E30 Help Needed (oil pan gasket replacement)

[Peter <f1_rennsport@xxxxxxxxx>]

Peter,
   Having done exactly the same job to replace the oil pan gasket on my
325is recently I can tell you that the job is not quick and easy, so the
quotes you got may not have been out of line. Anyway, you need to do all
these things before the pan will come off:
1) Raise the engine as much as possible. I didn't need to loosen the
motor mounts.
2) Take off the bottom part of bellhousing at the back of the oil pan (I
had to loosen the fastenings of the anti-roll bar to do this)
3) Remove all of the oil pan bolts
4) Unbolt the oil pump while it is inside the oil pan and let it drop
(carefully) into the pan. You will have about 1 inch of space on each
side because the pan drops down only about that much. TAKE CAREFUL NOTE
of how the pump comes out. It has a drive shaft that is at a funny angle
and it must go in at the same angle when you put it back. Also there are
little fiber washers at each end of this shaft and they are brittle and
easily broken (ask me how I know!).
5) Remove the oil level sending fitting inside the oil pan using a big
adjustable wrench.

Be sure to use some kind of good gasket goo to stick the new gasket on
to the pan before you try to get the pump and fitting back in. Again,
you will be working with very little space on each side of the pan, and
the gasket is very thin and easily displaced as you work. Best to let
the gasket goo set up a bit before trying to put the pan back on.

It took me all day, but it was worth it to stop those oil leaks.
Best of luck to you and your helper.
Peter Cain
London, Ontario

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