William, much obliged for the reply. That spring you show is identical to the one that fell out on me....but it's missing a few parts. I know crystalworks said it might be different due to your engine being an M62 and I have the N62 one, but the look of that spring seems very similar on both engines....see attached pic of when mine came out. Keep in mind I forgot to put the plastic piece in the pic so in total there are 4 pieces that create an assembly.
Attachment 69124

From looks of it it seems to be a good/only spot for the spring ro rest, i cant see where else it would go now that you have the whole assembly out and visible...Correction: I just realized that you said the pump is upside down in your picture...meaning when it is assembled you'd see this spring from underneath the car (after opening the filter cup? right? If so then it cant be right...at least not for me as my four pieces won't allow the cup to be screwed back on if placed in that location.

The cost of the whole assembly has risen considerably like you noted so if I can fix min by putting the pieces back then I'm one happy camper.

BMW X5 4.8iS 2005

Good day!! I'm working with the N62 motor... 4.4L version compared to your 4.8L version... Same pump for both motors... After looking at the parts in your picture, the only thing I can surmise is that the parts missing go to a drain plug of some sort... I have worked on a lot of other vehicles with the same oil drain system... (plug in cap, cap off, filter cartridge under cap) In that order to drain the oil and replace filter... Some use a plug that you must push into the cap for the oil to drain... They have plastic spouts for this job, all so you don't get your hands covered with used oil... That washer in your picture looks like it will sit perfectly in the cap, then plunger, then spring in the spot I have mine...

This is all guesstimation as we don't have one that is complete... I really don't see where it is necessary... I wish I had the other parts...

Cheers!!

Yes, we went around each other there...N62 it is....back on track :)

You explanation makes perfect sense, it's just that I couldn't get the filter cup back on ones I put them there. How long do you think it will be until you reassemble the oil pump back on the car? I don't mind shipping my parts over to you so you can have a Sherlock Holmes moment and solve this mystery ones and for all....you'd be doing us a HUGE favor. Since I currently live in Norway I'm guessing it would take a few days to reach you. It's just a thought, no pressure intended.

I was going to suggest that you send me the parts you have since mine got tossed in a previous oil change... except for the spring I found in the pump... Not entirely positive how it stayed where I found it... Or the even more interesting question is how it got there in the first place...

I didn't realize you were so far away... Let me take a look around here and see what I can find... I did go out and take a look at what I have... I had to use my old nasty filter since I didn't get my parts yet... BUT, I did find out that the spring will NOT go on that center "Supporting Dome" as BMW calls it... The filter actually seals at the top on the supporting dome... So, no spring or other parts between the filter housing and filter... Between the filter and the cap is another story... I put the spring I found between the cap and old filter... It fits with room to spare...

So, this won't work... the filter seals up right where the spring is here...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psohv4bazn.jpg

There is a round cut out for a washer or something in the cap here... The first cut near the brass in the center (not the tall lip where the filter connects)... Not positive!!

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...pst57wh3lc.jpg

And the spring is in between the cap and filter... I again don't know if there is enough room for the other parts...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psixf90gtk.jpg

So, I think it is a drain stop to keep your fingers clean when changing oil... but ends up breaking or coming out upon the first oil change since the filter is so difficult to remove...

I hope this helps!!

Cheers!!

The round cut near the brass center is too small for the washer, I tried to fit it there without luck. I think we are getting closer to an answer though....first thing tomorrow I'll go out and take pictures of the parts assembled in various ways and in steps and hopefully that will give you more to inspect with on your pump.

You are a kind soul for going out of you way...much appreciated.

That sounds great... I was looking at the pictures above of the parts... I'm not convinced the cup part will fit between the cap and filter... The spring does compress between my old filter and cap... Ahhhhhh, this is so frustrating!! We'll figure it out... I love this stuff!!

Cheers!!

Good day to you. Here are a few pictures...hope they help.

Pic1. All the parts separated. The item furthest to the left came out flying first followed by the spring and the plastic bit....the washer I found on the ground after trying to see if I got all that fell out and to be honest I'm doubting it even belongs there now. :dunno:

Pic 2 & 3: I am guessing here that the spring goes inside the housing and the plastic but on top (flat end inside the spring), this way when pressing on the plastic bit the spring will compress.

Pic 4 & 5: Different ways of positioning the washer. I don't think either of them are correct. Especially the fifth pic, that way the spring cannot be compressed by the plastic piece.

Pic 6: Just showing how the plastic piece fits inside the spring. There is no other place that plastic piece goes...i tried inserting it into the housing but the mid diameter is too big on the plastic bit.

I can't separate the images and add text between them like you do....sorry about that.

Let me know what you think.

Woops... Sorry for the confusion gents. I'm not sure why I thought it was an M62. Brain locked up or something. M62's don't have valvetronic and the picture in the first post is clearly of an LCI X5. :slap::loser:

No worries, we got to the bottom of that...now help us solve this mystery :)

BMW X5 4.8iS 2005

GOOD DAY ALL!!

FOUND IT!! Or I am fairly confident I found it... You were lucky to have all the parts... I only had the spring, and that was probably because it got trapped on the other side of the opening... It looks to be a flow valve for the two halves of the pump... It looks like a restriction for the larger pump gears... Yep, I pulled it apart again to confirm...

This is where my spring ended up... There is no machine work done to this side of the port... Flow goes thru this port to the filter, but the spring just couldn't get turned the correct way to "go with the flow"... So, it stayed right here...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psyfwtlgch.jpg

This is the other side... See the spring, barely?

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...ps2chewn2m.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psrukyqdhu.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psmrvwqpu7.jpg

Okay, I tried multiple times to get a closer picture... Wouldn't work for me, stupid phone!! But the guesstimated measurements are about 23.45mm for the largest diameter, 21.8mm for the next one, and I didn't measure the pass thru hole... I'm going to guess it fits that three legged plug you have... Cup, spring, plug (legs up) is the order... Like you have it in pic three... Now, about that washer... There is no oil residue on it, so I am going to say it was just in the wrong place at the wrong time to be in this line-up... With the ring at the base of that cup, I'll bet the outer diameter of it is about 21.XX mm... Or something like that... And that line is about 14.8-15.2mm from the bottom of the cup... There is also a beveled edge on the inner hole... Probably mates up to the angle on the plug...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psm0y5f8ty.jpg

Now, is it needed?! I doubt it... Can you have too much flow from the pump?! Is it used to divert pressure to another item?! Possibly... That huge valve is right there... I can't get the cap off to pull the valve out... It's a 16.5mm allen or something like that...

I hope this helps!!

Cheers!!