BLUF: What is the purpose of the threaded hole at the top of the oil filter housing?

Hello, I have recently done some work on my mini to include swapping out the oil cooler that I purchased about a year ago when I was having issues with the turbo water pump and didn't want to wait on separate parts Incase the water pump didn't fix my issue. Anyway, I started the car and stepped out to look around the engine bay for any anomalies and to bleed the coolant. Within 15 seconds from starting, there was a good bit of oil on the ground. I rushed to shut the car off and then searched for the source of my new leak. It was hard to pin point exactly where the leak was coming from but was definitely somewhere in the oil cooler/oil filter housing. I have been sent a replacement and threw it in today. While it was cranking, I saw exactly where the oil was coming from and I'm stumped. There's a torx bolt at the top of the oil filter housing and directly below that is a threaded hole and I'm not sure what's supposed to be there but it's where my oil is/was coming from. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I can't seem to figure out why that hole is there or why my oil is being sent through it. Thanks in advance!

 

That is the port on the N18 engine for the oil pressure sensor. If you have an N14 engine, then that is the wrong filter housing. You could maybe try plugging it, or you’ll have to get the correct filter housing.

N14
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3930

N18
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_4574

 

Apologies for the late response. You are correct about it being an N18 sensor port. I discovered that was likely the case shortly after posting and have it all sorted now. Thank you for your help!