Well...did something stupid today.

[elbrack]

Went around a turn too fast, spun out, and hit a curb. Knocked my lip off and cracked my oil pan. Haven't been able to look at it yet, since I had to be at work. Hoping that it's only the lower pan. Looks liked it got the corner of the pan from what I saw.

This is a pretty straight forward job though correct? Pull the pan, replace gasket, bolt pan back up.

Anyways I'll be going a bit slower :-D

[econti]

Cracking a pan is up there on my list of shit I don't want to happen.
Is it easy to get a steel pan made up? Or make it myself?

[elbrack]

Cracking a pan is up there on my list of shit I don't want to happen.
Is it easy to get a steel pan made up? Or make it myself?

Just buy a new one. You can get them for under 100 dollars these days unless you're buying BMW OEM.

[Roysneon]

I swear I saw new lower pans for sale for like $20-$40 before.

[elbrack]

I swear I saw new lower pans for sale for like $20-$40 before.

I've seen a few for about 50 bucks. Just praying that it is the only thing I need to repair. :-D

[kwill22]

Yea $50 is the cheapest usable one I've seen.

I remember the first time I spent out in my E30. Did it on a long sweeping off ramp that suddenly got sharper in the wet with crap tires. And to make it worse I lifted instead of controlling the small slide and just sent my rear end on around. Luckily i had a lot of grass. I had to slowly pull the brake to keep from sliding backwards into a pond. No damage though. Drove right out and back onto the road with mud everywhere. That was the first and Last time I lifted. Lol

[econti]

Just buy a new one. You can get them for under 100 dollars these days unless you're buying BMW OEM.

But if you hit it again it'll just crack again. I heard someone say that a steel one won't crack nearly as badly.

[diamonddonbmw]

But..... If the steel one won't crack as badly doesn't that risk damage to aluminum parts above it that might be more costly to replace? Just wondering.

[MPLFoster]

Steel pans tend to dent rather than crack. they'll absorb the impact and transmit less force into other parts. just depends on how hard you hit something with the pan.

best just to replace it with an OEM pan and drive carefully.

[jntar]

Personally a skid plate and stock pan seems like a better idea than a custom steel pan.

[elbrack]

Yea, I was looking at the skid plate today and saw 250 bucks for one. YIKES! I'll be driving a bit more carefully after this. Ordered the part. Will probably get around to pulling the pan this weekend. Hoping for no further damage.

[elbrack]

Anybody know the torque specs on the oil pan bolts? I looked in Bentley, but it wasn't specific about the lower oil pan. I got the car running again on just about a turn or so after handtight.

2 bolts decided they wanted to spin around a bit. One stays sorta tight. Not sure why though. Didn't overtorque for sure.

[jntar]

10nm for stock bolts. I have upgraded bolts from fastenal and used 12nm.

[elbrack]

10nm for stock bolts. I have upgraded bolts from fastenal and used 12nm.

Nice. I'll torque em down before I put the splash guard back on. Thanks.

[brianf408]

The skid plate is well worth it. I would have broken my pan again the day after I replaced it if I hadn't put a skid plate on. Sometimes you just can't avoid debris in the road, best to spend a few bucks and protect the engine.