[mazez]

Just bought my first bimmer. 06 330i black on black, premium, cold weather and sport package, has 105k, got my rear main seal replaced and was getting the oil pan gasket fixed but there was a bolt in the pan is this something thats common with the n52? what should i do? I'm thinking of selling the car. already spent a lot of money on it its only been a week since I've had it.

[kiel_dafo_kenyg_as]

Wow! What size is the bolt? Maybe it was laying in the pan right from the very first time? Even BMW workers are only humans...

Bolts in the oil pan remind me of M60 and the first production code M62 engines which were prone to have lose bolts on the oil pump mount. No big deal there. Just had to check them from time to time.

[romanonj]

Post a pic.. May be broken head bolt that is common with certain n52s..

[romanonj]

Btw with that mileage expect to replace the following:

1. Rear main seal
2. Valve cover gasket
3. Water pump
4. Valvetronic sensor (do it same time u replacing valve cover gasket)
5. Starter
6. Cooling hoses

U already took care of rear diff leaks and oil pan, which are common problems with that mileage. Unless u do these yourself, I would recommend selling the car. U looking at 6-7gs worth of dealer work for these items.

[GMWNashville]

Head bolts likely...there are 4 aluminum ones in the front of the head.

[SpeedBuggy]

Was it a whole bolt or just the head of a broken one? If it is just the head of a bolt, then it probably a Broken Head Bolt, that's where they found the one that broke on our 325i. Give a search in the forums here, sure you will find others with the same issue, seems that this may be a problem on some early build e90's

If I remember correctly, the one that broke on ours was at the front and fell down what I believe was the oil return and straight down into the pan. Had it in for the Oil Filter Housing Gasket and Valve Cover Gasket leaks when the mechanic found a broken head bolt.

Needless to say along with the repairs for the gasket repairs, there was the additional repair for new Head Bolts. On the positive side, no damage done to the motor.

Check your Oil Filter Housing Gasket (OFHG) and Valve Cover Gasket (VCG) they may need replaced and would be a good time to repair if you do the head bolt repair.

[mazez]

Thanks guys it ended up being the head bolts nothing else was damaged thankfully so far have done the rear main seal oil pan gasket valve cover gasket window regulator spark plugs coolant hose, cost me $1500 labor so far which is what BMW wanted for just the oil pan gasket. Still need to figure out why my hids flicker, and why I'm getting taillight malfunction. They are aftermarket.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by romanonj

Btw with that mileage expect to replace the following:

1. Rear main seal
2. Valve cover gasket
3. Water pump
4. Valvetronic sensor (do it same time u replacing valve cover gasket)
5. Starter
6. Cooling hoses

U already took care of rear diff leaks and oil pan, which are common problems with that mileage. Unless u do these yourself, I would recommend selling the car. U looking at 6-7gs worth of dealer work for these items.

I did my coolant hoses at 231K, and they were in perfect shape.

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I did my coolant hoses at 231K, and they were in perfect shape.

Came in to say the same thing

[scotty_miller]

Don't be intimidated by the nonsense of people saying sell the car. Half the people that say that don't man up to expenses and would rather avoid the problem then face it head on. I loved my e90 330 the thing was bullet proof. It is a higher mileage 330 and parts will wear, that's the nature of owning a higher mileage car. If you search here on the board you'll see a ton of 330s or n52s with a 100k + just get those things taken care of and the car will repay you.

[Volasko]

Does the after market lights only flicker upon start up then stop? If so that is because your aftermarket lights are LED's without proper resistors on them. The flickering you are seeing the car scanning the bulbs for faults. You can get rid of the checks if you do some coding.

[romanonj]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I did my coolant hoses at 231K, and they were in perfect shape.

Hoses were perfectly fine, plastic connectors is what cracked on mine at 122k during cold months last year... Expansion tank, and the T connect at the top of the radiator needed to be replaced.

[Meeni]

Plastic parts and hoses age with years, not mileage.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Meeni

Plastic parts and hoses age with years, not mileage.

Somewhat disagree. I would add heat cycling as part of the aging process. My car was over 7.5 years old at the time and was at 236K, which is a lot of heat cycles. The plastic connectors were all in good shape too. I think the hoses in these cars are quite robust. The rubber materials/compounds used in modern coolant hoses makes them almost a lifetime part for most owners. A complete hose set is near $500 including the heater hoses.

[mazez]

they just randomly flicker, cut on and off and especially when i hit a bump. I bought some new bulbs to see if that would solve the problem. I saved myself about 8 grand in labor by not going to the dealer, they got some outrageous prices.