Why are there pools of oil?

[Repoman]

. . . around all six of my coils in between the plastic partitions. I had the engine covers off looking for vacuum leaks today and noticed that all six have pools of oil around them. It doesn't appear that the oil is leaking over and spilling down the side of the engine, it's just sitting there in little pools. I have always done the oil changes and have never spilled a drop while refilling and can't see any place where it would be coming from.

Also, I found the dreaded cracked y-piping so I'll be changing that. When I removed the DISA valve, it appeared to be broken (no spring tension). I removed the little plastic cover on the side and saw that the lever had come off of the butterfly shaft. I simply put it back on and replaced the cover and now appears to be working fine. Are these things serviceable, and if so have we been buying replacement DISA valves for this reason?

Couldn't find any vacuum leaks other than y-pipe, ses codes are p1345, 1347, 1348, 1352, 0300, 0313. Going to replace y-pipe tomorrow but was reading up on ccv issues and thought I might be subject to that judging by my codes and rough idle/misfire issues. Also I read that these ccv's are poorly designed and destined to go out causing the kind of issues/codes I have.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Repoman

. . . around all six of my coils in between the plastic partitions. I had the engine covers off looking for vacuum leaks today and noticed that all six have pools of oil around them.

Valve cover gasket need to be replaced.

[Repoman]

I was thinking the same thing but no other oil residue leading to pools. Also, if it was the valve cover gasket why would that fail since it is not under any pressure? I would think the only way it would fail is if there is unneccesary pressure due to CCV not doing what it is supposed to?

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Repoman

I was thinking the same thing but no other oil residue leading to pools. Also, if it was the valve cover gasket why would that fail since it is not under any pressure? I would think the only way it would fail is if there is unneccesary pressure due to CCV not doing what it is supposed to?

Valve cover gaskets have been leaking with age since they were invented, some 100 years prior to the invention of the BMW crankcase ventilation valve.

[Bimmer Ese]

Those valve cover gaskets get old and brittle. You'll be surprised when you take off the old gasket to find out the old gasket material will break away easily. Those broken pieces will feel like plastic too.

Fortunately, replaceable parts can be found cheap. Check out www.realbmwparts.com for some good prices on BMW factory parts.

Dan

[Repoman]

I guess it is wishful thinking on my part. I have this rediculous misfire/no power issue for the last several thousand miles and I'm so tired of dealing with the problem that I'm just ready for it to be over. Then I pull these covers off and see the pools of oil and start trying to put 2 and 2 together hoping I've found my issue. I've done so much searching on this forum for a fix for my misfires and while I've found a ton of people with the misfire issue, none of them resembles mine or there was never any closure on the post to help me out.

I guess I feel like I've never really got to enjoy the X because of so many repairs. It seems like everytime I get something fixed, something else breaks . . . often multiple things are broken at one time and I can't keep up. Just frustration, that's all.

[Hit Redline]

Is the oil leaking on to the spark plugs and coil boots? I had an issue with misfire in my 4.6 due to leaking valve cover gaskets and oil on 2 different plugs. Ended up changing the plugs, two coils, and gaskets. No issue since.

I feel you on the repairs situation. I have done several repairs including a tranny rebuild. Seems like I have worked out most of the issues for my X and just coming up on 1 year of ownership.

[Repoman]

Originally Posted by Hit Redline

Is the oil leaking on to the spark plugs and coil boots? I had an issue with misfire in my 4.6 due to leaking valve cover gaskets and oil on 2 different plugs. Ended up changing the plugs, two coils, and gaskets.

No oil on plugs or coil boots or coils up top, just a puddle around all six of them. No trails of oil leading to/away from the puddles, all dry around the puddles. Sounds like that could possibly be my issue if you had same issue before. Going to pick up the new Y-pipe now and will look at it some more then may pull valve cover.

[c4racer]

Originally Posted by JCL

Valve cover gaskets have been leaking with age since they were invented, some 100 years prior to the invention of the BMW crankcase ventilation valve.

It didn't used to be a problem tho, since the motors rarely made it past 100K miles

[Repoman]

Just picked up new Y-pipe - $32. It seems to be as poorly made as what broke on me initially. The rubber is very thin on the new one between the folds where it bends. Does anyone know if this part has been updated since everyone has had to replace this or is this the same exact part I am replacing? If it has not been updated, is there an aftermarket part that is built better, thicker rubber? Otherwise, I am heading down the same road and sure to end up with the same results.