[kenny2506]

hi there im new to this forum and was wondering if anyone could help me i have a 59 plate bmw 318i e90 n43 engine at 91k a few months back my oil pressure light came on intermittenly and would go back out then it stopped coming on altogether i whent to work on wednesday on the way there i noticed my car sounded a bit tappety for bout 10 mins and was smokier from the exhaust than normal and i could smell burning oil so i stopped the car parked it up and it looked like i had oil cumming out of my exhaust when i opend my bonnet my undertray was also coverd in fresh oil and was leaking onto the floor so i got the vehicle recoverd home after further inspection i noticed my waterpump n thermostat was coverd in oil (drivers side) but i cant find any major tracies of an oil leak whenn i drained my oil i had less than 2litres of oil in the car (it had oil n filter change done as part of service oct 2014) looking throught these forums it seem the symptoms are those of the cvv but there all for the n42 or n456 318 or 320 engines i cant find any info anywhere about my car or engine does my car have one if so where is it any help is greatly apriciated as i am stumped as to what could of caused this or whatis wrong

[Nodrog29]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

100% correct. I'm the service manager for an indy dealership and boy do we get through some breathers.

Best course of action for me is to always recommend its changed if in any doubt when going over the cars history when the service book or info regarding the cars history is given to me. Its a small price for the security it offers and can solve many issues the customers report. The shocking thing for many is finding cars that have been though the main dealer network that haven't had the work done and have eked the service intervals out to get max mileage between oil changes... on 320d's especially someone will pick up a nice £1500+bill if the basics are ignored.

As for this quote "speaking to one dealer the E90 does not need its breather valve replacing and should last the life of the car" my god but it shows that in many cases the front desk simply have no idea and are there to process customers and take the money... knowledge is key.. very worrying indeed as many customers would rely 100% on the info given to them by their dealer

I'm reviving an old quote here but hopefully you're still around!

I think I may be having problems with my crankcase breather on my 2009 N47 320d but the crankcase breather is integrated into the entire plastic rocker cover so does the whole thing need changing or is it possibly something else relating to the breather?

I had quiet a lot of oil around the crankcase breather hose that runs from the breather and joins on the large pipe from the air filter to turbo. I also had small amount of oil at the bottom of the charge cooler hoses.

Originally I thought it could be turbo related but the turbo bearings feel fine less than 1mm of play up and down and no play end to end. Plus the oil leak appears to start before the turbo. It's not a major leak I have been through about 0.5 litres of oil over 10,000 (motorway) miles.

My main cause for concern is that I can feel exhaust pulses when I take off the oil filler cap and dipstick. There's no fumes or smoke I can just feel the pulses and AFAIK it's supposed to be negative pressure at the filler. When the engine is running and I take off the pipe from the breather to turbo inlet I can feel weak pules coming from the crankcase breather but they aren't as powerful as the pulses at the oil filler cap.

I'm hoping this is breather related and not something more sinister like worn piston rings

The car has done 150k but it has it's oil changed every 10,000 miles or 6 months and most filters done annually. It usually sits on the motorway but does get the occasional spirited drive and I always make sure it's warm before I put my foot down.

Other point to note is that there is no other symptons......yet as it has full power, sounds fine at idle and at revs and there is no smoke or smell.

I have searched everywhere looking for answers but nothing relates to my engine it's all on the older engines loo roll or replaceable vortex types.

I hope you or someone can help

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Easty29

I'm reviving an old quote here but hopefully you're still around!

I think I may be having problems with my crankcase breather on my 2009 N47 320d but the crankcase breather is integrated into the entire plastic rocker cover so does the whole thing need changing or is it possibly something else relating to the breather?

I had quiet a lot of oil around the crankcase breather hose that runs from the breather and joins on the large pipe from the air filter to turbo. I also had small amount of oil at the bottom of the charge cooler hoses.

Originally I thought it could be turbo related but the turbo bearings feel fine less than 1mm of play up and down and no play end to end. Plus the oil leak appears to start before the turbo. It's not a major leak I have been through about 0.5 litres of oil over 10,000 (motorway) miles.

My main cause for concern is that I can feel exhaust pulses when I take off the oil filler cap and dipstick. There's no fumes or smoke I can just feel the pulses and AFAIK it's supposed to be negative pressure at the filler. When the engine is running and I take off the pipe from the breather to turbo inlet I can feel weak pules coming from the crankcase breather but they aren't as powerful as the pulses at the oil filler cap.

I'm hoping this is breather related and not something more sinister like worn piston rings

The car has done 150k but it has it's oil changed every 10,000 miles or 6 months and most filters done annually. It usually sits on the motorway but does get the occasional spirited drive and I always make sure it's warm before I put my foot down.

Other point to note is that there is no other symptons......yet as it has full power, sounds fine at idle and at revs and there is no smoke or smell.

I have searched everywhere looking for answers but nothing relates to my engine it's all on the older engines loo roll or replaceable vortex types.

I hope you or someone can help

I am still around..... just

If you're running an N47 and you are when you remove the filler cap a feeling/sensation of the cap sucking(pulses) like wise you can get issues when remvingrhe dip stick then you may well be right rethe integral breather system on the rocker cover, sad that they've gone over to this but hey that's progress. Cances are if you're cars done say 150k it'll of served its purpose rocker cover gaskets leak so if your's has started or indeed is leaking then its a good move going forward to perhaps kill 2 birds with one stone.

Motorways miles don't mean as much as you'd think but they do overall help reduce condensation on the filler cap area, but the way you're describing the symptoms you are facing it does sound breather related. The othe rthing on theecars especially at the mileage you are quoting is looming manifold and EGR issues (I won't mention turbo)as we are now seeing these engines in front of us with various issues but you are going about things it would seem the right way re changing your oil every 6 months as this will help reduce issue oil related going forward.

[Tripleking]

Sorry but I have a question? What is this yellow hose on my e90 06 325i? It's worn out and it's yellow. Took it to the dealership and they said its the crankcase breather hose but I just want to make sure it's the crankcase breather hose. Any help would be appreciated. It's right behind the intake manifold.

[TracerBMW]

Can anyone help with a 2007 330d E93 M57 6 cylinder diesel Vortex breather (crankcase Breather). I've seen that replacing the loo-roll type filter with an oil trap/separator can improve the turbo's performance/longevity and stop white smoke from the exhaust.
I've been looking on line for the replace valve, however, it does seam to be available for my car.
Can anyone recommend if these are better and were I can get one for my car?

Paul