How To Find Every Oil Leak On Your Car - BMW N52 Engine

[@SKWDMDYT]

Thanks for the extremely helpful video. Great to see it on an engine not under a hood, up close and personal!

[@buildanddrive]

Yeah I though the same thing. It is tough to see where an oil leak could be coming from when it's under the hood.

[@MegredyPhotoStudio]

Long story short, every seal will develop a leak ! I just bought a 525i with the n53 engine. The engine is not burning oil but leaking it out ! I have to see where ! Thanks for the vid !

[@buildanddrive]

Yeah, my n52b25 has had every leak possible 😅

[@chrisbennett5796]

Just a couple of additional comments. If you have an N52 with a plastic valve cover, these can warp and cause a leak. In that case you have to replace both the gaskets and the cover itself. The other point is that the oil cooler has two gaskets, one where it mounts to the block and one where the radiator mounts to the cooler. Both can fail.

[@buildanddrive]

Yes, good points 👍🏽. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheReboot]

The trick to happily living with a BMW is not finding the leak you have, but the leak that’s about to show up tomorrow.

[@buildanddrive]

Comment of 2022! 🙏🏼😂

[@tcellen2136]

The trick is to buy a Hyundai or Toyota and simply live next to a BMW owner and have a laugh at how often the hood is up...

[@aimized1460]

at 6:11 seconds that is your crankshaft position sensor :) it does not leak cool video man mine is leaking like a gutted pig really badly n52 xdrive im doing the oil pan but thinking if its the rear main seal car has 270,000 kms what do you think

[@buildanddrive]

Thanks for the info. Sorry to hear your car is leaking. It took me years to sort out all my leaks

[@aimized1460]

@@buildanddrive damn brother I feel ya bmws always leak

[@buildanddrive]

@@aimized1460 my parents Toyota matrix which they've driven 240,000kms has never had an oil leak, or any leak for that matter. Crazy right!? Every single gasket on my bmw has leaked lol

[@mrdiy6975]

Great video again! Did you use RTV when you installed oil pan and it’s new gasket to your rebuilded engine? Any leaks?

[@buildanddrive]

I did use RTV even tho originally I think they use a glue or something. No leaks so far 🤞

[@toomuchsauce4442]

Another great video

[@buildanddrive]

Appreciate it dude! 🙏🏼

[@riceball4u172]

Darn, it's easier to say what doesn't leak than what does leak

[@buildanddrive]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@johnsmith-wd5sq]

I was looking for this comment before i posted the same thing!

[@computerboetiek]

nice viddy... you missed the sensor gasket at the top in the valve cover and dont forget that head gasket will start sweating and leaking eventually...

[@buildanddrive]

True. Never had that one leak before but it could 👍🏼

[@SemFrancois]

Thank you so much y’all,so what happened when the head gasket start sweatin’ and leakin’ but car not over eating,please someone tell me something 🙏🏾

[@bamwa]

@@buildanddrive one? he told you two. head gasket and cam position sensor.

[@chadriddle3517]

The oil return line to the oil pan, you said yours failed every year ? How was it failing ?

[@buildanddrive]

The very bottom of the hose has two rubber washers that seal the hose to the pan. For some reason they go bad and start leaking. I'm not sure if it's just the quality of the rubber or my CCV was causing too much vaccuum to hold the pressure there and they started leaking

[@ethanhockey6942]

@@buildanddrive ccv delete and add catch can. did it to my 330i n52

[@baggup4794]

Thank you thank you thank you

[@buildanddrive]

Thanks! Where did you find your oil leak?

[@vincentcooray9269]

Bro, it was me trying to connect to the live stream. Connection was bad. Wasn't ready for the livestream. Let us know in advance bro 👍

[@buildanddrive]

Yo, thanks for trying to join!!! My internet crapped out too, I've been trying everything to get it back online but it's not working either. Going to order some long ethernet cables to run straight to the garage 😂😂😂. Thanks for trying to join. I appreciate it. I will try to schedule another time ahead of time

[@Ivan-xd1jv]

Now for the M54

[@buildanddrive]

I don't have one in my garage. Send me one and I'll make a video 👍🏼

[@TacticalJay.]

Hi man hope all is well I recently bought a 2011 e90 328i and everything seems to run great but there was oil stains in the front of the engine when I bought it but but I’ve driven the car had it on to see if there are any leaks but I don’t see anything leaking idk if it was from something previous that was fixed or if the last owner just accidentally spilled some oil and it ran down the front of the engine is there anyway I can send you a picture ?

[@buildanddrive]

Yes send me a photo on IG. It's probably the oil cooler, the vanos solenoids or oil flinging up from the front main seal

[@gatgolf]

what is that football shaped piece on the exhaust side, between the valve cover and the exhaust manifold.

[@buildanddrive]

I have no idea. I beleive a ground attached there, but not sure what its for.

[@bryangonzalvo]

Timing chain cover leaks?

[@buildanddrive]

Valve cover is the timing chain cover.

[@VassiliySmith]

Thank you! Is'nt the oil pan should be aluminium?

[@buildanddrive]

Yes maybe. The block is magnesium allow so maybe it should be. Good catch 👌🏽

[@gerard7997]

The oil pressure sensor can leak. It did on my n52n30. Easy to fix.

