These are quick little steepshot photo updates for everything. I'll do a collective journal of everything at the end so it's a nice neat little package for everyone to see.
Here is the back of the engine without the transmission. What were looking at here is a cover plate for the rear main seal, which is designed to keep the oil from spilling out. In addition to the rear main seal, is the crank shaft bushing, which is the red rubber circle that we see.
This should of been obvious to me, but removal of the rear main seal cover plate would cause oil to come pouring out and that's exactly what happened. See the first photo at the lower right corner of the engine, and you'll see an oil like molasses. That's how long the oils been in there!
The next problem to deal with is restoring the seal of the oil pan. In most cars. The oil pan is not affected by the rear main seal replacement. It just so happens that the bmw e30 has a setup that does. So what do we have to do? Remove the oil pan!
In the second photo, you can see the sludge that's built up in the bottom of my oil pan. Now you get to see first hand what sludge is and how it cakes itself around everything. Sludge can be prevented by using good oil and frequent changes! After this, I need to clean the mating surfaces and and install new gaskets/bushings/sealants!