Whats inside the Oil Separator ?
 

So my X5 threw a code the other day for Bank 2 Fuel Trim being maxed out. I looked around and saw that this is generally caused by the hoses on the back of the motor breaking and allowing unmetered air into the motor. I replaced the hoses with some heater hose from the local auto parts store last night. The car seemed to be running fine until smoke started pouring out on my drive home. I read on the forum that this is often caused by the Oil Separator being clogged/broken. I pulled the separator off to clean it and it looks like there is nothing inside it. Brake cleaner freely runs through all 3 holes. If I shoot air into any one hole air comes out of the other 2. Isnt this oil separator supposed to have something in it? A one way valve or something? Why else would you replace this thing and not just clean it?

TIA

it has a rubber diaphragm inside that becomes ruptured. like all other things rubber, it does not last forever. never put any aftermarket engine hoses on your car, you are asking for trouble. the crankcase vent hoses are cheap compared to the cost of multiple repairs and headaches with aftermarket parts.

Seriously? What a load of crap. Do you work for BMW or a stealership and have this spoon fed to you until you believe it? The BMW hoses melted into a puddle of crankcase vent blockage and massive vacuum leak. Instead I used a high quality goodyear hose designed to have oil based fluids inside of it without breaking down.

Goodyear® Engineered Products :: Fuel Line/PCV/Emission Control Hose SAE 30R7

It was simple to run, used OEM style worm gear clamps to attach, and it will route the crankcase gases into the overly complex BMW PCV valve for as long as I own the car. I dont have a ton of posts on this forum but damn...I dont want some new guy to read the quote above and think he has to spend $50 bucks at realoem on two 12" hoses when he could spend $3.50 at the local speed shop and get a better product. :rant:

:xoutpost2:good call Mechryn

If you think $50 is alot of money I would consider purchasing a vehicle in your range. Maybe a KIA or a ford. If your hoses were melted I would seriously consider looking further into why it melted. Did you overheat your engine? Maybe you don't care about resale value that's why you will put aftermarket hoses on there. But what happened after you replaced the hoses? Smoke came out? When you replace the crankcase vent valve you get 2 new hoses with them. Over time plastic becomes brittle so there are 2 others hoses you should replace. But I'm sure you can get some duct tape and some paper clips to put those hoses back on.

in general, i agree with Mechryn regarding aftermarket solutions to OE products (when people say always stick with OEM). I replaced my suspension on my M3 with all bilstein, and it was worlds better in all aspects - ride, handling, absorption, etc....

however, if you have all your hoses in a melt-like condition, you could be putting a bandaid on a larger problem. before saying the OEM parts are crap (if the parts were 100% to blame resulting in a mess, you'd probably hear a lot more people complaining on this site about them), there could be some other overheat issue or blockage in your oil passages.

what is the year, mileage and powertrain of your X5?

Everyone knows BMW hoses are crap and have always been so. I'd look into a better aftermarket replacement too.

I own a Chevrolet. It has 625hp. It has broken 0 times in the last 2 years. My X5 has broken 3 times in the two months I have owned it. Maybe I should get something else based on reliability and not cost concerns. Maybe cost isnt the only factor in making a decision around bending over a barrel to buy an inferior part.

The hoses were melted because BMW used a hose that deteriorates when it comes in contact with a petroleum based liquid. This is a very common problem on the forums and has caused many owners problems.

Resale on a 9y/o car with nearly 100k miles on it is unaffected by the presence of an aftermarket PCV hose. If it was a wiring harness, PCM, Seat, etc then yes...you might have a point.

The smoke came out because I had connected the nice new hoses to a failed crankcase vent. I pulled it out, replaced all the other hoses, cleaned the crankcase vent, and now the car runs fine and all the check engine lights are off. No duct tape or paper clips required. BTW, cleaning the vent is done by the dealer as well. It isnt a part that has to be replaced in all cases.

Not to get in a pissing match, but there is a time and a place to use oem parts and to use a higher quality aftermarket piece. When I see that BMW used a low quality hose on my car, I replace it with a quality aftermarket piece. Simple as that. Have fun replacing your pcv hoses frequently and paying the dealer through the nose for them.

Search for p1161 or CCV. See how many posts come up regarding these hoses disintegrating at ~70k miles. There are TONS of problems involving these hoses.

you may want to check the disa valve also. it takes 5 min. to check and is yet another issue. if i had to do the ccv/ hoses bullshit again i would move the valve to an accessible location and run the correct diamater aftermarket rubber hoses to it. it is poor design at it's peak. just because it's a bmw doesn't mean everything on the car is great. and any one who owns an x5 knows about flawed design.