E39 530i Oil Pan leaking?

[charles28 117]

I have already replaced the valve cover, oil filter housing gasket and had cleaned the bottom of the engine.

[allan 295]

Not uncommon they leak on the same side but towards the rear also. To replace the sump gasket or pressed metal gasket is a pain so make sure it is leaking from their first before you decide to proceed.

[EuroSurgeon 2]

Looks like coolant leak also? That would concern me more .

[Auzeras 28]

My M30 was leaking a bit & the gasket is pretty rotten (I have a hunch it's the original 26 year old one!) but I've slowed the leak to mild seepage by tightening down all the bolts properly. Not sure about your engine (M54?) but the M30's have something like 20 bolts on them, several were pretty loose.

Oil pans can be neglected a bit, especially when covered with road grime and oil so it's not uncommon through expansion & vibration to have the bolts back off a little. Certainly worth tightening them up a bit as opposed to replacing the whole pan gasket! In a lot of loose bolt + bad gasket cases sometimes you can get away with tightening them up and dealing with the seepage for a few years until you get such a time when other under body components need to come off you you can make a big job of it all.

With my M30 I have to raise the engine, unbolt the exhaust, disconnect power steering, remove coolant expansion tank pull out 20 something bolts drop the pan a bit, rotate engine so pan clears the crank counterweights, move it forward, rotate engine, move it forwards... then reverse with a clean pan and gasket. I hope yours is easier!