E30 Zone

I have now tracked down my oil leak to the oil pressure relief valve on the oil filter housing. Does anyone know what bits I need to replace this (on a 1990 325 Cab) as it seems to be the whole filter housing. Also where would be the best place to get the parts to do this?

Firstly, it's the thermostat for the oil cooler, not a PRV, and it's one of BMW's few design faults.
A small kit of parts (IIRC, around £4) is required from your dealer (or ours , on here!), to provide a permanent cure.

That's good to know, any chance of a shopping list or a link as this would be a good opportunity for me to try ordering some parts through the zone links?

Real OEM will provide the part numbers. This is the link for my car (89 325i) so if yours is different it might require different parts. http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=30

i had this problem with mine too. Undo the pipes going to the oil cooler at the actual housing (i found this the hardest part as you need a thin spanner not a chuncky adjustable although it is possible with one) then undo the main bolt on the side of the oil filter housing thus freeing it from block. Remove the housing and on one side there is a seal that you need to replace, this is the part that normally leaks. This is the side that mates to the block. Also you can replace the c clip and top of a theromstat type object, this can be a PITA as you need to compress a spring while trying to get the new c clip in on the new top, i.e sandwich it all together. I used the handle end of a small hammer to compress the top thus compressing the spring while a mate compressed the c-clip with some long nosed plyers. The part is pretty cheap and took me about a hour and half because i couldn't free the housing! I also did this while the engine was drained off oil, not sure if this makes a difference??? Give the housing a good clean up too.

Re OEM part numbers i replaced parts 2 and 7 but please bear in mind this is for a 2 door coupe 325i

Courtesy of advice from Cotswold BMW I have now ordered the gasket kit and just need to book myself an afternoon to do the work. Thanks again for the advice, aprticualaly the link to the diagram which was spot on.

I also order it today from Coswold!