A few days ago I realized that my engine floor isn't as bone dry as it use to be before (as far as my memory goes).

Upon close inspection found that the the pipe which is just below AC pipe is having some traces of oil on this (this is e60 535d). This pipe is on the front left hand side if you have opened the bonnet and looking at the engine from front bumper.

I it quite difficult to even reach the pipes by hand due to the very narrow spece left between front end of the engine and the radiator fan. Don't know what the pipe is for or if this leak has been happening all the time as I never opened the hood to check engine before. As far my memory goes when I bought this car it was dry but again this was years ago so don't remember 100%. Few pics attached here to give you some idea what pipe I am taking about:

Also as you can see in this picture there is a leak on the power steering resorvior. Not sure if this could be due to pressure buildup because of constant steering (slight) correction I have to make to keep car straight.

One obvious thing I can think immediately that my car is always parked downhill (5% ish) on my driveway earlier I use to park it outside on the street (one side wheel on the kerb) but then got my driveway clear and have been parking there since long time nowand only drive during the weekend (mostly). First obvious thing to do is to wipe all the oils I can and start parking outside again for a week or so and see if leak disappears; bad luck if it doesn't. Also it will be very difficult to wife the engine pipe, its not reachable, even SLR digital camera had difficulty taking picture from right angle.

How serious is this, anyone experiened it before, specially the pipe leak below AC hose, what exactly is that pipe for? Please advise.

I can't see the pictures at my work pc but...

It could be power steering fluid as there is a cooler for this circuit.
It could be engine oil as there is a cooler for this.
It could be automatic transmission fluid as again you have a cooler for this too.

With the engine water radiator and the air con matrix it makes the front end of any serious car a complex and as you've found out cramped existance.

Don't worry about the power steering weep around the lid of the reservior.  Mine does this, my previous E60 did this as did my E39.  It is a very small weep.  Just check the level regularly.  None of the cars that dribble around the power steering reserviour have ever lost any noticeable fluid that I have had to top up.

I would get it checked by a garage.  If it is automatic transmission fluid you have no way of checking the level so you don't want to be pumping the gearbox dry!  Atleast if it is power steering fluid or engine oil level you can check these with the dipsticks.  The power steering cap has an in built dipstick.

You need to take the car to a different decent body shop to sort out your tracking/suspension issue as you haven't got this fixed 100% going by a recent post.

afsar wrote: Can you please suggest one in London (west) or nearby locality. Don't want to learn how good the garage is by experiment just a tried and tested one will help.

Sorry bud I live on the correct side of the border.  I was going to suggest that you try posting in the http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_topics.asp?FID=16&PN=1 - South East part of this forum but the last post was in June 2009......

afsar wrote: Btw. is there a way to test turbos for normal operation?

I think so, it would need hooked up to a diagnostic machine and then driven.  You won't like this but BMW would be able to do this as would any independant diesel engine specialist.  There is bound to be some in your part of the world.  Try looking in the yellow pages then google the name of the garage to see if it throws up comments on a forum.

afsar wrote: I believe you drive 535d, don't you? do you see this kind of surge in power past 2k revs?

Um no I definitley don't drive a diesel....sorry.

The £72 will be a standard charge for 'having a look at it' this will be 1 hours labour.  Its a standard enough thing across most garages, it's just the price of motoring.

I would agree with Sporty1.  If they fixed something and it fails within whatever time frame is stated in the small print on the reverse of your invoice, they should be liable for re-fixing it.

Sporty1 wrote: ETA County court route??? For what? You need to give them the opportunity to fix the car, you cannot just take it somewhere else and then issue court porceedings. You will lose.

Exactly. You have to give them a reasonable chance to fix the car before you have any grounds to complain.

As Sporty says, agree to pay for the diagnosis if they find the problem is not connected to the part they replaced under warranty.

Another route of information might be to BMW UK to find out their view on who should pay for the diagnosis in the event that the fault is with a bit replaced under warranty?

