Oil Pan

[DanMan68]

I cracked my oil pan on my new (to me) e30. Do I have to remove the steering rack to get it out?

[Hallen]

There are several techniques, and one of them involves lowering the steering rack. You'll need to give yourself some room in there one way or another.

[quickervicar]

Just pulled mine on Saturday. I lifted the engine up & it cleared. Makes getting to some of those bolts a whole lot easier, too. Trouble is, to lift the engine you must:

-remove nuts from engine mounts
-remove fan & shroud
-unplug oil-level sensor
-remove dipstick
-loosen engine harness support bracket @ rear of head
-lift engine @ front lift point
-drop pan, then loosen 3 bolts on oil pump to drop pump to allow pan to clear

If I were to do it over again it would only take a couple of hours, total. First time it took about 6. (I did thoroughly clean the pan of 25 years of crap, though)

[DanMan68]

From your experience which route is easier? Also, what are my options as far as a temporary fix?

I just bought the car actually, and drove it the 950 miles home to MI all the way from NH. Then 10 min from arriving safe and sound at my house I go and crack the oil pan on the stupid MI roads. Really bumming as it is in great shape and drives great.

Here is the for sale thread for those who are interested

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1282535

I might get a skid plate so it doesn't happen again

[DanMan68]

Is this the instructions you used?

http://content.hooddumpe30.com/diy/engine-write-ups/replacing-m20-oil-pan/

[quickervicar]

I used the Bentley, but it claims that you need to drop the rack. I decided to try it without & it worked fine for me.

[DanMan68]

Ok, the car came with a Bentley I will have to take a look. I dont have an engine lift so I might have to go with that method

[Hallen]

If you have those soft Eibach Pro springs, you may want to upgrade to some H&R's to keep from cracking your new pan.

Dropping the steering rack isn't too horrible. But you still don't have much room to work with. Use some gasket maker or silicon to hold the gasket in place when you got to put the pan back in. Getting the oil pump lined back up and tightened is a bitch. Also, you'll probably need to pull that springy tube thing to get the clearance you need. You'll see it when you drop the pan. Not a big deal at all, but it does help to get it out of the way.

[DanMan68]

I believe the springs are m3 springs

[quickervicar]

Wait...which springy-tube thing? I don't recall having one. (on the car, that is)

[DanMan68]

Here is a copy/paste of the old for sale thread showing all the mods done to it by the original owner. I just bought the car, it is my first car.


The E30 is now up FOR SALE. It has roughly 190K(the cluster was changed at 100k for one with 60K now reads 151K, its documented). It is lacksilber in color(resprayed in 04, still shines like new) has a few chips(its a driver).
Mods done to it:
Remus S/S cat-back
IX body kit w RD rear valance, Smoked Euro elips, M3 spring with Bilstien HD's.
Urethane control arr bushings,subframe bushings and rear adjustable control arm bushings.
Eibach adjustable sway bars and upper stut bar.
M3 sport mirrors
Nice stereo with Alpine CD MB Quart seperates and sub, Soundstream and JL Audio amps.

Service done: (mileage
done on current cluster)
Bavauto plugwires done at 117.9K
S/S brake lines and flush at 120K
At 122.4K- Timming belt,water pump,collent hoses,valves adjusted and distributer cap.
Fuel filter at 122.5K
New fuel tank at 123.2K
Rear brake pads, rotor and sensor at 128K
At 128.6K- rear wheel bearings and diff output seals changed diff fluid Redline 75w90. flushed brakes.
power stearing and alt belts at 142K
LT front wheel bearing at 147K (since then the ABS light comes on intermitently)
Oil changed every 3-4K with either castol H/M or Mobile 5000 and Bosh filter.

Comes with a recipe folder from me an prevous owner and Bently with my maintenance records.

Price is $5000 with stereo and $4500 with stock radio and speakers.

Pics of car before during and after new paint:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v1...24is/My%20BMW/

[Hallen]

Wait...which springy-tube thing? I don't recall having one. (on the car, that is)

It is a tube about 1" in diameter that sticks down into the pan. Out of that tube is a smaller tube that is retractable and spring loaded. That's the thing I mean. I have no idea what it does or what it is called.

It's item #20 here
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...19&hg=11&fg=10

[quickervicar]

Ah, the relief valve. Mine either stuck to the block or the pump since it caused no trouble for me.

[DanMan68]

So what are my temporary options? I already drained the oil. Can I JB weld it from the outside until I get a new pan?

[Hallen]

Ah, the relief valve. Mine either stuck to the block or the pump since it caused no trouble for me.

Well, if you get enough of a gap, it isn't a problem. If not, it will scratch up the bottom of the pan when you go to slide the pan out. It attaches to its own mounting point more aft of the pump.

You can JB weld it... but I wouldn't trust it personally. You're much better off doing it right. Think of the alternative, a major oil leak that could starve the engine of oil long enough to do serious and permanent damage.