I’m working on a 2010 Mini Cooper auto as a first car for a good friend. Generally it seems pretty good but with an oil leak of course 😊.
The photo shows a nasty mess around the passenger side driveshaft diff seal which is probably throwing oil everywhere so will tackle this first. But, not sure if the seal will come out due to an interference with the rear of the engine block boss in the top right of the photos? It seems like it will prevent the seal coming out. I’m imagining I am going to have to grind away this interference before I can remove/install the seal. Seems like something pretty unusual here, am I missing something?
Thanks in advance, John

 

I think you have enough clearance to remove and and replace that seal. They obviously installed that one at the factory.

 

No, it’s a true interference. I have heard from a BMW tech that it is a 12 hour job in the dealers as they have to remove the transmission. I guess a design error. I can die grind the interference away if I do decide to replace it. Others are suggesting that it is more likely coming from above. I do see a drip which appears to be on the bottom of the heater hose which I’m looking at now.

 

Wow, how does that design engineer sleep at night. The more compact they build these things the more complicated they become to service. And yes that drip does look suspicious and hopefully the source of that is much easier to address.