[motornut]

Originally Posted by BMERDOC

Ok. Heres how I find a leak and when it comes to an oil leak I CANNOT fail. I'm not allowed to. Since you arent a neighbor and we are starting from square one I'm gonna take the hard core route to help you. It may be overkill but you WILL find the leak.

Here we go: Spray the offending area down with a quick drying brake cleaner. We use Wurth in 55gal drums so I am unfamiliar with off-the-shelf quick drying products. Next, go to NAPA and get a vial of oil leak detector. Grab a set of UV (yellow) glasses and a black light and let the truck idle. Check for leaks with you Superhero gear and you should find it. If you don't, then drive it around the block and recheck. If you still dont find it drive around the block again and recheck. If you STILL dont find it drive a little further and recheck until you do.

Ok. Now that I got the super intense method out of the way lets go to a simpler method. I have heard of using baby powder and other home spun methods of tracing oil leaks but the only real way is to have the offending area squeaky clean and only run it enough to cause the leak. You can't clean it, drive it for a week and recheck because it just will not work. Clean it, let it idle and check it. If that doesnt work drive it longer distances until it does. NAPA and perhaps some other parts stores sell the tracer dye but you DO have to have the glasses and light to see it. Most times you don't need those tools

I wasn't kidding when I said I cannot fail when I have to find a leak. My tried and true method is to be very methodical when it comes to finding a leak. My timne is money and I can't waste time. Make sure the area is CLEAN and only do enough to make it leak. BTW, from a professional stand point, you should talk to Aamco about recouping at least some of your money. They are a franchise and you could go over their heads. That is a lot of money to shell out,even in BMW standards, and not be successful. It would be fair to give them one more shot WITHOUT recieving a bill. Other than than you should require some sort of refund.

Hope I helped and I hope you end up with a dry engine!

I did have to get mine looked at cause of one and this is where it was
the spray stuff and glasses found it
epoxy fixed it