Hi,

Not sure if this will help or even if it's relevant to your situation, but several weeks ago, blinding smoke from burning oil started blowing through my heat vents in my '02 X5 3.0i. I had it towed to the dealership immediately. Although I'm not exactly clear on the mechanics of how or why, they told me that because of the unusually cold weather here in Maryland, a defect in the design of the valve cover caused the cover to crack. BMW has acknowledged this as a problem, and came up with a new design for the cover. Unfortunately, there is a huge backorder for this newly-designed part and I have yet to get my X5 back. Thank goodnes it's still under warranty. Not only is BMW going to take care of the repairs, but they are still footing the bill for my rental, just waiting for the part to come in. Apparently, there are other X5's in their lot waiting for the same part.

S-X5