Well after about a month I got my car back from my mechanic with a larger oil leak than it went in with. I think the OFHG went bad and after ~100 miles the entire rear of my car is covered in a thin layer of atomized oil. I ordered a new gasket and have watched the modmini video. What's the total expected time for this, though? Modmini makes everything look so simple. Also - what's the successful completion percentage? On my e46 I had to do the job twice, as did several other people, because the gasket failed to seat correctly and pinched and failed. Is that common on the r53?

 

Is yours a 6-speed? If so, good luck. I am in the midst of this project and without a lift it is very difficult to remove the oil cooler and the oil filter housing.

 

Yep. The one thing I enjoyed was that modmini didn't remove the whole cooler. It more or less stayed in place and he just swapped the gasket real quick and went straight back on. I'd have likely tried to pull everything off because that's jus what ya do. Still not looking forward to it.

 

I did mine when I changed out a failed oil cooler. Because of this, I was able to separate the entire oil housing assembly into its three smaller components; filter cap, housing and cooler. After unbolting, I removed all parts through the passenger wheel well. You're going to need to remove a couple heat shields above in order to get to the top bolt. You need to work by feel a little bit, so I recommend purchasing a magnetized 13mm socket, especially for reassembly.

It's a fiddly job, but not crazy difficult. Don't rush it and be patient. Probably took me about an hour and a half when I did mine.

I'd strongly recommend that you also replace the two oil cooler o-rings as well here, as they are very prone to leakage and are most likely also contributing to the oil you're seeing. Don't over-torque when replacing the four bolts (12nm, 8.8ft./lbs.). Also very important is to not over-torque the bolts for the housing to the block (25nm, 18.5 ft./lbs.), as that will overcompress the very thin rubber gasket which will leak prematurely.

 

I thought you needed to remove the axle to get everything out? Interesting. You pulled everything apart, including the oil cooler in ~90 minutes? That's great to hear. It means it'll take me probably 2.5 hours! Totally doable.

I guess it was a pretty stupid brain fart, but I didn't think oil actually left the filter housing to enter the oil cooler. I just ordered those gaskets to the tune of $22. I got another $20 that says in pulling everything apart the oil cooler fails, too.