Oil Leaking and burning in Engine Compartment

[jbriddle]

Yesterday I checked the oil on my E39 BMW 530i and saw that it was a little low so I added a half quart. I went to work and everything seemed fine but today I went to work and while coming home I saw smoke coming out of the back of my car while I was on the highway for a mile or so. After pulling over in a parking lot I opened the hood to find oil by the rear of the engine and it was smoking. I am not getting any lights or check engine warnings. Is it possible I overflowed the oil and it is just coming out? I will check the oil level later to see if it is back to normal. Did I do irrepairable damage to my car? The oil pressure is good and runs great. HELP!!!! The car has 151,000 miles on it. Runs synthetic oil and is a 2002.

Thanks,

J

[marti5]

Sounds like you over filled it, but cant understand the oil at the rear of the engine unless you have blown a gasket or seal due to the overfill and higher pressure, just keep an eye on it and see what happens, or you split some and it mad its way to the rear of the engine, only check oil and top up when car is level and stone cold.

[jbriddle]

Thanks for the help. I was having some valve tapping and checked the oil after warming it up and going to the store to buy a quart, it only sat for 10 minutes before checking it and it was just under the full mark. If I check it in a few hours and it is lower than the full level should I drive it or consider it a goner?

[marti5]

The oil level is fine if it is between the low and high marks, as for the valve tapping, this is probably caused by a lot of small journeys.

[AlpineSixAndSeven]

I dont think you did damage to it.. usually it is just the valve cover gasket leaking onto the manifold....

[ozarkmark]

Mine has done this for about 40,000 miles but I have never noticed any smoke as a result. Usually when I change the oil, the bottom and and back half is covered in oil which I wipe off. It apparently doesn't use any oil either so I surmise it is a very small leak in one of the gaskets. I have over 220,000 miles now and it runs like a champ. Just saying....

[jbriddle]

My mechanic is looking at it and he said it is the valve cover gasket that is leaking. What could cause that to happen all of the sudden or is this something that was happening slowly and I didn't catch it?

[marti5]

They just go over time, they are the most common gasket to go along with the sump gasket, so dont worry, just get it changed or leave it, its up to you.

Would I change it ??? .... Yes.