CCV Valve - Oil Separation Failure due to cold weather...anyone else?

[II Kings 9:20]

None of this inspires confidence -FWIW I have owned over 40 cars from Alfa to Peugeot and have never heard of this type of idiotic design flaw in any car I have owned including, GM, Ford, and Chrysler. -So much for "German" engineering. What clowns at BMW and poor support from BMWNA, they remind me of Mitsubishi.

[motordavid]

OT...

Originally Posted by c4racer

6 miles - wow, I would probably figure out a way to bike commute that. Although the weather where I live is a bit more friendly for such a thought...

...a 6 mile commute would have me looking at beaters, a m'cycle for 10 months a year, a scooter, a bicycle...something other than a $60G suv.
But, everyone's got their own bag.

[X5 Meister]

First thank God you are okay. You should have started a new thread with this one as I'm sure it will warrant some replies from others who know about this situation. I would definitely get BMW NA on the ball with this, as you correctly stated, this could have ended differently.

Originally Posted by CurtisD

Monday evening I was returning to Chicago O'Hare airport after a 4 day business trip. (N.A.D.A. conference). My X5 had been sitting in long term parking outside. After loading up my bags I hopped in and let it warm up a minute or so before taking off. Temps have been in the 20's here lately. So it wasn't abnormaly cold. Before I even left the parking lot I noticed a burning smell in the cabin (very faint). I stopped and checked under the hood and walked around the vehicle as the smell was ONLY present inside the cabin. I turned off the fan and heat controls and proceeded on my way home. Less than 10 minutes later the smell was still present and even growing a bit stronger. As I needed fuel anyway I pulled into a gas station to examine the smell further. When I came to a stop smoke rolled heavily out from under and on all sides of my vehicle. I quickly accelerated into a snow bank at the end of the parking lot away from the fuel pumps and ran for a fire extinguisher. As I approached with the fire bottle everything from the oil pan forward was covered heavily in flames. I was able to put the flames out myself.

I called in a claim to my insurance agent and began inquiring. My service writer tells me the same I read here. This is a common problem with many BMW models. Not just the X5. However this "common problem" could have easily injured or ended my life as well as others around.

This is my 2nd owned BMW and 3rd total as I had one for a company car as well. I am a loyal BMW owner and would probably continue to be, however this "common problem" quite honestly scared the hell out of me.

My claims adjuster cannot come see my X5 till tomorrow and I have not taken it to a service facility yet as I am not sure just yet how I want to proceed.

From first glance I cannot tell exactly how the fire started but there is clearly oil everywhere in the engine bay.

Any advice, tips, what to expect help would be greatly appreciated. My advisor did tell me I should go ahead and call BMW NA right away as well.

[FSETH]

Well I guess I have to apologize to flatlander. Unless CurtisD's story isn't true or there is some other explaination, that is the first fire I have heard about resulting from an oil seperator issue.

[c4racer]

Ya - this makes me more than a little bit nervous and even start thinking about getting rid of this X5. It's a nice vehicle, but not sure it is worth this kind of hassle on top of all the other maint and failure items on this platform....

this makes the toyota accellerator problem look pretty minor and look what that company is going through. BMW should make this a safety recall. This is just absurd.

I have owned plenty of BMW's in the past and was strongly considering getting an M5 or M3 to replace my Audi. Now I am starting to re-think that whole idea. Maybe one BMW is enough of a repair risk for me...

[motordavid]

Way back in the RoadFly/RoadToad Days, the CCV situ started coming up on the JukeBox; this was circa 2002.
From my fading memory, one of the earliest posts was a report, with pics, of a guy's X5 that had basically "let go":
valve covers, coolant res., water pump, etc. 8 qts of oil were everywhere and he had some fire. That OP thought
his engine had "blown up."

I have occasionally hunted around the RF board, but those old, old posts are deleted and/or impossible to find, and
pics from back then are long gone.

Not raising the calamity flag or suggesting the sky is falling, but not unheard of, from about day 2, from my recall.

What remains a mystery to me is that BMW put in a suspect/weak system, took years to admit there was a problem,
(esp if one were out of warranty), took years to come up with an "improved" system, and now selectively covers some R&R,
pays for partials in other cases or, leaves it up to the owner to cover repair costs.
I guess their "cold weather testing" is short term, with new cars, ideal conditions and does not afford them "time", which for
most car systems is as wearing as mileage.

Oh well; hasn't/probably won't happen to our Ol' 2001, but I feel for the ever expanding population of owners whom have suffered through it, or will.
GL, mD

[CurtisD]

I just received confirmation from my claims adjuster that he will be out tomorrow late morning to look at my X5. I don't want to jump ship on BMW and start pointing fingers. But my X5 was very well maintained, in great condition and had no signs of any malfunction before the incident. I'm a bit of a extreme sports junkie but that fire scared the hell out of me. If there is even a slight chance it could happen to someone else it needs repaired.

As a side note, my X has spend all but the last two winters in Phoenix. So it's pretty new to the Chicago winters. Last year after the first big freeze I replaced the thermostat.

[CurtisD]

Originally Posted by FSETH

Well I guess I have to apologize to flatlander. Unless CurtisD's story isn't true or there is some other explaination, that is the first fire I have heard about resulting from an oil seperator issue.

Yes, it is very much true. If the exact cause IS the oil separator I am not 100% of that. But I will be able to tell within the next day or two hopefully. Right now, everything under the hood is a bit messy.

[flatlander]

Thank your lucky stars and your quick reactions to the situation that you are OK!

This is exactly the type of failure that I was writing about the other day. I've nearly experienced it myself. I've often wondered how close I came to having all that oil ignite on the exhaust manifold.

This is a sober reminder that we should all be carrying a fire extinguisher in our vehicles.

Glad you are OK. Let us know how your claim turns out.

[ekvals]

When my gasket blew, there was a loooot of smoke coming out from under the hood..


A lot of oil was thrown around in the engine compartment, and the smoke was coming from oil which was on the exhaust manifoil..

Im sure the temperature on the manifoil is more then sufficient to ignite escaped oil...