Hello everyone, I'm new in this forum so please help. My 03 X5, which is used to drive to work about 30 mile city road each way, had a smokey problem from the exhaust. Also noticed the oil cap had yellow sludge. About 6 months ago, when it first occured, it was said to have "internal oil leak" problem resulting from not being driven long highway at high speed. Service was done by flushing out and refill with new oil. Problem went away and it was recommented to drive the car at least 30 min at highway speed at least once a week (because I don't work far from home so the car isn't driven far often), and I did just so. I saw another threads which explain the cause of this problem with similar recommendation. Well, this problem has come back this past week. First noticed by the "check engine oil level" warning, then when checked, I noticed the oil cap is covered with yellowish sludge. I added a quart of 5w30 (bmw brand). The smokey problem reoccured later in the day. This problem seems to be a "bimmer nature" and I wonder if anyone out there has it happened repeatedly? The suggestion of driving at least 30 min at high speed to eliminate the condensation isn't seem to work. Any quick fix for this X5 at this time would be appreciated. Thanks.

you gotta get it running at highway speeds for at least 30 minutes on a regular basis. in your case change the oil/filter and put some miles on it. take a good long road trip.

You need to change your oil separator valve before the engine hydrolocks. Ask me how I know.

Thanks for quick replies, appreciated.

Jokermoe, I've tried to put mile on the truck but since the commute is local road, it'sn't done on a daily, but I do try on highway. Would oil/filter change would solve the problem this stage or will it be a oil flush service again?

1986325es, any idea if this oil separator valve cost? How much the bimmer dealer would charge for this service?

Thanks

Its not just the separator valve but the hoses too. I had mine done under warranty but mine hydrolocked and blew the valve cover apart the car had to be towed. I'm sure if I had to pay it would have been $1000 easy, The parts alone were probably $500-valve, hoses, valve cover, gaskets, spark plugs.

My valve is plugging up again and I'm fixing it myself. The valve part is $47, I'll have to clean and reuse the spark plugs ($20 each new), and clean out the separator hoses and reuse. It didn't blow the valve yet and I'm not waiting. Right now it has symptoms like you are seeing.

Thanks 1986325es. Mine isn't hydrolocked yet (knock on wood), do you think an oil change at this time would prevent it from further problem, or the separator valve need to be replaced asap? I wondered if having the car running idle longer time before the trip to work (for bimmer owner who don't live too far from work) would be the same as driving at least 30 min to prevent the condensation problem? Any idea? Thanks for the info.

how often do you do an oil change? 7500 miles or once a year should be the minimum.

Sure, you can be the guinea pig to see just how far you can push it before it locks up. You never know, it could fix itself. Keep us posted. Keep track of how many miles you drove it too, that way in the future I will have a better idea how far I can let it go before it fails.

OldMCR,
The tech at dealer said 1/yr or 15K. I read from car bible, and think that they're all estimatiion firgures anyway. Of course, new oil is better than old but how old when the viscosity of the oil becomes an issue is between 5-8K miles. Bimmer service is expensive, an oil change is around 200 bucks, and what we get out of it is the sludge if you don't take your car out for long trip often.

1986325es, I don't want to be a guinea pig on dealing with the problem, but the time isn't favorable for me at this time. The tech guy said "beat up on it with mileage" for now, too. So, I guess I'm taking chance for the time being.

Hey, I heard that bimmer has 30% employee discount on parts. If we can find the tech who want to do outside work for extra income, that should help to reduce the cost of service a little bit. Anyone in Philadelphia area?

OldMCR,
The tech at dealer said 1/yr or 15K. I read from car bible, and think that they're all estimatiion firgures anyway. Of course, new oil is better than old but how old when the viscosity of the oil becomes an issue is between 5-8K miles. Bimmer service is expensive, an oil change is around 200 bucks, and what we get out of it is the sludge if you don't take your car out for long trip often.

1986325es, I don't want to be a guinea pig on dealing with the problem, but the time isn't favorable for me at this time. The tech guy said "beat up on it with mileage" for now, too. So, I guess I'm taking chance for the time being.

Hey, I heard that bimmer has 30% employee discount on parts. If we can find the tech who want to do outside work for extra income, that should help to reduce the cost of service a little bit. Anyone in Philadelphia area?

dude, drive it down here and i will change the oil for $100. you buy the oil and filter.

first of all find an independant BMW mechanic in your area. secondly, change your oil every 7500 miles. BMW corporate changed their recommended service intervals when they instituted the 4 year free maintenance. the intervals have been doubled in most cases. it's not like oil all of a sudden got better.

thirdly, spend $40 and join BMWCCA. you will get a great publication called Roundel. inside you will find a rather informative section regarding tech. and most dealers offer a 10% discount on parts to CCA members. you could use that discount to buy the filter ($8.50) and the 7 qts of oil ($49.00). then take the extra $140 and buy a set of ramps, an oil drain pan and a cheap socket set. job takes 20 minutes once you get the knack of it.

oil sludge is not because you are not driving enough or hard enough. it is because you are using the oil too long. the condensation issue is due to the vehicle not getting hot enough.

OldMcR, thanks for the offer, but NO THANKS. What were you so angry about :)? I guess you misunderstood my whole problem. First of all, the milky yellowish or whitish sludge (or sludge lookalike), which were mentioned in the very first thread, is not the same kind of old dark sludge you talked about. If you read the thread by 1986325es with his problem and the explanation by Critter7 (the thread about class action suit on this same forums page), that the kind of oil sludge problem I've talked about. If your bimmer hasn't had this problem yet, good luck to you. How often have the oil been changed on my X5? that was mentioned in my ealier thread, so to spell it out, yes it was changed < 7500 miles, and <1yr ago....By the way, this forums should be a helpful place for hard working people exchange info, man. I appreciated you spent the time to respond but don't get so personal and angry about what other people wrote (that's not good for your health). If you can help with the experienced you had, great. We all appreciated that, but you don't have to lecture us on sign up for something or do something when you don't understand the problem accurately. Oil change isn't hard to do, but where I live the regulations don't allow to do so if you can't hide inside your garage.
Just relax dude!

OldMcR, thanks for the offer, but NO THANKS. What were you so angry about :)? I guess you misunderstood my whole problem. First of all, the milky yellowish or whitish sludge (or sludge lookalike), which were mentioned in the very first thread, is not the same kind of old dark sludge you talked about. If you read the thread by 1986325es with his problem and the explanation by Critter7 (the thread about class action suit on this same forums page), that the kind of oil sludge problem I've talked about. If your bimmer hasn't had this problem yet, good luck to you. How often have the oil been changed on my X5? that was mentioned in my ealier thread, so to spell it out, yes it was changed < 7500 miles, and <1yr ago....By the way, this forums should be a helpful place for hard working people exchange info, man. I appreciated you spent the time to respond but don't get so personal and angry about what other people wrote (that's not good for your health). If you can help with the experienced you had, great. We all appreciated that, but you don't have to lecture us on sign up for something or do something when you don't understand the problem accurately. Oil change isn't hard to do, but where I live the regulations don't allow to do so if you can't hide inside your garage.
Just relax dude!

precisely tricad. good luck with it. later dude. :wavey

Tricad - any update on this issue? You described my current problem exactly on my '04 x5 3.0 with 77k miles. I'm considering getting an oil separator kit.