Oil leaking out of Head Gasket

[neemo55]

I'm new to the E30 world. Is it common for my E30 head gasket to be leaking oil? no weater just oil.

[jlevie]

That isn't a common problem, but isn't unknown either.

[Cabriolet]

from what I've seen, almost all e30s that haven't had their gaskets changed at 170k-mi+ all have oil seeping from the headgasket.

[BMWManiac]

Are you sure it is from the headgasket?

There are plenty of known and more common culprits....oil filter housing seals, valve cover gasket to name a few. Where is the leak?

[EyExR]

Happened to mine. You'll need a new head gasket... Hopefully you don't have coolant getting into your engine.

[Denny]

Are you sure it is from the headgasket?

There are plenty of known and more common culprits....oil filter housing seals, valve cover gasket to name a few. Where is the leak?

And to add to this.... I tough mine was leaking too and it endeup being the camshaft oil seal (this will seap down to the little headgasket tab(close to the water pump) and make it look like the gasket is leaking...

[neemo55]

No coolant in the oil. It leaks to the front

[MR 325]

Yes, it's fairly common for a headgasket to leak oil externally.

I had a car that did this for 20,000 miles before I did anything about it.

[reelizmpro]

For as long as I can remember, people have been complaining about m20 headgaskets leaking from the oil return passages. The theory is since the engine is angled towards the passenger side and the oil return passages are on that side...a leak often develops. I have even heard of some people retorquing the headbolts in an effort to get it to stop.

[neemo55]

Thanks Everybody you have been most helpfull

[EyExR]

If it's not too bad, and there's no coolant in your oil, I would just leave it alone for now.... You might consider getting a leak detection kit just to be sure it's leaking from where you suspect it is. Oil has a way of creeping around everything - especially while driving...