What part of a car is this? (BMW 323i Wagon)

[arachnyd]

My uncle has a 250k miles 323i. I'm asking on this e90 forum because I have an e90 and so this is the forum I belong to.

He's about to drive home to Florida (1,122 miles) and he is leaking fluid on my driveway. I wanted to know if this is something he should have looked at before he drives home.

Here's the leak- its right behind the front wheel. Is that the rear main seal leaking oil? or is that part of the tranny?

Thanks!


Here's where the leak appears to be coming from:

Picture uploaded to imageshack with the One4um.com application - All your forum's content merged into one4um

Here is a picture zoomed out. The above image is right behind that black support bar:

Picture uploaded to imageshack with the One4um.com application - All your forum's content merged into one4um

[Meeni]

You have found no oil higher up on the engine, have you ? All oil leaks eventually end-up dripping from that area.

If the top of the engine is clean, It looks like an oil pan gasket or a rear main seal. Both can be driven, as far as you do not spill all your oil in a single day that is.

[arachnyd]

Great thanks! I really appreciate it. Thats what I thought, so I'll let him drive home tomorrow and tell him to keep his eye on the oil. Thanks!