Oil filter housing removal DIY?

Hello everyone. Finally took sometime to try to find the engine leak. From using fiber optic camera and some observation seems like the oil filter housing has a leak from underneath. Most likely its a gasket.

Is there any DIY on how to remove it and replace an oil filter housing gasket?

Please help

Hello everyone. Finally took sometime to try to find the engine leak. From using fiber optic camera and some observation seems like the oil filter housing has a leak from underneath. Most likely its a gasket.

Is there any DIY on how to remove it and replace an oil filter housing gasket?

Please help

I had the same problem about a year ago and finally got it done. I took some pictures so let me see if I can find it and I'll post them here.
I remember having to remove a lot of things out of the way to get to it.
Remove fan, intake box, coolant hoses, reservoir, water pump, all belts, power steering pump (just the main bracket then move to the Side).
On the housing itself, one of the bolts is in a very tight space between the block and the crankshaft balancing rubber disk.
It's a $10 gasket but a ton of work to get to it so you might as well replace all belts, water pump gasket, thermostat. Or at least inspect the water pump since it will be out.

Found the pictures, one of them you can see the gasket stuck to the block after I removed the oil filter housing.

cmtemauricio wrote

Found the pictures, one of them you can see the gasket stuck to the block after I removed the oil filter housing.

Thank you so much. I heard by manual u have to remove harmonic balancer damper but seems like you didnt do it so u just saved me lots of time. I will go ahead and start on it Friday! Thank you again!!!!

cmtemauricio seems to have had less trouble getting it done than ThatWhiteM3:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21428167#post21428167

The above pictures and the recipe on TIS/AllData look really straightforward to me (aside from having to remove the harmonic balancer).

I asked some of the local shops what they would charge to do the job so that I don't have to deal with it (I can see the oil seeping from the metal-metal joint).

I was told about 3 hours by one independent shop (says that this is a rare failure item that they have not seen on this engine and didn't have a book time for it).

The other independent shop says it is a pain in the tail and needs 8 hours to do the job.

I guess I need to call one ore two more to get a consensus. It's not worth doing it myself if it is more like 8 hours but I could probably handle 3 hours.

Did you use a custom T30 Torx bit or tool to get that one bolt out that is behind the crank shaft balancer? Or atleast, how did you get that one bolt out?

I have not done the job yet. Would something like this work?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GearWrench-1-4-in-Drive-Micro-Driver-and-Socket-Set-35-Piece-85035/204621228?mtc=Shopping-VF-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_9_PORTABLE_POWER-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-PortPower_HandTools_PLA_Q4Addition&cm_mmc=Shopping-VF-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_9_PORTABLE_POWER-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-PortPower_HandTools_PLA_Q4Addition-71700000061497838-58700005549596259-92700050715030199&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImYzOopCQ5wIVGJSzCh3lzAddEAQYFyABEgJTDfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

There's about 13/16" between the head of that bolt and the balancer. Most of those torx bits are about 1" long. I could cut one down, but using that tool kit means that special wrench has to fit, and there's no specs on the dimensions sizes.

Figured it out. Took the T30 torch bit, cut down to about 1/2” long, then taped it in the end of a 1/4” wrench. Broke the bolt loose and everyone is happy!!

aakrusen wrote

Figured it out. Took the T30 torch bit, cut down to about 1/2” long, then taped it in the end of a 1/4” wrench. Broke the bolt loose and everyone is happy!!

Smart!

I ended up removing the harmonic balancer and replacing all of the bolts as I could not get my T30 to fit.

aakrusen wrote

Figured it out. Took the T30 torch bit, cut down to about 1/2” long, then taped it in the end of a 1/4” wrench. Broke the bolt loose and everyone is happy!!

Sorry I'm just now seeing this. That's exactly what I had to do almost exactly a year ago. Grind that sucker down and then used a vise grip to hold it in place and it came out. For some reason putting it back in proved more difficult.

Great job!

Put it back together this morning. Used that same box-end wrench with the cut down torx bit taped in the end, took my time and she's tight!

Sorry guys I haven't been keeping up with the forum as I moved on to an F13 M6.
Now I remember inserting a short bit and then clamping down on it with pressure pliers to turn that bolt. That's all I had at that time that would fit in that space. As soon as you break it loose then you can take it out by hand.
Hope this helps

I am about to do this job.

I cut a torx 30 bit in half. And will use the 1/4 to break it loose.

My question is. Are all the bolts torx 30? Some seem bigger from the bmw instructions that I read.

I don’t recall the sizes, but there were two different Torx bits I used. Also, you only have to use that cut but on one bolt, the rest you will be able to get to.
I traced the gasket onto a piece of cardboard so I could put each fastener in the relative location from where I removed it. This is because of the two different torx head bolts and different lengths of bolts. I believe there were nine total bolts.

aakrusen wrote

Put it back together this morning. Used that same box-end wrench with the cut down torx bit taped in the end, took my time and she's tight!

Can you post a pic of the tire bit and wrench set up?

You can see that the overall length is about 5/8", and there's only about 3/4" space between the head of the bolt and the back of the crank shaft balancer. Once you break it loose, you can unthread it with you fingers. The bolt won't come all the way out of the hole in the oil cooler housing, but it will be completely unthreaded from the block. When putting the oil cooler housing back in, make sure you do this bolt first.




edit: fixed the pic links.

Thanks for the pics.

Did you suck any oil out of the housing? Or drain oil before doing this?

How big was the mess? Can I avoid it by putting a big towel under it?

I did not drain the oil as all the oil you would drain from the motor is already sitting in the pan. There is a little oil in the housing and some in the oil cooler lines. I put an oil drain basin under the motor below the this part of the block when I removed the cooler, but it wasn’t much. When it was all done, the ECU didn’t even show a drop in oil level, that’s how little you will lose.
Be mindful of the oil in the cooler lines, just keep them up in the air after removal from the housing.
When pulling the housing, the gasket may stick to the block, this is fine, just peel it off and thoroughly clean the surface. The new gasket will fit in the grooves of the housing, no need for RTV, it will stay in place.

bmwpower603 wrote

I am about to do this job.

I cut a torx 30 bit in half. And will use the 1/4 to break it loose.

My question is. Are all the bolts torx 30? Some seem bigger from the bmw instructions that I read.

Here's a pic from TIS. Shows there are different sized Torx screws

What this also shows is that the WP doesn’t need to be removed. Just the WP pulley needs to be removed. (Less mess)

Hey guys,, thanks for the pics and high level. This job wasn't too bad, but I accidentally broke a few minor thing.

However, when I was trying to clean all of the oil and grime out from the engine bay I accidentally sprayed some non-chlorinated brake cleaner around the the engine block's interface with the oil filter housing. I was in a rush and only plugged the center hole in the pic below and completely forgot to plug the other two holes or ports (one left and one right) as seen in the linked image. Does anyone know if it is a big deal having a little bit of non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner in the oil ports? Will damage the engine? I'm assuming no big deal, but just was wondering!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n9qzxrpo9xrq8bc/20200615_010744.jpg?dl=0