Oil Leak BMW 745Li E66, 545i E60 Front Cover N62 Engine 

One of these came into my shop this morning. I had no idea about this O-ring behind the alternator bracket until today, and it took me hours of head scratching and internet surfing before figuring this out. I wish I would have found this video before I figured it out, but it's nice to at least know why the geniuses at BMW would need to lubricate the back of the alternator bracket LOL. Great videos! Keep up the good work!

I just want to thank u for taking the time to post this video I wish I would of watch it before replacing the valve cover gaskets on my 745 but after watching this it solved my problem thanks man

thanks man. fixed my leak. would have thought it was coming from the timing case seal. you saved me a heap in time and effort. would have been lost without this video.

@skiraf Ya they do. The E66 and E65 have this common problem with the n62 style engines. I had just done another one of these oil leaks on a 2005 745Li. Hope this helps you track down any leaks you might have. Thanks for watching.

Thanks for the video, I fixed mine last week on my 03, 745. It's not Easy but not impossible. No more oil leak. :)

We're glad to help, thanks for watching!

@gabieee1 Well most of the time if there is an oil leak from the front of the engine, its usually caused by that seal. I've seen dealerships try and sell front cover reseals for this leak before. I usually charge 6 shop hours for the repair, along with 2 liters of powersteering fluid and 1 quart of oil. The repair comes out to around $600.00 with tax. Hope this helps you in your quest to resolve this issue. Thanks again for watching.

Listen I’m doing this repair and the stupid coolant pipe that runs the centre of the block at the same time and it’s -40 in Alberta. In the end I say this car is still worth it. This car is so hard to replace once you drive it

@rolonte2010 If your doing this in your garage it might be hard. If you have access to a lift, you'll need a poll jack to raise the engine off the subframe to remove the drivers side engine mount bracket. For the most part you'll need basic hand tools and a set of inverted torx sockets. The steps from the top of my head is, remove lower engine mount bolts from bottom, remove engine belt, lower sway out of the way( disconnect the air lines to it also

BMW should be sued for NOT recalling these cars with all the problems they have!

I'm planing on doing this repair in my drive way

Hey, even though you posted this awhile ago, I just wanted to thank you and much appreaciate the time you took to make the video & post it. It saved me hours probably going after the wrong leak and having a #*(&@*off customer. I love the BMW's but have to scratch my head about some of the engineering. THANK YOU!

I have the same problem.my 2006 750 was getting serviced for oil leaking from the alternator bracket too.the dealer wants $2500.00 to do the job.i told them put my car back together,u are crazy.thanks for the help RU-vid

) remove powersteering pump, remove alternator ( disconnect the battery obviously ) and jack the motor up from rear of oil pan high enought to remove the engine mount bracket. Hope that helps. You might have to jack the engine up to remove the powersteering pump. Thanks for watching

great videos! I'm just getting into fixing bmws and I'm glad these videos are available because I'm thinking of opening a shop here in calexico, ca. thank you!

I have a '04 545i 65k mi. and after having the autotransmission leak fixed now have the same problem you do, valve cover leaks, timing cover leaks, and a $2k estimate to fix it. My 3rd and probably last Bimmer as their quality continues to deteriorate year after year. I usually keep them for 100k but more and more problems pop up with the latest cars of theirs that I owned new. They seem to be going backwards quality wise. Too bad, it'll be a hard act to follow driving down the road.

your the man , thank you........ you saved me a ton of diag time.......

It usually costs around $600.00 with gasket and fluids. Hope that helps

Thanks for the great video. So after I changed my oil pressure sensor and the alternator gasket and the secondary pump. My POS 745li is STILL leaking oil. WTH can it be now ? Lmk please

Coming out of the block on that 2002 745i, there's a top, round hole and a bottom, oval-shaped hole. Which one does the pressurized oil come out of, & which one carries the return of the non-pressurized oil to the oil pan ? Here's my thought: IF the pressurized oil is coming from the top, circular hole, then it could be *tapped* & a sealing bolt installed there for a permanent, superior seal. Would *never* need to be replaced -- ever. The other, oval-shaped hole would be fine with the standard $8.08 gasket (including shipping on eBay) for the oil that might slosh from the pan up against it on a hard right turn. No welding, just some aluminum shavings to clean up before reassembly. Bam. Done. Thoughts ?

