Home Forums Articles How To's FAQ Register
Go Back   Xoutpost.com > BMW SAV Forums > X5 (E70) Forum
Fluid Motor Union
User Name
Password
Member List Premier Membership Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Xoutpost server transfer and maintenance is occurring....
Xoutpost is currently undergoing a planned server migration.... stay tuned for new developments.... sincerely, the management


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #21  
Old 04-18-2018, 01:03 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 302
Nanniepoo is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyline View Post
If you're doing the coolant transfer pipe, it absolutely means you should do the water pump at the same time. Age and mileage says you should also replace every hose attached to the pump as well.

If you do the coolant expansion tank right away, replace the hoses for that at the same time. Keep in mind that if you ever remove a recently replaced hose for future repair, you should change the O-rings. Not sure if you can get these from BMW, but full sets are available on eBay. If you open the plastic coolant drain at the bottom of the radiator, have another plug on hand as well; again age and mileage. (It too has an o-ring seal.) Don't be surprised if it breaks when you try to remove it.

Again age and mileage, (mostly mileage,) plus your oil consumption; you probably need to do the valve guide seals. To confirm, idle the car for five minutes. Then mash the gas. If you see a massive cloud out the exhaust, it means the valve guide seals are shot. The only other thing than can cause this is if your CCV is not functioning correctly. At this mileage, most people have replaced this already. Biggest culprit is the rubber membrane in the valve on top of the valve cover, but the hoses do get clogged with mayonnaise if you do a lot of short trips in cold weather. To diagnose this more exactly, you can hook up a smoke machine to the oil cap, (I have a blue rubber Snap-on Blue Point smoke machine adapter that stretches nicely over the oil fill). Remove the intake elbow and plug the intake. (Most smoke machines come with a set of various sized yellow plastic disks just for this purpose). No smoke should come out. This might also detect a valve cover leak, (common), but you'll be doing those gaskets anyway if you do the valve seals.

I do agree that as others have said, the valve guide seals and the valley pan have very little overlap unless you plan to pull the motor. Doing both jobs, it might be worth it. Also, if you have access to the back of motor, you can use the original factory coolant transfer pipe, saving you $500 or so vs the AGA pipe. Not to mention the grief of cutting out the old pipe. It will make the valve guide seal job much easier as well, as several of the valves seals are REALLY hard in terms of access, (not impossible, just hard.) It's also very tricky to remove the valve covers on these cars without breaking anything. Both jobs can absolutely be done while the engine is in the car, but pulling the motor at your mileage can be a great opportunity to address a whole array of issues not discussed as well that are common to this engine, (like oil leaks from the front upper covers, oil cooler fittings etc.)

If you decide to do the valve guide seals, I do have the AGA tool kit for rent in the For Sale forum, send me a message.
To be honest, I'm hoping to get another year or so before I need to do what I consider the "major work", as in an all weekend job. We're buying a house, which means I can finally get a proper garage with a lift. So in the future when I inevitably have to do the valve stem seals and valley pan/transfer pipe, I'd like to pull the engine and just do everything in one shot.

If things start going before that, I'll obviously have to address them. At the current oil loss I'm fine with just topping up. Haven't even tried some of the oil additives yet, and again have the PCV/CCV ready to be installed which might help. I understand the 5 min idle and floor it test, which would help confirm, it really wouldn't change my opinion since with our current driving habits the oil loss is rather minimal.
__________________
'08 X5 4.8i - 173k
'15 i3 - 76k

'98 323is - 169k - Garaged
'94 325i - 208k - Sold
Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links

  #22  
Old 04-18-2018, 01:15 PM
Skyline's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Westchester, NY
Posts: 659
Skyline is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanniepoo View Post
To be honest, I'm hoping to get another year or so before I need to do what I consider the "major work", as in an all weekend job. We're buying a house, which means I can finally get a proper garage with a lift. So in the future when I inevitably have to do the valve stem seals and valley pan/transfer pipe, I'd like to pull the engine and just do everything in one shot.

If things start going before that, I'll obviously have to address them. At the current oil loss I'm fine with just topping up. Haven't even tried some of the oil additives yet, and again have the PCV/CCV ready to be installed which might help. I understand the 5 min idle and floor it test, which would help confirm, it really wouldn't change my opinion since with our current driving habits the oil loss is rather minimal.
Makes sense. I was at similar oil consumption to you, but I drive in city traffic pretty frequently, and I was becoming a nuisance to other drivers in stop-and-go traffic, so I had to do the valve guides. And my oil loss went to nothing after the job. Keep in mind that this burning oil is going out the exhaust, and this is very bad for your very expensive cats. Don't overlook it for too long.

I'd fix any obvious coolant leaks and then see how much coolant you're really loosing in the valley pan/transfer pipe.
__________________
2014 BMW 328i Xdrive
2011 BMW 335i M-Sport
2008 BMW X5 4.8i Sport
2000 BMW 528i 5sp
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 04-18-2018, 01:39 PM
Toothbrush's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Here and there
Posts: 236
Toothbrush is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyline View Post
(I have a blue rubber Snap-on Blue Point smoke machine adapter that stretches nicely over the oil fill).
I just used a thick blue latex glove and poked the tip of the smoke machine hose through.

