, it will come down on the right side in front of the passenger seat. The part costs under $10, is widely available (Original equipment is no better than anyone else's - they all fail.) at auto parts stores, and it takes less than 5 minutes to replace it. IIRC, you can reach it with an adjustable ('crescent') wrench. Otherwise, I think it's a 21 or 22mm. It looks like this (with an electrical connector on it): Don't worry about minor appearance differences. If the threads are the same and the connector fits, use it. FWIW, I have the one from my 3.5 535is in my R100RS bike. They are widely interchangeable.
C.R. is correct about the mess an inexpensive switch (#13) can cause. Another leak in that area can be due to a perished small bushing/o-ring (#7). It's a bit hard to get to, but a stubby gear wrench does the job. 07 O-ring part # 12-11-0-002-735 13 Oil pressure switch M12X1,5 part # 61-31-1-354-274
I believe it to be a 24mm. And there are two different thread sizes and types even within the BMW family. The different ones are used on the various Neu-Range cars in their early days. Even within the bikes, my '72 takes the course thread (10mm x 1) and my '81 takes the later and larger fine thread (12mm x 1.5). I don't see the part number John lists as applicable for an '89 E32 735i, either so watch out for the correct rating, even if it looks correct. John's part number is for an E23 735i, not the E32 I believe we're talking about here. The pressure rating is stamped on the switch. Make sure you get the correct one for your vehicle or your light may light or not when it is or isn't supposed to! BTW, I suggested this part as a possible leak source four-days ago but we've yet to hear back with a confirmation, or not, from the original poster.
You're probably right. I think I usually use a crescent wrench to change it, so I never pay attention to the size. The finer thread seems to extend at least back to my '78 R100 - because I pulled the switch off my '87 535 to put into it. I did some research on these last time I went to buy one. Since I am not awfully close to the local BMW Motorrad dealership, I wanted to find what alternatives are out there. I found the manufacturers of the switches and looked at their automotive applications and found that they're all pretty much the same in terms of the pressure that triggers them. It's in the 4-8 psi range; about ¼-½ bar, for the metrificated among us. It appears, if you've got some pressure, you've got enough pressure. I also did a cursory search on RealOEM where I discovered that I had a spare used switch for the bike screwed into the head of my parts car! That got me back on the road the same day, as opposed to waiting for the stores to open on Monday. I noticed that. I wanted to emphasize that the OP switch is the cheapest and easiest fix available. We all know, even if it isn't the source of the problem, you haven't really wasted much time, effort, or money eliminating it as such.
