Oil separator/Valve cover gasket

[Chris F.]

Originally Posted by shooter

Damn all these repairs make me nervous. Should I just replace my seperator with the updated one as preventive maintenance? Its an 02 4.4i w/90k. I've never really had anything break before (actually just an axle seal which still leaks) and would like to keep it this way! Knock on wood...

Shooter, it couldn't hurt. There is a great set of BMW Mechanics in South Windsor (NEO Auto) (BMW Oil Seperator - NEO Autos Articles) that can do the work for a more reasonable price.

I've found my local BMW dealer (New Country) to be OK but they are in such a rush to move cars in and out that they are forgetful at times (last time I had the cap of a coolant bottle sitting in my engine compartment)

Chris

[rock1571]

OK, so I had the engine blow out last winter, in January. Dealer replaced oil separator, dipstick tube, several gaskets and all worked just fine after.

Fast forward to this morning, my wife calls me and says her car is driving strange. When she started it up, the temp gauge went all the way to hot and then back down to normal. She wanted to know if she should keep driving, I told her to watch the gauge and pull over immediately if it went near the red. I meet up with her and switch cars and bring hers home to investigate.

No unusual temp readings while I am driving, when I get home the oil light comes on. I check the oil level and there is the milky / mayonaise on the dipstick and under the oil cap. There is no oil leaking anywhere on the engine, but I have to add 2 qts to get it back to full.

Here's are my questions...

Is my separator valve freezing up on me again? Is there any other cuase for the milky oil besides the oil separator issues? Could this also be the cause of the unusual temp readings she saw when she first started driving this morning? Do I take the X5 to the dealer for some repairs? There doesn't seem to be anything wrong at the moment, but I'm concerned it is just a matter of time before the engine blows again... temps have been cold this week, in the teens for several days, but today and this morning the temps were not unusually low. Last winter when it blew it was after several days of single digit temps, we're nowhere near that yet...

[paulymano]

Thanks Meister. The dealership is repairing the car and I will make sure that they are aware of the all the SIB writen regarding his issue.

Shooter - Listen to the Meister..He's the Man!! If you drive short distances in the extreme cold, I would have it replaced with the new updated parts. Don't go through what I'm going through brother...over 3K of repairs regarding this issue.

[jpnut]

Hey guys, dealer quote ~1300 with similar issues. White smoke through vents and out of the front of the hood. Is the repair a permanent fix for this issue? Or should I consider trading it in? At 85k, would be nice to be in something newer and under warranty.

[djmilleroh]

I replaced my Oil Seperator Valve at 55,000 miles and I have not had a problem since. I would highly recommend that if you do end up replacing it to do so with the insulated valve and hoses.

[sequel95]

I had the dreaded oil separator failure one year ago with my 2003 X5 3.0. Fortunately, it only blew the valve cover gasket and soiled some parts instead of hydrolock. The problem is the water/oil mix which gets recycled back down to the intake manifold or into the crankcase via the oil dipstick tube. If the oil separator (or cyclone unit) is getting clogged, or if the oil dipstick area is clogged with this sludgy stuff, would it help to regularly pour a few ounces of SeaFoam in the breather hose leading down to the oil separator, in the hopes the SeaFoam would dissolve the sludge and keep the hoses and separator more clean? I change my oil every 8K miles, and I still get the sludge. Now 5K oil changes are in order and I hope to get rid of this issue.

FWIW, I received all new parts, including the updated wrapped hoses and new separator. It seems to be bigger than the previous separator, but I still get the sludge and every few days I notice a big puff of white smoke at startup or shortly afterwards.

[1stE53]

I did read somewhere that BMW was working on a part that would keep the separator heated. It was on this forum somewhere. A guy that actually got BMW to pay for the repairs. Worth a try...

[jpnut]

Thanks for the replies guys, seems like I am in talks with trading this in, which with an injury like this is killing my trade-in value. I always hear never to roll the difference into the new loan either. BMWNA is slow in returning my phone calls too