[j1gilles]

Originally Posted by Bakeme521

Haha the ignorance on this forum boggles my mind sometimes.

I highly doubt the car has a blown head gasket or even worse a cracked head. If it were a blown head gasket the car would lose coolant pretty quickly and it would do more than just misfire. I have cracked heads and blown head gaskets before, granted not on an n54, but there are quite a few more problems that arise than just a misfire or rarely oil in the coolant. Most of the time with a blown head gasket the car drinks coolant rather than oil being pushed into the coolant.

My money is when replacing the oil filter housing gasket they got some oil in your coolant and they didn't replace it like they told you, then you drove the car normally and it frothed up in the coolant. Or are there any gaskets or seals that separate oil and coolant anywhere else on this motor besides the head gasket? If so that could be your problem.

I would drain the oil and look at it, b/c with a head gasket issue normally coolant makes its way into the oil, not vice versa.

Has the car ever overheated before?

ignorance? Seems I was right... Read the Op's comment below. 95K on the original coolant and previous repairs that involved both coolant and oil led me to believe it was normal. The OP had no overheating issues or coolant in his oil. I was a ASE master tech for BMW and Audi for 11 years... I no longer turn wrenches but I would say my "opinion" is a little more than ignorant.

[j1gilles]

Originally Posted by joeyt

100% normal? Are you smoking something. That is some serious emulsification there matey. Theres nothing 100% notlrmal about it. Its those type of comments that will end up with his car potentially knackered.

OP: approach this with caution as I had a 335i vert 4 years ago that killed the head gasket after a wrecked water pump replacement. I sold it to a bmw garage with the damage stated at a loss of 3k over what it was worth. It started the same as yours. 2k down the line I then had water in my oil and was pulling custard from both coolant chamber and oil filler. Shortly after came a bottom end knock and bearing damage.

Im not scaring you just letting you know that this should be carefully monitored and not to listen to answeres from people with no first hand experience.

If you would actually read what the OP stated you would understand why I'm saying it is normal... He did not overheat, he has oil (or what looks like oil) in his coolant, not coolant in his oil, he has previous repairs that involved both the coolant and oil systems.

I have plenty of "first hand" experience matey... Do you? Sounds to me like you pay people to fix your car, is that what you are calling your "first hand" experience?

[j1gilles]

Originally Posted by Tommeh

Did an oil change last week and it look completely normal (checked the oil again today). Not overheating stays at 210 degrees f under normal operation.


I checked the coolant when I got home today after the distilled water cycled through the system and there is no longer a solid yellowish oil residue. There is a oily film on top of the water but not a concerning amount.

Also misfire is no longer present from a days driving. I think my issue was that the spark plugs where hand loose when I pulled the coil. Tightened to 16 FT pounds and seems fine.

happy to hear you got it figured out... I'm a big proponent to using a torque wrench when installing sparkplugs in aluminum headed cars. I've seen plugs blowout of the head and take threads with them because they were installed incorrectly.

[Bakeme521]

Originally Posted by j1gilles

ignorance? Seems I was right... Read the Op's comment below. 95K on the original coolant and previous repairs that involved both coolant and oil led me to believe it was normal. The OP had no overheating issues or coolant in his oil. I was a ASE master tech for BMW and Audi for 11 years... I no longer turn wrenches but I would say my "opinion" is a little more than ignorant.

Just stating that "it is normal and you should carry on" is highly ignorant statement, no matter what your skill level is as a mechanic.

Oil in your coolant is by no means a normal thing. Ok so the oil got in there from a repair, that may be something that is normal to happen in that repair so I can see why you would say that. But simply stating that oil in your coolant is normal with no backing as to how the oil may have gotten there helps no one resolve an issue.

[j1gilles]

Originally Posted by Bakeme521

Just stating that "it is normal and you should carry on" is highly ignorant statement, no matter what your skill level is as a mechanic.

Oil in your coolant is by no means a normal thing. Ok so the oil got in there from a repair, that may be something that is normal to happen in that repair so I can see why you would say that. But simply stating that oil in your coolant is normal with no backing as to how the oil may have gotten there helps no one resolve an issue.

You're right... Next time I will fully explain myself so people like you know what I'm talking about.

Giving misinformation and scaring people by providing uneducated opinions on what "might" be wrong with their car is ignorant'