crankcase vent valve
 

Hey guys/gals?? Had the infamous oil sep. prob yesterday with temps in the single digits. Is the crankcase vent valve synomonous with the oil separator...are they the same part?? and what danger do i run driving the car from one dealer to a private mech. approx. 10 miles if the car sat overnight in the dealers heated garage. The hoses/valve should have melted right?? and the worse thing to happen would be a little oil over the engine bay correct??

you should be fine. Its probably that time to change both the oil seperator and the intake manifold cover. as well as the oil hoses. Check to see if your valve cover gaskets are leaking oil,you might need those

Yes the Crankcase vent valve and oil seperator are the same thing. I went thru this issue about a month ago. Same ordeal...Get the valve cover gasket replaced and oil seperator. New hoses should come with the new seperator as well.. You will need to do this replacement, or you will have major break down sooner or later..Major meaning, you could experience hydraulic lock or hydrolock. That's when your engine siezes up..and basically stops working period.

Also, Fyi, the oil seperator can fail in warm temps also. Just because spring is around the corner, doesn't mean you can hold out until next winter. I'd get it taken care of asap. When this issue happened to me..I made it priority number 1 to get it taken care of. GL

I wouldn't drive it
 

I had my engine seize last week, with the oil separator valve/ crankcase valve freezing and sticking. Pulled over and then tried to limp to the dealer, no dice, dead and BMW is being just terrible about it, terrrible to deal with.

Service manager recommended I call BMWNA and discuss my case.....said it's a 50/50 shot they'll re-imburse me somehow so I called and they wouldn't give me the time of day....go figure. So I go back to the dealer and asked him why he didn't give me any recommendations as to what I could have done to avoid my oil sep. from freezing when I was in there a month earlier for an oil change and asked if I should be concerned about the condensation under my oil cap. and he told me not to worry about it. Seemed like I was more aware of it than he was(thanks to you guys!!).
I leave and get a phone call later that BMW is picking up the tab!! : valve hoses, and dipstick tube. Service rep. said the only thing that saved me was that my oil changes were every 5000 mi's. It's great to have her back!!! love driving this car.
Driving a 01 3.0 manual and would like to know what exactly is the "cold weather package" other than insulated hoses and wonder what I can do to avoid the prob again? 0w-40 during winter/5w-30 summer. I drive approx 15 mi's to work. Do I have to get her on the highway for an hr. weekly???

I think its 0w-30 in the winter, and 10w-30 for any other season....I'm going to start using 0w-30 next winter....I've had my seperator replaced and valve cover gaskets as well...