X5 oil leak : sprays oil onto the body !

[Scotty]

Guys,

I have a curious X5 problem to report from my friendly fleet (FF) of 4.4 TiAg X5.
(one is Scotty, others are very close buddies. Group hug photo attached)

So one of the FF is, right now, in a very remote ranch in central California. By remote, I mean, remote ! No cell. No email.
Nearest dealer, oh, gee, 250 miles !

Well, the problem is summarized as :

- 'bing', computer reports add oil
- we add oil, noting the dipstick is below minimum and that the right side of the engine bay is clearly covered with what looks like a mist of sprayed oil droplets
- the outside, bodywork, on the right side, also has an obvious splattering of oil (how odd !)
- recent long journey at decent speed (i.e. plenty of wind to spray oil down the outside
- the sprayed fluid most definitely looks like engine oil, this agrees with the disappearing oil and the computer 'add oil' warning

This is a 2002/2003 X5 4.4i, non-sport, ride height adjustment.

Problem :
- what is the fault ?

Situation :
- right now the poorly X5 is at a very remote location, we are sending synthetic oil (not available locally) so that this X can hopefully get to a dealer with top ups en-route
- can we identify likely leaking hoses and send a replacement hose to a local 'basic' mechanic ??

Hey X5World, whats up with this X ?

Scotty.

[klnteg]

Their should be a hose going from the intake manifold to the top of the valve cover it is called (positive crankcase ventalation) (PCV Alias) This tube/hose what ever you want to call it, may have split or come loose. Maybe valve cover gasket?

[lo_jack]

If the seperator fails you can push oil past your gaskets, out the dipstick, or various other places. It is the heart of afforementioned crankcase vent system. I would check for obvious leaks first, but that is my guess.

The problem is that those hoses are not supposed to have that kind of oil volume in them, so simply replacing the hoses is *probably* not going to fix this. Those hoses conduct blowby and residue but are not supposed to get gobs of oil like you are describing.

You may need to take the sheilds off the bottom and get under there to see if there are other leaks, beyond your weird splattering. I would suspect there would be with the amout of oil loss you are relating.

[BimmerDude]

Sounds like an oil separator problem. I had this happen to me this past winter. Same symptoms. I don't know if you can drive the X anywhere in this condition. You might want to get it towed. I got mine towed to BMW, I know you are no where near a dealer, but you said you have a local mechanic. See if you can tow it to him and get the oil sep. fixed there. It seems its your only choice. Good Luck...

[lo_jack]

I am not familiar with the V8, but I got all the parts to replace the entire seperator system for about $250 on my 3.0l and did it myself in 90 minutes. So if transporting the vehicle to a shop is a problem, it is probably possible to do this yourself, FYI.

[Scotty]

I wanted to close out this thread with an explanation for future reference.

The X in question was towed to the nearest dealer (120 miles +). The dealer discovered a minor leak from the right valve cover gasket. This wasnt the cause of the large oil 'spray' leak.

The slow leak from the gasket had caused the X5 to report, 'add engine oil'. This was duly done, but the oil filler cap was (deliberately) not fully tightened. Its kinda tough to remove when fully tightened. Well, it would appear that the oil filler cap worked a little loose and caused the large oil 'spray'.

Lesson : make sure that the oil filler cap is tight !

Cheers all,

Scotty.

[dcpnn]

Hey Scotty,

Wondered how much you ended up paying for them to change the valve cover gasket?

Thanks!

[Scotty]

dcpnn,

it was not my X5, so I am not 100% sure, but I beleive it was covered under an extended warranty.