Oil filter housing
 

Well I was ordering the parts to fix my filter housing leak when I noticed in the diagram that the filter cap shows to have a spring on it. The diagram I was looking at was on realoem.com. I know mine does not have a spring on it from doing the oil changes, but up until now I was not aware there was supposed to be one. Am I looking at the diagram wrong or is there really supposed to be a spring on the inside of the filter housing cap?

Not on mine.

My car is a 1996 M44 engine

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...68&hg=11&fg=30

Guessing u have a 318ti m42.

i have never seen a spring in the oil filter housing, or on the cap..

the pic is here nes´pa?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...usm42metal.jpg

oilfilter housing with Metal top

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...m42plastic.jpg

with Plastic top..

the only thing i can see is the meshing at the top of the plastic top. This is not a service item, and cant be purchased separately.

Thanks guys I appreciate the help. That second diagram is the one I was looking at, just below the threads on the cap is what I was looking at. I got the filter housing leak fixed and was surprised at how easy it turned out to be.

Lucked out by knowing the team manager for the Classic BMW race team. He got me the quick hookup on the parts I needed. Next is the valve cover gasket.

That is good to know - I recently did the valve cover gasket, but I have to get to the filter housing next...

my 318 m44 is leaking right around the area near the block and the filter.>>> is this the gasket that you just replaced>>?

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthrea...hlight=housing

It's not just the gasket that leaks, usually it's the o-ring around the cylindrical "bushing" that becomes hard and flattened.

To answer the OP, that's not a spring. It's more of a plastic grill/shroud that sits inside the oil filter. It's attached to the cap. I'm sure everyone's already figured this out.. but if someone strolls across this thread, so they're not confused :)

oh!! man nice write up thanks for the link! looks like im going back under the hood!> nice i've recently been doing a few DIY to the car and its always very satisfing when you do something that otherwise would have cost me a pretty penny.... i took the car to a buddies shop and his co-worker quoted me close to $300+ parts to fix this leak! :mad: