valve stem seals

[manfrmbklyn23]

2004 X5 4.4i 91,000m

After idling for 5 min or more my car will let out a huge cloud of smoke. The dealer says my valve stem seals are shot and there’s no sure way to guarantee the repair will fix my problem as it could possibly be a bad block as well. I have to add oil every 2 weeks or so. My question is, can I continue driving it like this or will the engine just seize up on me one day? I really don't want to pay to have it fixed as I was told it can be $7k and up repair bill. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[julezw]

My car has been smoking for over a year now. Got the diagnosis from dealer of stem seals. My car is fine. No loss of power or response, just occasional smoke and embarrassment.
It's pretty frustrating that they can't even be certain of how to repair these issues. My dealer didn't even want discuss it with me as though it was taboo. They probably just dont want to do risky repairs

So I'm just gonna keep topping up the oil till I find out some new info. Oh and my car is practically identical to yours on make and mileage. I wonder whether its an inherent fault of the year of manufacture?

[manfrmbklyn23]

Thanks for the info. I feel the same way. I almost thought I wrote your post LOL. I hate the embarrasment. I work in NYC and every one just can't stop looking at my car when it smokes. I read in another forum that liquimoly motor oil saver can stop the smoking for a while and works well. I think I will have to research that better before I try it.

[julezw]

Haha, comforting to know I'm not alone. I have never been to NYC but I imagine the traffic would really get your X smoking. I have used a seal rejuvenator oil additive like liquimoly. I used an Australian brand, Nulon. It worked for 1-2k kms and then the smoke returned. To my knowledge you can only add one treatment per oil drain, so I'm waiting till the next to try Liquimoly

[manfrmbklyn23]

Yes the trafiic is a nightmare and gives me anxiety to know that I am going to polute the whole street. I tell my wife we look like exterminators when we drive by. Ah ha, so you still get oil changes? I am technically due for an oil change soon but, I second guess getting one as I am constantly pouring in new oil myself. Do I really need to change the oil? I am racing to the store to buy liquimoly.

[julezw]

Exterminators, that's a funny one. Well you still have to change the oil filter and drain out the oil in the process so I suppose you can see what the oil looks like and take it from there? I hope the liquimoly works better than the Nulon

[amacman]

Once upon a time a dealer told someone the same story so someone had a new bmw engine fitted after spending fortunes trying other ways to cure the problem .
The new bmw engine made no difference whatsoever so someone got a bit pissed off at the dealer and eventually figured out the real problem was the crankcase ventilation system diaphragm had burst causing the intake system to suck lots of oil at idle filling the intake manifold .
You can test for diaphragm failure easily by removing the dipstick or oil filler cap to feel for excessive vacuum . This link will demonstrate .
How to change a dead OSV on a BMW E38 7 Series with an M62 V8 4.4L engine. - YouTube

[julezw]

Thanks Amacman, that video as entertaining as it was informative. I was unaware the CCV when bad could cause smoke after idle?

Call me faint hearted but I'm a tad bit uncomfortable running the engine without the oil stick or cap, but I will do it anyway.

I hope my smoking problem is the CCV because it seems this would be cheaper than other repairs. I'm not that sure about it being CCV because my car started smoking only 40 k kms after the PCV valve was replaced on both sides of the engine. And the winters in Melbourne are not that cold. I assume PCV is the same as CCV in my instance? This was how it was named on the invoice.

Any info or advice would be appreciated

cheers

[manfrmbklyn23]

I prayed and prayed that this was my problem, but it was not. I have no excess suction when the dipstick is out and the engine is running.

[julezw]

Update: Today I took my x5 to an indy who does prestige cars and has a bit of experience with X5s. He used to own an 4.8is himself but sold it due to all the probs he was having. Yeah reassuring I know.

Anyway he diagnosed my smoking and oil consumption as VSS also So naturally I'm pretty bummed out. I know that I will be returning to the Japanese manufacturing base for good. Unfortunately for me I'm not mechanically inclined and even if I was I still don't think I'd buy another car like this.

So my situation is repair and keep for a while longer or sell/ trade up. Thing is I'm an honest person and I wouldn't do it without disclosing the problem. Will anyone even accept the car with this kind of problem? And the worry for me is even if I do repair the car I've heard of some valve stem seal repairs that don't do the job and how long till another multiple thousand dollar repair springs up, air suspension, cooling system the water pipe thing in N62s that are prone to breaking, T-case etc.

Anyway sorry for the long winded post just not in the greatest place and its a bit of a dillema