BMW E36 M3 Evo Oil leaks, and oil warning light

[08jay]

Hi,
I have recently dropped my E36 M3 evo in for it's MOT and they have found it leaking from a small bung or plug just below the exhaust manifold, has anyone experienced the same problem?
For the last week the oil warning light has also been coming on for the first 20 seconds after start up even though the oil level is fine, any MOT guys are not sure what is causing wither problem?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated,
Jay

[318is boy]

im sure that bolt you are talking about is usually just a case of replacing the copper washer. go over to e36coupe.com for a wealth of info on all things e36

[MarkwG]

Yep, just had mine done, apparently easier if the exhaust is off anyway.

[08jay]

thanks a lot, that's good news and sounds like a relatively easy thing to replace, accessing it might just be a bit difficult.
Does the oil light coming on for 20 sec on start up sound like the sensor is starting to fail ?

[Great Pretender]

[Mroad]

If the bung you are refering to is the one under the exhaust manifold right next to the bell housing then it's an oil pressure relief valve. It has an o-ring that eventually fails causing a nice leak, it happened to me. Unscrew it (large blade slot), replace the o-ring and bobs your uncle. Might explain the slow to rise oil pressure too although I never had that issue with mine.

[breezy]

As above on the oil pressure relief valve.

Oil light is probably a faulty oil sensor which is quite common. Under £100 from memory for the part but you will need to drop the oil so it might be worth waiting until the next oil service.

[CRACKIE]

breezy said:

As above on the oil pressure relief valve.

Oil light is probably a faulty oil sensor which is quite common. Under £100 from memory for the part but you will need to drop the oil so it might be worth waiting until the next oil service.