E53 Diesel Exhaust Leak
 

Hi ,Has anybody had any issues with exhaust leaks around the exhaust manifold-turbo area on a E53 diesel .Mine has a relatively small exhaust gas leak but I am wanting to repair it before it gets worse ,today I removed as many covers as possible,air filter etc but still cannot locate the leak due to the amount of covers etc that cant be removed without dismantling the engine.Not sure if this may be a common issue or not as when I was looking to purchase this X5 almost all the others had a diesel soot mark around the A/C hose area that runs near the turbo.Also does the oil separator and EGR valve require replacement/cleaning on a regular basis ?

ive seen discussions on the UK site where people have had cracked exhaust manifolds, it seems they are pressed metal (Tin) and NOT cast iron as in the good old days, they tried repairing it by welding but it warped slightly and wouldn't seal to the head.

they ended up putting a replacement on. might be worth looking at, apparently if you can get in there you can see the black stain from the exhaust gasses.

Hi Skier, your in Newcastle to, thats three of us so far. Regarding the EGR valve I cleaned mine a number of times but ended up replacing it which has reduced the exhaust soot dramatically, I have a supplier in UK cheap if needed, also one of the critical components is the crankcase oil breather if you have'nt already replaced it, you may have seen my post on the AUS forum. With the exhaust, I have a great mech in town who has done my cars for over 20 yrs, very cluey on X5s. You can send me a PM if you want happy to help where I can. Cheers.

Hey Hunter, who is your egr supplier if you dont mind me asking ?

Hi OZ, BMW Car Parts,Spares,Accessories,Motormec,UK is the supplier I have been using, good people the deal with, they usually deliver to my door in 7 days. I paid $264AUD for the EGR valve which was less than half price from buying it here. ( no surprise )

Hi Guys,

A Diesel driver from southern suburbs of Sydney.

I just wanted to drop in an say that the best parts place is right here in Australia, usually overnight delivery and OEM parts about 1/2 to 2/3rds cheaper than BMW. Talk to Cliff at Parts Agent Australia (PM me for phone number/email).

With respect to your manifold question, the exhaust manifold can get cracks (easily).. I cant find it now, but there is a good writeup of what the manifold looks when it is cracked and how to inspect.. Do a Google search and you will find it.

When I inspected mine, I used a mirror that I could just fit down around the turbo and view.. Lucky, I didnt have that issue (yet).

You cant repair the manifold as it has been mentioned, it will warp and wont fit properly.

Keep us posted.

Regards,
Rob

I have had this exhaust leak noise only when the engine was cold and could be heard when having to accelerate into traffic. I went and investigated this on the weekend.

Yes a cracked manifold in two places either side of the turbo inlet. You need a mirror and a good torch to see it. The manifold is not cast iron rather it looks like S/Steel to me. The tell tale is exhaust soot on the waste gate can/diaphragm and also on the inner mud guard or strut tower on my car.

I am speaking with Cliff at partsagent.com.au about this part now.

I also have an oil leak dripping from under the compressor housing which I need to get tot the bottom of. PCV valve was changed 15K ago so I am hoping it isn’t the turbo seals, rather it is oil vapour getting past the PCV valve and leaking from the hoses externally on it way to the turbo inlet.

Starting to question why came back to BMWs after so many years or reliability with Subaru and Mazda.

Cheers, Dan.

Dan, did you ever get your exhaust manifold repaired or replaced? Did you consider a cast iron replacement instead of the original stainless steel which is prone to cracks?

G'day Deep Blonde?

Yes I had the manifold replaced by Autologic in Bentleigh. I look into the cast iron version when I found out that the manifold looks like 2 layers of pressed tin but the versions around at the time suited the earlier model engine. I could not find anyone in Oz who has either got one to inspect or has had it fitted so that I could do some comparisons. The OEM unit is typical BMW design over durability, much like the stupid design of the door handles that fail!

