Possible Oil Leak Diagnostic Help: 2011 128i 60k

[scoff]

I have a 2011 128i with approximately 60k miles and will occasionally smell what might be a burnt oil smell (I don't have enough experience to know for sure).

At this mileage it seems like the culprit would be the valve cover gasket but since the smell is only occasional I hope someone can help me diagnose whether they see a leak from the pics. I know there are a lot of these types of threads and from what I can see my valve cover doesn't look as bad as some others but I'm not confident the gasket doesn't need to be changed because of the mileage.

Valve Cover Pics:






OFH Pics (same request):

[NorthernDancer]

I don't see any problem whatsoever.

Now here is how I would check. To check the VCG, remove the top engine cover. Most rear bolt is most difficult. There are a couple of ways to get it out. DON'T DROP THE BOLT. Once cover is off, you can see if there is any leakage.
OFHG: Carefully stuff a white rag under the OFH and then pull out to see if any oil on rag.

[Petro135]

Its a safe bet to do the vcg and ofhg even if its not both leaking. It going to have to be done eventually. Then if leak persists check the oil pan gasket. The oil pan gasket in these cars are the best gasket out of all that i saw. It will be awhile before that leaks

[Thunderguts]

If you smell burnt oil, I wouldn't suspect the OFHG because that's the "cool" side of the engine. That doesn't mean you still don't need to change it, but chances are there's a leak on the exhaust side somewhere. Your pictures don't show any sign of leakage, however.

I don't know if it's because the engine runs hotter or the seals just plain suck, but I had a 22 year old Honda with 235k miles and its seals were in way better condition than my 11 year old N52 with 83k miles. I just changed my valve cover gasket this weekend and I was shocked just how bad it was. At least you could still bend the outer seal, but the three seals around the plugs were so bad they literally shattered like brittle plastic. The rearmost seal broke into about 12 pieces by the time I removed it all. I think you need to get under the car and look for any sign of leakage.

Morale of the story: change your seals. They are garbage.

[scoff]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I’m going to try to get under the car this weekend to look for more leaks and try to get the engine cover off to check there as well.

At least the oil pan gasket was changed recently.

[asbrr]

Honestly I just don't get why the germans can't make a good seal...same story on 2x other BMWs and 2x other Audis....like wtf guys, a gasket can't be that hard to make...

The oil pan gasket is the killer, you need to drop the front subframe to change it.....for F*&k's sake.

I just told my mechanic to very slightly overtorque the oil pan bolts, and it stopped (mostly). So am holding out before I have to do that. These cars will start to kill you slowly after 100K miles...

[Thunderguts]

Originally Posted by asbrr

I just told my mechanic to very slightly overtorque the oil pan bolts, and it stopped (mostly). So am holding out before I have to do that. These cars will start to kill you slowly after 100K miles...

This is a common response, but I'm really starting to doubt the wisdom of it. After seeing how brittle some of my seals had become, I would think adding more pressure could be the worst thing to do. It's likely to crack the gasket and cause an even worse leak. It just depends on the condition of the seal. If it's still pliable, then over-torquing may work. If they've already gotten brittle, it can't be good.

Originally Posted by asbrr

These cars will start to kill you slowly after 100K miles...

They're not a Honda or Toyota, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd still get an N52 without hesitation. I've been pleasantly surprised that the maintenance is nothing like I'd feared about a German car. I will say that they could bankrupt you if you're always paying a shop to do the work. There are many more OE parts available for this than there were for my Honda and they're no more expensive than Honda parts. One thing that does irritate me though is shelling out $30-$40 for torque-to-yield bolts every time I replace something.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by Thunderguts

This is a common response, but I'm really starting to doubt the wisdom of it. After seeing how brittle some of my seals had become, I would think adding more pressure could be the worst thing to do. It's likely to crack the gasket and cause an even worse leak. It just depends on the condition of the seal. If it's still pliable, then over-torquing may work. If they've already gotten brittle, it can't be good.

They're not a Honda or Toyota, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd still get an N52 without hesitation. I've been pleasantly surprised that the maintenance is nothing like I'd feared about a German car. I will say that they could bankrupt you if you're always paying a shop to do the work. There are many more OE parts available for this than there were for my Honda and they're no more expensive than Honda parts. One thing that does irritate me though is shelling out $30-$40 for torque-to-yield bolts every time I replace something.

Yea been lucky, the original leak was diagnosed fall 2019, about 10K miles ago. It's held since then so I'm guessing the gasket is still pliable.

I can do some minor work on the car, but I pay for most of the stuff. Living in a cold climate kills half the year, and now the car is parked outside as I have the cayman in storage in the garage, so working in the garage isn't an option.....sigh....it is what it is. I had the hood release cable snap 2 weeks ago, and 2 days after getting it back the head unit died (at least that's what it looks like, still diagnosing). Unless you're prepared to deal with the constant niggles and issues, I recommend selling at 100K miles lol...that's when it all started going south! I don't regret buying the car at all, it's probably my second favorite car I've owned (not including the Cayman, as that's too new to include yet)...