[f0xfire021]

I went to change my oil yesterday, and while I was under the car, I noticed that some parts appeared to have been coated in oil of some sort (prior to actually changing anything myself). I'm assuming it's motor oil given the color. It was relatively crusted over, and I've never had any oil drops in the garage, so either it's slowly leaking or left from a previous change that someone else did.

Attached are a couple of (crappy phone) photos. I'm curious if someone can tell me:

1) Could oil have gotten here during a previous oil change by spilling out onto the reinforcement plate?

2) What part am I looking at here, that sits right above the reinforcement plate and is coated in oil?

Thanks for any and all insight.

[kostadinov]

remove the plastic covers and brace yourself for a surprise....
I am dealing with this stuff myself...
Might be an oil pan gasket, oil spill from previous oil change, main seal..or who knows what else.....

[raceyBMW]

Could be oil, could be power steering fluid. You will have to take the plastic under trays off to chase it down.

[f0xfire021]

Thanks guys. I haven't pulled off all the plastic panels yet, but when I went to change my oil checked around again. The whole lower brace / subframe appears to have been coated with oil at some point, and given the amount of it and consistency of its application I'm guessing it was spilled (guessing and hoping really). I also checked for leaks after changing out my oil and didn't see anything, certainly not enough to show up on the garage floor. Thanks again. I'll post back up if I find out differently...