From what I now know, they crack due to high EGTs. The most common reasons are -
Towing 1t or more (the previous owner of my car towed a 2t powered trailer.. Discovered that after the purchase!)
Rechipped/Reflashed or fuel delivery upped to increase power without attending to the increased exhaust gas flow, and subsequent EGT increase.


BTW, love the Lemans blue.
Cheers, Dan.

Yep,you are right,bad manifold design and material and should have been made of more durable cast iron.
High EGTs makes them crack even quicker,however ,we get this problem on all 3.0D engines even stock!
Here is an example of where it usually cracks

I'm going to get a cast iron manifold , are the ports in different positions so earlier manifolds wont fit? Does anyone know? I want to replace it by going underneath , without removing the intake or injectors, has anyone done it that way, please share your knowledge ?

As far as I remember you can't do it all from underneath unless you are an experienced proctologist. The air cleaner assembly is above the manifold and removing that means removing all the duct work on the firewall etc. The guys at Autologic did mine as well as the PCV valve and the glow plugs at the 200K service.

I would be very interested to see your comaprison between the manifolds. Check to see if the ports match the gasket. The one I saw on the net had the EGR port coming off cylinder one only. Having less exhaust gas in the intake tract is not ideal for emissions, but I am not sure what effect there is on partial throttle tune. Closed or Full throttle will be unaffected.

Cheers

I'm already bypassing the egr. That was the first thing I tried when I first noticed some exhaust smell.
Can't notice any difference in driving with the egr bypassed, except less hesitation when taking off.
I'm not 100% sure it is the manifold , but everyone says they crack, a mech told me he'd never seen one that didn't have at least a few cracks...

It could be the turbo, I noticed one morning what looked like a stream of exhaust coming out from my front right hand wheel arch whilst I was waiting to turn right, but then it disappeared later...

I've changed the air cleaner element, and are going to replace the breather , just got to find an E-torx socket to get it off, never seen one like it before.
If I have to remove the intake , I'll do it, but I've read the injectors can weld themselves in and be hell to remove.
I'll remove the covers, air cleaner etc, and then go underneath, after I find a cast iron manifold...

Hi Yes you can do the whole job from underneath ,I replaced my manifold with a cast unit.I put the vehicle up on blocks about 6" high ,removed the underpan and done the majority from underneath .The only items I removed from the top were some hoses etc and the air cleaner assembly .No way did I want to remove all the injectors etc when there was no issue with them .It wasnt a bad job to do ,just took my time and a bit of patience.Replaced the turbo while I was at it as well.No leaks now.The ports etc on the manifold I removed and the new cast iron unit I fitted was exactly the same.Only done about 20,000 k since it was replaced and all good so far.

Well , you the man! :2thumbs:
I wanted to know if it could be done without removing the injectors, that's a relief.
The turbo, I'm thinking whether to replace it just to be safe, but they're not cheap.

Did you have to remove turbo to get to the manifold?
Did you just use WD40 to loosen up the bolts?

The cast iron manifold you used, was it from a earlier BMW diesel or a new cast iron manifold made in the the same design as the stainless one more or less?

Yes I had to remove the turbo to get the manifold off the bolts that hold it to the manifold are accessible from the base of the air cleaner assembly,there are a few plugs you remove to get to the bolts,from memory they are a 12 point headed bolt.The manifold I used was a brand new unit I imported from the UK.I purchased original gaskets ,new exhaust manifold nuts etc from BMW.I used a high quality penetrating oil and soaked all the manifold nuts with it as the last thing I wanted was a broken stud. A bit of the work was by feel but as I said earlier it wasnt a bad job.I replaced the turbo as it was leaking oil,a tell tale sign is a bit of oil apppears where the tube goes into the intercooler and runs down the underpan.If you have any more questions let me know.

Nice work Skier1.
I looked into this 2 years ago and have always regretted not fitting the cast iron manifold. I am not sure why the injectors need to be removed? as mine were not touched.

Did you notice any difference in the engine noise as mine has an exhaust resonance from the OEM manifold at 2500 especially when cold.
Cheers Dan.

I dont drive the vehicle too much ,its my wifes car so I cant really say whether it made any difference to engine noise.