[rapco]

Hey folks I will be sharing my experience with this case that has been an inconvenience; is still going so no conclusions yet.

For several months my car has been losing about a liter of oil in a monthly basis or around 2,000 km or less. There was no oil spots or anything in the garage.

Looking around seems like the obvious will be the head cover gasket as I can see some oil stick on the upper side of the engine.

Also reading countless of threads I was told to now we are going to replace the gasket do the vacuum pump, for time and money sake I did not plan to replace it.

So I gather all necessary items to do the gasket replacement, all original BMW.

1. Bunch of Screws for the head cover
2. Hard cover gasket
3. Sensor cover with screws
4. Spark plug housing o-rings top and bottom
5. Gasket sealant
6. Engine degreaser

Now I was doing that I decide to replace air filter, spark plugs and cabin filter.

I removed lots of parts in the cabin filter area I got access to the top engine. After struggling a bit I was able to take the cover off.

I had a hard time because I did not remove the wiring as I'm suppose too and after a while I figure out how to remove it and everything went ok.

Put back everything together following the only scarce information available in this engine and everything seems to be working right (and most important NOT extra screws laying around).

Now there is an strange sound and some white smoke. I figure out that probably is because I was cleaning the engine some of the oil went down the exhaust effectively burning it. I keep a close watch and leave it running in idle for about 30 min which pretty much clears all the white smoke.

Now I am having a feeling (yeah feeling) that is something off like the engine is running hotter than it supposed and that's backed by a noise I don't remember heard before around the lower left side of the engine which is where the pump is. Also now seems like it's a diesel kinda sound not gasoline.

I found a small drop of oil in the floor, can't tell where it came from and I am aware I leave some areas without cleaning because they were just too difficult to remove and I have no intention of hose down water in the engine bay. Could be an old spot going down or a new, don't know yet.

Now I am not confident I can run the car so I told my mechanic to see when he can check it, he told me the soonest will be next thursday.

Will update then.

[David0ff]

Hey Rapco ,

Good to hear you got the ballz to tackle something like this.
Most of us here do not have the first hand experience with the 4 cyl engine in this chassis.
You may want to poke around on the European or Asian subsection of this forum as they have the model you drive.

Good Luck

[rapco]

I tried that two different time in the UK forums as seems that model was sold in there too. But no comments both of my threads.

[David0ff]

Unfortunately those of us who don't have first hand experience can only speculate as to the possible issue you are encountering.

If you think there is oil seeping out following your work , use some kind of a mirror in the back of the engine to get a clear view of what is happening. Maybe you pinched a gasket when reinstalling and are getting no vacuum buildup and losing oil at the same time.

This seems to be a pretty good DIY guide for the vacuum pump on the N46.

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=33222

[rapco]

Thank you!

Very good find.

Will check on that tomorrow morning.

[rapco]

Hi!

Just to update other that may have that problem.

The mechanic I usually take my car to have seen that before; so it seems like a known thing in this engine.

We went ahead and replaced bunch of stuff and grind the motor head he told me grind is optional but highly recommended.

Bunch stuff replaced all with original parts:

11367506178
11367546379
11667509080
12141748398
11377502022
11427508969
11128655413
11377501015
11427508970
11427508971
11537583666
11537572159
11340029751
11317505608
11668626471
11127563412
83512355290
+spark plugs
+engine oil

Has been running perfect for few days.

[ozziewizzle]

Originally Posted by rapco

Hey folks I will be sharing my experience with this case that has been an inconvenience; is still going so no conclusions yet.

For several months my car has been losing about a liter of oil in a monthly basis or around 2,000 km or less. There was no oil spots or anything in the garage.

Looking around seems like the obvious will be the head cover gasket as I can see some oil stick on the upper side of the engine.

Also reading countless of threads I was told to now we are going to replace the gasket do the vacuum pump, for time and money sake I did not plan to replace it.

So I gather all necessary items to do the gasket replacement, all original BMW.

1. Bunch of Screws for the head cover
2. Hard cover gasket
3. Sensor cover with screws
4. Spark plug housing o-rings top and bottom
5. Gasket sealant
6. Engine degreaser

Now I was doing that I decide to replace air filter, spark plugs and cabin filter.

I removed lots of parts in the cabin filter area I got access to the top engine. After struggling a bit I was able to take the cover off.

I had a hard time because I did not remove the wiring as I'm suppose too and after a while I figure out how to remove it and everything went ok.

Put back everything together following the only scarce information available in this engine and everything seems to be working right (and most important NOT extra screws laying around).

Now there is an strange sound and some white smoke. I figure out that probably is because I was cleaning the engine some of the oil went down the exhaust effectively burning it. I keep a close watch and leave it running in idle for about 30 min which pretty much clears all the white smoke.

Now I am having a feeling (yeah feeling) that is something off like the engine is running hotter than it supposed and that's backed by a noise I don't remember heard before around the lower left side of the engine which is where the pump is. Also now seems like it's a diesel kinda sound not gasoline.

I found a small drop of oil in the floor, can't tell where it came from and I am aware I leave some areas without cleaning because they were just too difficult to remove and I have no intention of hose down water in the engine bay. Could be an old spot going down or a new, don't know yet.

Now I am not confident I can run the car so I told my mechanic to see when he can check it, he told me the soonest will be next thursday.

Will update then.

My car (06'318i M Sport 89k miles) was the same with regards to oil consumption up to the point that i was now adding 1litre of oil on a weekly basis. I had bluish smoke whenever moving off e.g from a red light etc. On this basis my garage told me it was either my CCV or Valve stem seals had seen better days. My car wasn't throwing any codes at all so it would have to be a 'mechanical' diagnosis. We decided to replace the CCV first as the cost was much less than the at a cost of replacing the valve stem seals. However, this did not solve my problem. In the end I bit the bullet and they went ahead and replaced the valve stem seals(took the opportunity to get other unrelated things changed since the head was out as well). One month on oil level is still at maximum and the engine not throaty anymore. Hope that helps