If you do it right, you can use the same glove a time or two, after that it splits...

Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 04-19-2018, 12:04 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: PNW
Posts: 424
Entropy is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanniepoo View Post
At the current oil loss I'm fine with just topping up. Haven't even tried some of the oil additives yet, and again have the PCV/CCV ready to be installed which might help. I understand the 5 min idle and floor it test, which would help confirm, it really wouldn't change my opinion since with our current driving habits the oil loss is rather minimal.
FWIW, I have tried Liqui-Moly “Motor Oil saver” with no luck. Currently running ATP AT-205 Re Seal and it doesn’t seem to have helped at all either. Still losing a quart every 2,500 miles, which isn’t bad and “normal” according to BMW. Both were added to Castrol 0W-40.

I’ve also done the CCV diaphragms. Next approach will be Mobil 1 10W-30 High Mileage. It’s an A3 oil and ticks all the boxes for it to be suitable in BMW engines, sans the “LL-01” approval.
__________________
2007 E70 4.8i
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 04-19-2018, 12:49 AM
ard ard is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Sierra Foothills, California
Posts: 6,732
ard is on a distinguished road
Quote:
WIW, I have tried Liqui-Moly “Motor Oil saver” with no luck. Currently running ATP AT-205 Re Seal and it doesn’t seem to have helped at all either. Still losing a quart every 2,500 miles, which isn’t bad and “normal” according to BMW. Both were added to Castrol 0W-40.

I’ve also done the CCV diaphragms. Next approach will be Mobil 1 10W-30 High Mileage. It’s an A3 oil and ticks all the boxes for it to be suitable in BMW engines, sans the “LL-01” approval.
Why?

Im trying to understand the rationale at changing oils and adding chemicals to address an underlying issue.(Arguably not really that bad an issue)

These additives are not without possible downsides, especially those that seek to modify rubber/polymers and cause swelling
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 04-19-2018, 09:30 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: PNW
Posts: 424
Entropy is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by ard View Post
Why?

Im trying to understand the rationale at changing oils and adding chemicals to address an underlying issue.(Arguably not really that bad an issue)

These additives are not without possible downsides, especially those that seek to modify rubber/polymers and cause swelling
I agree that the only real fix is to address the issue. My goal is to reduce consumption before I can find the time to replace the seals to keep the cats healthy. The two additives I mentioned are well regarded and far from your average “motor oil stop leak” goo.
__________________
2007 E70 4.8i
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 04-19-2018, 02:46 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: TX
Posts: 175
SeanC is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by ard View Post
Why?

Im trying to understand the rationale at changing oils and adding chemicals to address an underlying issue.(Arguably not really that bad an issue)

These additives are not without possible downsides, especially those that seek to modify rubber/polymers and cause swelling
I agree with Entropy that the issue needs to be addressed properly. But the reason why the valve stem seals leak in the first place is they shrink over time due to heat and lose their sealing abilities. A little swelling to get them back into shape isn't too bad if the issue is minimal. I never had any problem with Lucas products, even though they are not regarded as in the same category as other more expensive oil additives. I'm willing to bet it works just as good if not better. I use it at a ratio of ~7/1 oil/lucas when I change my oil. Lucas recommends more like 8/2, but that's a bit too much IMO.
__________________
Black Sapphire MetallicNevada BrownDark Bamboo e70 X5 xDrive4.8
Alpine WhiteCoral RedAluminum f30 328i Sportline/6MT
Imola RedBlackBlack Aluminum e46 330i ZHP/6MT
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 04-19-2018, 03:41 PM
Member
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 65
Jim Daniel is on a distinguished road
This thread started as a "coolant leak" (now it's oil and which additives to use).

Head gaskets can leak so slowly that owners can drive for years and never see a drop on the drive, or white smoke from the tailpipe. (just a hint of sweet smell).
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 04-19-2018, 03:45 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 302
Nanniepoo is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Daniel View Post
This thread started as a "coolant leak" (now it's oil and which additives to use).

Head gaskets can leak so slowly that owners can drive for years and never see a drop on the drive, or white smoke from the tailpipe. (just a hint of sweet smell).
Neat but I found a leak so I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that I have a HG problem

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk
__________________
'08 X5 4.8i - 173k
'15 i3 - 76k

'98 323is - 169k - Garaged
'94 325i - 208k - Sold
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 04-19-2018, 03:51 PM
Member
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 65
Jim Daniel is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanniepoo View Post
Neat but I found a leak so I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that I have a HG problem

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk
I'm just sayin' that's a good possibility of a super slow coolant leak.
Peeps here are going nuts over this minor problem, then jumping around to different subjects. Why not just start another oil consumption thread (instead of turning "every" thread into an oil consumption thread) ??
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:50 AM.
vBulletin, Copyright 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. SEO by vBSEO 3.6.0
© 2017 Xoutpost.com. All rights reserved. Xoutpost.com is a private enthusiast site not associated with BMW AG.
The BMW name, marks, M stripe logo, and Roundel logo as well as X3, X5 and X6 designations used in the pages of this Web Site are the property of BMW AG.
This web site is not sponsored or affiliated in any way with BMW AG or any of its subsidiaries.