More than likely you have a rear main seal leak. The only time I have seen a main oil pan leak on that motor is when it had been off before. Hope this helps Bud

My mechanic just did this job on my car a few weeks ago, but ever since he did the job my car is having a hard time turning on . I have checked the battery and it registered at 12+ V with the car off and 14+v with the car on and stayed the same when I turned the lights and ac on, but again once I turn it off it won’t restart. I wonder if he messed up some wires? Have you come across something like this. I appreciate your input and thanks for the great video

I believe my 2007 BMW 750i is having the same problem. How much would this repair be?

I have a 03, 745li with the same thing.Oil leak from the bottom somewhere.

@Briongy No worries Bud !! Just trying to help others out there. If this helped you all I ask is to hit the like button. Good luck withgetting this leak resolved

The Blue smoke can be either from the crankcase breather valves on the valve covers or you have worn out exhaust guides. The valves on the valve cover due become hard and brittle and have caused blue smoke. If those don't fix it, then you are looking a Cylinder head removal to fix. (11 12 7 547 058, Crankcase Vent Valve) That is the part number and you will need 2 of them. Hope that helps

Hi Jqahir, thanks for checking out our video. If you are local to San Diego and would like us to check out your vehicle we would be happy to do so. Feel free to check out our website for location and contact info: escondidogermanauto. com

looks like you've got a valve stem seal problem.its common for these engines. they're a great motor,but you've got to pull the heads off to replace the seals,which is expensive. having said all that, my 745li is the best car i've ever had.Goes like hell.

This hAppends to all bmw v8 engines from 02-07 I been told I just fix this on my 750 I sucks if u wait and fix it threw time one day your car will leak all the oil and u will be stuck it happend to me one morning on my way to work I'll spills all my oil so I had to get it fix and also my water pump as well that's why u leak coolant as we'll I ended spending 1.467 they have to remove your power steering pump and alternator plus new oil and coolant big job and lots if money

Is this problem only specific to the 2002 model year? Do the 2003 / 2004 and later have the same design? Thanks for the great video.

Do you still have the leak? If not did you fix it your self? I have a 2005 545i and I also have the white smoke that blows out the tail pipe after I have been sitting at a light. I also have an oil leak that looks like it could be the one in this video. I am going to replace the valve stem seals (without pulling the heads) and the valve cover gaskets and then do the oil oring seal behind the alt. bracket. I was going to do these in about 3 weeks. I will video the process.

I'm trying to fix a frustrating oil leak on an 04 Range Rover (BMW M62 engine-72K miles). After cleaning up the engine bay I discovered both valve cover gaskets were leaking from the back area. I replaced both gaskets & the bolt seals. I also replaced the oil seperator & its return hose, CCV & its oil return hose. Also replaced the front solenoid covers. The car is dry on top but continues to leak from the rear engine passenger side. Is it the rear main seal? Or upper pan gasket? Your thoughts.

Will this leak at the alternator bracket cause the alternator to go out?

Hi, I have a 06 750i and its got blue smoke coming out the muffler and its burning oil about a quart a month, how much would something like this cost to fix? Plz reply thx.

Did you use a engine hoist or floor jack to raise the engine and how long did the job take

Hi, I had some oil leaking from under my 2006 bmw 750li. It also started throwing a bunch of error codes, mainly failing the battery and all that comes with that. I had a battery replaced, then and alternator...it worked for about a month and now it is back at the dealership. They told me my battery was bad (not charging), so they replaced that, then they told me I need a new alternator, because they found out that there was aoi that leaked into the alternator and damaged it??? They also told me they have to replace all the gaskets (Alternator bracket gasket, lower oil pan gasket, upper timing case gasket, both valve cover gaskets and degrease complete engine compartment $4995.00). Is it possible that the leak was an alternator seal only and could cause an alternator to go bad? Thank you for any insight you may give me. I am just really frustrated after already putting over $2000 into in in just last month.

hey thanks for your help ..i have a 04 745li and i still cant find my oil leak from the motor can u help me out ...thkz

I'm having the exact same problem now. How much did you pay to have this repaired?

