It’s been a little while. Since Christmas I have been chasing a problem on the Bimmer.
Driving home the day after Christmas, the Service Engine light came on. She got us home but died in the driveway. Luckily she started right up and I put her int the garage. Last couple of miles there was a persistent whistle. End up tracking it down to a blocked crank case breather, which requires a valve cover replacement. In the mean time I changed the water pump, thermostat, camshaft sensor, cleaned VANOS solenoids, replaced a leaking oil filter mounting plate gasket and took 106,000 miles of road dirt off of her. Luckily I haven’t had any major problems up to this point. I have attached some pics.
Almost Two years ago I started noticing a greasy build up around the inside of the oil filler cap. I don’t know what causes this, I’m guessing too long oil change intervals. I won’t be following the BMW recommended interval any more. 5k miles at most for me now. The crank case breather is integrated into the valve cover. You can see why this was a problem.
Tight area to work in.
Engine Before the Valve Cover Replacement
Just Popped the Valve Cover
Cams All Gunked Up With Sludge
More Sludge
VANOS All Gunked Up With Sludge
Sludge Around VANOS
Sludge Around the Exhaust VANOS
Cleaned Up The Sludge
More Clean Up
Cleaned Up Sludge, Luckily it Dissolves With Oil
Sludge Inside of the Valve Cover
Sludge Inside the Valve Cover
