Seeping Head Gasket

[ccmkE82]

First I just want to say that I realize head gaskets going bad on these cars is an incredibly uncommon issue, and that problems that point towards head gasket failures are usually caused by other factors. Yet I recently blasted my intake valves and I found what seems to be oil seeping out from where the head meets the block. Please excuse the filth covering my engine bay, but in this photo you can clearly see oil seeping out from location of the head gasket as above and below the gasket line is relatively free of oil:


In the past my OFHG and valve cover did have pretty serious leaks which have since been fixed. While I really want to believe this oil originated from those leaks, I don't see how the oil could have made its way to the mating surface of the block and head in the pattern it has in the photo. The car is currently running great with a tune, and there is no sign of coolant mixing with oil. I plan on doing a leakdown test to see if I can get any sort of bubbling from the gasket. The vehicle does have around 180,000 kilometers so perhaps this gasket's time has come.

I found a post on another forum saying how it is somewhat normal for oil to gradually leak through the layers of the gasket and its not a big deal, yet this issue has still been keeping me up at night. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Is this an issue I should even be worried about? Appreciate any feedback.

[iminhell1]

If 1,000+ psi combustion pressure isn't making it past the head gasket, 100 psi oil isn't going to.


It's simply residual from a leaky OFHG, Crank seal, valve cover, oil cap gasket, . . .
It's not a head gasket issue.
But if you want to spend a few grand to fix a problem that isn't there, be my guest.

[asbrr]

If it makes you feel any better, my 128i with approximately 160K on it had similar staining when I was doing my intake manifold upgrade last fall....and that's on a non-boosted engine, that runs great with good compression/power etc. It was maybe a bit less than yours, but yours is a boosted engine so I can see that small amount of seepage being higher. I'll let an actual mechanic reply but IMHO I don't think this is a big problem if your leakdown test comes back clean...

[ccmkE82]

Originally Posted by iminhell1

If 1,000+ psi combustion pressure isn't making it past the head gasket, 100 psi oil isn't going to.


It's simply residual from a leaky OFHG, Crank seal, valve cover, oil cap gasket, . . .
It's not a head gasket issue.
But if you want to spend a few grand to fix a problem that isn't there, be my guest.

Definitely not looking to spend thousands to fix a non existent problem, just looking for more information to keep my sanity in check.