Background: I have recently acquired a beautiful, black 2002 745i & my wife & I love it. NADA valued @ almost $11K when we bought it. Bought it for $8K, so we have some fix-it financial wiggle room. It's leaking oil at a ridiculous rate, so it must be fixed wherever the leak is coming from. What about sealing this area *permanently* - as in, welding a permanent metal seal right there. Is this outright lunacy, or what ? I mean, if this is where my fast oil leak is coming from, & I have to swap this particular $5-gasket-costs-me-10+-hrs.-of-my-life, then I NEVER want to change it again - ever. Any thoughts ?

Great advice. I have a 2003 745i with a Lean code p2179 & p2177 and it causes the check engine to come on. I passed emmisions but monitors will not clear. Ive changed pcv valves, 02 sensors, Fuel cap, spark plugs & coils, MAF & all filters.. $700 later and problem still not fixed. Any advice???

How much to repair these issues

where do you get the gasket

@EscondidoGermanAuto Hi i have a 06 bmw 750i and it leaks oil also when im at a traffic light stop sign or etc.... when i step on the gas to go it blows alot of smoke and when im at the drive threw it kills my gas ans blows white smoke do u know what it could be? and wheni mean kills it lreally does my who gas gauge starts to go low quick and alot of white smoke comes out plz reply thanks

did you have to support the engine to get the bracket out?

I believe BMW can take a page from Infinity and Lexus...Heck my 4.2 v8 xjr Jaguar has 163k miles and has the orginal valve covers,no leaks etc.That bracket on this 745 where the two holes endentments are,were where the two coolant lines fed the starter on the old 740il or e38..I had two of them, 1999 ,and 2001..The older 7 series just seemed to be a lower mantenance car,and more reliable.God dont let that dreaded coolant return plenum hose leak on that 745, thats a 5k job

I really dont know, But I believe that my car has the same problem as shown on the video. My CAR ALSO LEAKS the green cooler. It leaked so fast that one day it was low and the other day it was empty. It seemed that it didn't leak from the top where the cooler tank is. It leaked from some place else. I need help. I dont have money to go get it fixed. Thats why im trying to do it myself.

Do u have a part number

which tools do i need

New better video quality and explanation

Hello,a couple of questions, first what is code p491 on the E60 BMW engines, and the hella lights, are they know to be faulty.The daytime running light doesn't work on the drivers side but the passenger sides does.I've changed the bulb with no positive results. My vehicle is a 2004 Bmw 545i

Thank for the video, but if your camera do not zoom in too close to the oject then people will see more overall picture of what's what...cheer Sorry, i know you are Mechanic not Camera Man...heheeh

how much it cost to fix this problem? i have the same problem. ;(

Does this require dropping the k frame ? And do u have the part number for this oring thanks

all i have to replace is the rubber gasket? and my cooler is also leaking. idk what that could be. my cooler level was at high thenm 2 days later, no more cooler.

@Gokidd2008 San Diego Area in California

Looking for someone to quote me on this repair in the Santa Barbara area. I'm about 1 hour north of LA.

I can't believe BMWs now days all friking fail in their stupid orings and gaskets every were , i own a 328xi and the valve cover leaks , and i just found my front diff leaking from a axle seal , just at 54k miles its a bunch of bull, ( valve cover seal started at 39k). i used to own a 1987 325es i had 280k on it, i put 210k miself and i sold the car runnig good still ,I highly doubt i will make it to that on this one, sorry but this will be my last Bimmer.

jajajaja. You are not going to find many cars better than a 7 series e65 for the money .

@Gokidd2008 Shop # 760-741-3905 and my name is Dustie also

I GOT 2005 545I THAT ENGINE LEAKS IOL ALL OVER PLUS IT PUFS OUT A BLUE SMOKE SOMETIMES THE WORST ENGINE EVER BUILT BY BME 545I AND 550I PIECE OF SHIT ENGINE

I own a 2006 750 Li and these cars are garbage