[@buildanddrive]

Never thought of that, thanks!

[@AmirUniqueTuni]

Is it safe to install Catch Can instead the CCV on N52B25 engine, the thing is that my engine is burning 1l of oil on like 300 miles?

[@buildanddrive]

Do you have the magnesium or plastic valve cover?

[@AmirUniqueTuni]

@@buildanddrive Magnesium

[@TheBMW2000]

Did you find out what it was?

[@sleepyduck]

intake manifold gasket may fail or leak too.

[@buildanddrive]

It may fail and leak air - correct. But not oil.

[@tcellen2136]

they don't hold their water either...Water pump, thermostat, front oil cooler pipe all places that WILL leak eventually or burst altogether. I nearly had a major accident when the oil cooler water pipe burst and flooded the engine bay with water that caused the power assisted steering servo to slip meaning no steering...some wee came out as I ran up onto the grass to avoid other cars... BMW cars are a nightmare unless you have deep pockets or well equipped garage, time and extreme patience...Dealerships in Australia routinely skip replacing time critical components to make more money so cannot be trusted either. Mark the filter take it in for a service and check afterwards if it was replaced and get ready for a shock. They are not referred to here as "Buying More Worries" for nothing. Especially after years of Toyota ownership you get lulled into never expecting issues apart from battery and alternator. Best way I've found to stop the leaks is to not put any oil in it ;-) works well for British cars too... Leaks also occur at the oil filter housing both at the front cover and where the body attaches to the engine. Best to change every oil change and don't forget the O-ring for the oil filter cartridge or it will guzzle and spew oil. Extremely unrefined engineering.

[@buildanddrive]

Sounds pretty horrifying in Australia. Maybe they don't swap components because they can't get them or it's to expensive to ship from Germany

[@onomatopoeidia]

@@buildanddriveAustralians are lazy and customer service or laws are not important to us apparently.

[@onomatopoeidia]

@@buildanddriveAustralian mechanics are simply lazy and can’t be bothered to follow maintenance rules or think they are smarter than the designers and so make their own rules. It’s no wonder Australia has no civil auto engineering industry at all anymore. Corruption and complacency ruined it…

[@devilnish8]

There is an aluminium bolt near the oil filter, that usually snaps and start leaking oil

[@buildanddrive]

Yes 👍🏼

[@bOOmbOOmProd]

About to rip out my N52 due to knocking

[@buildanddrive]

Send me a video on IG. I would be interested in hearing what it sounds like. Mine was knocking too

[@bOOmbOOmProd]

@@buildanddrive unfortunately the battery is dead and I have it wrapped up. The disa valve went into the intake, it was also leaking oil from the valve cover passenger side towards the rear corner. It will start but is knocking and down on power. All the plugs look good, took off intake all clean. Going to have to check oil pan next. Contemplating a ls v8 swap but not sure of everything I will need to make that happen. *edit the car is a 06 Z4 3.0SI Roadster

[@music_listener]

@@bOOmbOOmProd if it ate a DISA valve it likely damaged or dislodged a rocker arm, I wouldn't pull it out just yet. you may be able to put it back, it's almost certainly top-end related

[@buildanddrive]

I agree. I bought an n52 online that ate the disa valve and broke an exhaust valve on cylinder 6

[@bOOmbOOmProd]

Going to see if I can take off the valve cover and look for damage this weekend. Been battling my other car a Subaru Forester ended up being the battery causing all kinds of problems.

[@billybobbarker3175]

A leaky BMW is a normal BMW. I get suspicious of a BMW that is not leaking, as that makes me wonder what big issue had to be fixed, LoL.

[@buildanddrive]

Me too. I'm losing power steering fluid now but I know from where. It's very slow, over 6 months I loose 100ml. Lol

[@vincentcooray9269]

yo, first ✌

[@buildanddrive]

😂😂😂👍🏼

[@vincentcooray9269]

Bro, as usual a very informative and well presented video. You asked so I'll tell you. The only possible oil leak you forgot to mention was the one at the air pump on the drivers side of the engine and that sensor you forgot the name of is the crank position sensor. Looking forward to the next video bro and if your teaser is anything to go by, looks like Ms Build & Drive knows a thing or two about engines 😂 anyway bro as usual stay safe ✌

[@vincentcooray9269]

Bro, which Makita are you using and is it any good?

[@buildanddrive]

Makita dtd155 it's working well for basic stuff but it is not an impact wrench designed for removing bolts on a day to day basis.

[@kurtdahle]

Goes bad once every year? Damn do I even want to own a bmw anymore

[@buildanddrive]

Exactly. The n52b25 engine had a few bad designs that were fixed with the n52b30, so get that one

[@gooorgjooon]

Please help 🌹 Can you explain where it is the OIL PRESSURE CONTROL VALVE 11417584991 location in This engine n52

[@buildanddrive]

What is the year and model of the car? The valve says it's on the front left side of the engine.

[@gooorgjooon]

@@buildanddrive 2011 523 n52 without turbo 6 in line Can you explain the place with a picture or a short video Thank you for your interest and response 🌹🌹🌹❤️❤️

[@buildanddrive]

Send me a message on Instagram and I can send you a photo