BMW: E36 - Oil Leak Problem

Any M52 troubleshooting gurus out there?

I have a small (a few drops a day), but annoying oil leak that is hard to
trace, so your help is VERY much appreciated.

Oil forms a patch on the left side of the engine block, a foot above the end
of the dip stick tube, and drips down from outside the oil pan. The area is
obscured by the air intake manifold and a few hoses that I would not like to
dismantle just to find the damn leak.

I had the engine steam cleaned and added some fluorescent dye to trace the
leak. That helped to exclude oil pan gasket and the dip stick tube itself
from the list of suspects.

Head gasket? (well, it's a 1996 car, but barely driven with only 60K miles,
great performance, no problems with coolant).

Any other ideas?

Thanks a lot!

That would be too easy. :-)
I can see clean alloy edge all the way from the first to the last cylinder,
right beneath the plastic valve cover.
Oil seems to be seeping somewhere below this edge, but above the "BMW" cast
in the center of the engine block, for the letters themselves are covered
with oil.

Anyway, following your advice and taking the car to another shop tomorrow...

Thanks again.

"Tim" <net> wrote in message
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