If they say anything other than the dealer then sell the car and move to another marque  

Spoke to my dealership today to findout what parts where replaced under warranty when I reported turbo boost problem last year and they happily gave these two parts numbers:

11.74.7.797.129 and 11.65.7.796.857, basically item number 10 and 15 from the picture below

I am not sure where these pipes are located and whats condition of those ones, as far as I could see it was just the big red pipe (part number as given by Sporty1 above, big thanks for that mate) which is leaking.

I spoke to an independent BMW specialist called Phil from CPCPE and he told me that oil leak from the red pipe and so much lack of turbo boost at low rev may not be related. He continued saying this is very common issue with x35d twin turbo engines where a few blocked pipes can cause the low rev power loss. He quoted me £300 (parts and labour, parts he said is just around £20) to get a few turbo related hoses replaced. Phil said he has seen this problem before and fixed it this way. Regarding oil leak he said it is normal but without seeing it he can't say anything. A split or badly damaged red pipe, he said will cause total powerloss (you car won't go above 60 or so) and there won't be any performance at all. He reckons that your small turbo would be fine (big relief) and little bit of wetness near red pipe is normal.

I will get it fixed whichever way in next two weeks hopefully.

Did I say that my MPG has dropped gradually in past months, it has been above 35 (London traffic condition most of the time) and but currently it is just above 31. Maybe I am testing turbo's too much.

Today I managed to get a glimpse of leak as car was lifted up for wheel caster problem repair at a bodyshop. Here is how bad it looks:

Oil all over the place on the tray.

Btw. I read on forums that you can replace this with better silicon pipes which are a bit better than the BMWs. Do you guys know where to get them from.

All set to get this sorted coming weekend or next week.

Having read 'a lot' of forum I have got some idea about this problem BUT this (I mean oil leak from the red hose) would not cause lower rev turbo problem; however if the hose is split (totally gone) then the car will be undrivable and would hardly go above 60mph.

Getting this leak sorted is necessery but looks like I have more then one problem. I will fix this one first this weekend and see what difference it makes and then move on to the next bit.

According to the various thread floating on various forum small turbo problem could be a) Stuck actuator b) Non-functional valve c) Vaccum hose pipe(s)

Want to get this fixed before my europe trip starting coming long weekend.

Today I managed to replace the seals on both the side of http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E60N/Sedan/Europe/535d-M57N2/RHD/N/2007/may/browse/engine/intake_manifold_supercharg_air_duct_agr/#01 - this pipe. It was moderately difficult DIY for me. I think this is must for all 335d and 535d owners to check their intercooler hose and replace the seals (or hose if hose is split) because so many of these bi-turbo engine suffer from leaky hose problem. It should have been a recall ideally. http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=47681&PN=1 - Here is the link for the DIY I have posted. All you need is a ramp so that you can reach the pipe from under the car and most tricky bit is to remove the top (turbo connection) end of the hose which took most of the time for me, otherwise it was all simple.

Drove the car for appx. 10 miles after finishing http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=47681&PN=1 - DIY and it 'seemed' turbo lag isn't there anymore; or atleast has reduced quite a lot. I can't confirm this 100% yet as it could be just in my mind; I will drive it for some more time and then report back. No oil leaking yet but it is too soon to conclude.

If this leak continues there isn't any option left but to change the whole pipe, there is no way any other (aftermarket or silicone) pipe will fit replacing this one unless heavily modded which IMO isn't worth it because of too much work involed. Biggest problem is reaching those hose end, intercooler side is easily reachable from underside but top end is bit difficult but still doable that too only from underside. Not worth doing if you haven't got a ramp.

Btw. gave a visit to halfords today and saw a http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_241361_langId_-1_categoryId_165727 - lifting kit for £45, not a bad deal considering just the ramp doesn't come less then £20-25 on its own. I am not sure on the quality though. I didn't use this as I had a ramp but if I didn't I would bought this.

Noticed one of the hose towards actuator is tightened by a cable tie! Not sure what kind of hose is this, it is wrapped in some sort of foil paper and it turns metallic and connected to the exhaust:

Is this how it is suppose to be?