New to X5 and have a major cold start issue Help please.
 

We just bought (3 weeks) an 02 X5 my wife a replacement for her 94 325is (I get the hand me down as a toy). It was really cold yesterday 5 overnight low and 14 for a high. Last night we went to go to a game watching party and the thing starting smoking pretty bad. We smelled it at the stop light about a half mile from home and ignored it as it has never made any smell of any kind. Since it is my wifes car it was, you guessed it, out of gas. At the gas station I opened the hood as I could still smell the oil burning and there was plenty of smoke coming out. We were only a mile from home so I went home and parked it and took another car to the party. This morning I can seen in the snow the thin trail of oil on the ground.

I have been a car guy most of my life and am pretty handy but have not done much work on the 325IS as I have either not had time or the right tools (ignition broke was one where you have to have the right tool). I have done some suspension work on it and a little AC work, removed the mechanical fan for an electric, oil changes and brakes, alternator, you know normal stuff.

I did a little searching and came up with some info about the condenate seperator hose freezing and the valve cover gasket blowing.

So my question is: is this a common problem that I can fix or should I take it in. After just writing the check (big enough for me (we do not make car payments ever)) for it I would prefer to not have to put a bunch of money into it.

I have not even got it in the garage yet so I am not sure what I have. Since it is still damn cold, this place seemed like a good place to get some info. I will check back in a couple of hours after I get the thing in the garage. Thanks in advance, cheers Richard.

You came to the right place..My X5 did the exact same thing on a very cold day..Its been single digits here for a prolonged period of time too...First you must see where the oil spray originated from..Meaning where's it coming from? Mine was the valve cover gasket blew...If thats the case then its around 500 bucks to fix at the dealer. Probably less at an indie mechanic shop..But that doesn't really solve the problem..It is just a symptom...I still am going to have to replace the oil seperator which is more pricey job because of the labor involved i believe..Although I am still waiting to hear how much that might be...

The condensation is freezing in your oil lines and that is causing it to back up somewhere..ie. something has to give..Most commonly it is the valve cover gasket that blows first. I sprayed about a quart and a half of oil all over my engine bay before I stopped and had it towed to the dealer..And yes it was smoking profusely I was on 435 South to be exact, right before the Quivira exit...Smoked up the whole freeway......This is a common problem for BMW's unfortunately...Let me know if you need any more help, since we are both in KC..

Well it looks like a trip to the dealer to get parts. I can change the VC gasket pretty easily. It is currently melting in the garage and if the weather stays cold it can go in every night. Thanks for the reply. My site is www dot northracecars dot com if you want to contact me. I would be very interested in what happens with you and what BMW charges. I have had pretty good results with KC autosports, Russ and Tim are pretty fair guys. I also have a buddy in Topeka that does BMW and Merc work. Let me know if I can help. Cheers Richard.

:xoutpost:

I'm going to take it to Autopia out in old town Lenexa...They specialize in BMW's apparently, and a fellow KC member on this site referred me to them so I trust him.....I know for a fact I'm going to need to change the oil seperator and crankcase breather hose as well. Along with anything else that is related to this problem..They're all related...I just hope my x lasts for a few more weeks in this cold before i do it. Now that the valve cover gasket has been replaced, I'm getting oil spitting out of my oil cap during cold morning starts...After tons of research..all of this is related to the condensation build up, and oil seperator...

Good to know you've got a few places that seem to do work on Bimmers too. I'll keep that in mind and check out your site too. Keep me updated on your situation as well..

Dropped it off this morning should have it back in a day or two. I talked to Tim at KCAS and he told me the valve is a real pain to get to, so I am just having them do the whole thing. VC, OW seperator valve, all of it, as well as an oil change. I am thinking the whole thing will be about 7 hundred, which sucks but it has to be fixed. I look at the bright side and am glad it was not a head.

Tim did tell me that the factory oil change intervals are part of the problem. The VANOS requires the use of synthetic but the factory interval is like 15k miles or more. While he has mine apart he will be able to tell if they oil has been changed more often. It will be much cleaner if the oil has been changed more often but I fear the car has only been serviced at the prescribed intervals. The more often the better, more like 5k miles just for the cleaning advantage. I used to drive a lot, 50k+ a year and ran synthetic for 10K miles at a shot but changed the filter at 5k againg for the cleaning. On most of my other vehicles get changes at 3k no matter the 'specified' interval. The changes are easy to do so from now on mine will get them more often. At least it was 37 today and not 5. Cheers Richard.

Crankcase vent hoses and oil separator
 

I had this problem just before xmas. The valve cover gasket failed. Once I had fixed the valve cover gasket (I did both even though only one had failed), I went to work on the vent hoses and oil separator.

I have the V8 engine. I'm not familiar with the inline 6.

You can tell right away if you've got 'moisture laden' oil buildup by pulling off the two crankcase vent hoses from the top of the oil separator. If you look in the hoses and the entrances into the oil separator and see some creamy gunk stuck to the walls of the tube then you've found it. Another tell tale sign is finding this creamy white gunk under the oil fill cap.

I removed the vent hoses and replaced them. I also removed the oil separator and the short hose that is attached to the bottom of the oil separator. Both were full of the condensation. I cleaned them out by running hot water and dish soap through them until there was no more gunk coming out. I re-installed them. It took a lot of trial and error because you have to reach behind the engine and make sure the hose gets set back on the oil return pipe. You can't see it when you are installing it. Check www.realoem.com for graphics showing the oil separator, bottom hose, and oil return pipe.

I hope this helps. The fact that this is a problem is my only big disappointment with the X5.

Well I started checking and the extended warranty at BMW is going to cover it. I will let everyone know what happens.

Glad to hear that this is the only major issue I have seen. Cheers Richard.

Picked up the X5 last night, we dropped it off Tuesday morning so I think that is a pretty good turn around. They had to wait on the new valve to come in so there was no real way it could have been done faster. They called and said the drive belts were it tough shape and asked if I wanted to replace them while they were there. I asked how much off for the fact I did not take the complimentary loaner car, they cut the bill by 50 bucks.

With the extended warranty in place, the complete job with the new valve and valve cover gasket and both belts was $252.58. $50 of that was the warranty co pay which I was happy to pay.

My hat is off to Nate Hawks and the guys at Baron BMW in Shawnee KS. Without the warranty I have no idea what the cost would be and I really do not want to know.... Based on reasearch I did on this site the costs could have been $1,400 for the valve and hoses alone, add to that the Valve cover and finally the belts, it could easily have been $2,000.

While driving over there the rear brake light check came on again (replaced bulbs already and they kept burning out) they replaced the complete rear tail light assembly as it showed signs of a short in the assembly. I think the part alone is about $400 plus labor.

Back to the condensate valve and hose assembley, the newer unit, which is an update, is heated so the valve will never freeze again. Anyone who lives in cold climates should have the update done in my opinion.

I told everyone I would let them know what the outcome was now you know the rest of the story. I feel very fortunate that what could have beeen a $2,500 bill was ten percent of that. HTH, Cheers Richard.