engine breather filter
01-22-2010, 08:14 AM
#52
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Damn i wish i had read this before i spent and fitted ?46 of oil separator. I knew of the foamy thing that needed replacing. A bit concerned when i could not find such a filter in the old unit, before i realised after completing the job i had just replaced an identical part... Doh.. Im suprised as mine is 11/04 build but anyway.
The reason i was replacing the filter was due to an oil leak from the inlet manifold. Yes wait i will explain. Oil is being sucked through the manifold from the cam cover and was leaking through the dreaded swirl valve actuator shafts all down the LH side of the engine.
I have replaced the swirl flaps with blanking plates as brilliantly detailed elsewhere on the forum, so that should stop my external oil leak.
I cannot deduce why oil is going through the manifold into the engine though. Im only talking about a little, (but enough to make a hell of a mess when outside the engine). I do not need to top the oil up between services so its not a great issue, just i dont have the answer.
Anybody help??
The reason i was replacing the filter was due to an oil leak from the inlet manifold. Yes wait i will explain. Oil is being sucked through the manifold from the cam cover and was leaking through the dreaded swirl valve actuator shafts all down the LH side of the engine.
I have replaced the swirl flaps with blanking plates as brilliantly detailed elsewhere on the forum, so that should stop my external oil leak.
I cannot deduce why oil is going through the manifold into the engine though. Im only talking about a little, (but enough to make a hell of a mess when outside the engine). I do not need to top the oil up between services so its not a great issue, just i dont have the answer.
Anybody help??
01-24-2010, 01:30 AM
#53
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Originally Posted by Robbage' post='1095695' date='Jan 22 2010, 06:14 PM
Damn i wish i had read this before i spent and fitted ?46 of oil separator. I knew of the foamy thing that needed replacing. A bit concerned when i could not find such a filter in the old unit, before i realised after completing the job i had just replaced an identical part... Doh.. Im suprised as mine is 11/04 build but anyway.
The reason i was replacing the filter was due to an oil leak from the inlet manifold. Yes wait i will explain. Oil is being sucked through the manifold from the cam cover and was leaking through the dreaded swirl valve actuator shafts all down the LH side of the engine.
I have replaced the swirl flaps with blanking plates as brilliantly detailed elsewhere on the forum, so that should stop my external oil leak.
I cannot deduce why oil is going through the manifold into the engine though. Im only talking about a little, (but enough to make a hell of a mess when outside the engine). I do not need to top the oil up between services so its not a great issue, just i dont have the answer.
Anybody help??
The reason i was replacing the filter was due to an oil leak from the inlet manifold. Yes wait i will explain. Oil is being sucked through the manifold from the cam cover and was leaking through the dreaded swirl valve actuator shafts all down the LH side of the engine.
I have replaced the swirl flaps with blanking plates as brilliantly detailed elsewhere on the forum, so that should stop my external oil leak.
I cannot deduce why oil is going through the manifold into the engine though. Im only talking about a little, (but enough to make a hell of a mess when outside the engine). I do not need to top the oil up between services so its not a great issue, just i dont have the answer.
Anybody help??
Now I know how to solve it (it has been partially solved already as I replaced the oil breather). Dont think I have oil loss now, but will only know after some time and probably after I have cleaned the engine side.
As mine has a build date 09/04 and I am also worried about the swirl flaps - in what condition were yours? Were they the reinforced type with 4.5 mm axles?
01-24-2010, 02:18 AM
#54
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Hi
Yes mine were of the new larger type. So theoretically they should have been ok. In reality they looked ok as well, although i understand it only needs one of the mounting screws to go into the engine and its all over. In other words you really cannot tell unless you try undoing all the screws with a screwdriver and noting how tight they were. My car is a 54 plate.
There is an excellent article here http://www.pmwltd.co.uk/swirl_flaps.pdf and i cannot recommend these guys highly enough, they really do know their stuff, and are full of good advice. They will send you both sizes of plates out and they refunded the smaller ones instantly when i returned them. Unlike the muppets at a BMW dealership.
However these plates have 'sealed' my manifold from the dreaded oil leak. As an added precaution i inserted the o ring supplied blanking plates with silicon also just to be sure.
I note in the service book from my car, BMW replaced my separator the last service before i had it, and i have had this minor leak since i have owned it for 30,000 miles driven. So i would deduce that BMW attempted to stop the leak with a new separator, however it did not work. There are absolutely no other indications of any problems with my engine, no smoking, crank pressure etc, so im happy it is now resolved, i have no oil leak.
P.s. Cleaning the mess underneath the engine was not a fun job at all, the plastic undercover butts up against a reinforcement plate, that all has to come off to remove an oil sandwich filling between the two. Buy lots and lots of solvent cleaner its the only way to do a decent clean up job.
Good luck
Yes mine were of the new larger type. So theoretically they should have been ok. In reality they looked ok as well, although i understand it only needs one of the mounting screws to go into the engine and its all over. In other words you really cannot tell unless you try undoing all the screws with a screwdriver and noting how tight they were. My car is a 54 plate.
There is an excellent article here http://www.pmwltd.co.uk/swirl_flaps.pdf and i cannot recommend these guys highly enough, they really do know their stuff, and are full of good advice. They will send you both sizes of plates out and they refunded the smaller ones instantly when i returned them. Unlike the muppets at a BMW dealership.
However these plates have 'sealed' my manifold from the dreaded oil leak. As an added precaution i inserted the o ring supplied blanking plates with silicon also just to be sure.
I note in the service book from my car, BMW replaced my separator the last service before i had it, and i have had this minor leak since i have owned it for 30,000 miles driven. So i would deduce that BMW attempted to stop the leak with a new separator, however it did not work. There are absolutely no other indications of any problems with my engine, no smoking, crank pressure etc, so im happy it is now resolved, i have no oil leak.
P.s. Cleaning the mess underneath the engine was not a fun job at all, the plastic undercover butts up against a reinforcement plate, that all has to come off to remove an oil sandwich filling between the two. Buy lots and lots of solvent cleaner its the only way to do a decent clean up job.
Good luck
01-24-2010, 11:40 AM
#55
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wow.. I got 1 liter of the solvent this morning and I thought that would be plenty.. lol luckily I will attack the situation only after the weather warms up, so there is time to prepare properly
thanks for all info, I know about PMW and have the article. i hoped I can get away only with inspecting and cleaning the flaps and maybe installing new o-rings, but not so sure anymore whether this will eliminate an oil leak (though at the moment I dont think I have one).
let's see, I will know more when i clean up and open up the engine. the actual blanking plates installation can still be done as a second step.
thanks for all info, I know about PMW and have the article. i hoped I can get away only with inspecting and cleaning the flaps and maybe installing new o-rings, but not so sure anymore whether this will eliminate an oil leak (though at the moment I dont think I have one).
let's see, I will know more when i clean up and open up the engine. the actual blanking plates installation can still be done as a second step.
03-07-2010, 11:30 PM
#56
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Ok I have sussed the oil leak when replacing my exhaust manifold recently. It's coming from the turbo oil seals it was quite obvious when removing the turbo outlet pipe. However it's only small and it's been there for 2 years plus so it's not really a cause for concern.
The leak appears much further downstream from the swirl flap actuator shafts in the inlet manifold. Anyway easily solved with blanking plates there as I have described above. Just to help some other members out if they have a similar leak. It does NOT require a new turbo despite what your dealer mght tell you unless your losing lots of oil. Mine is not noticeable on dipstick.
The leak appears much further downstream from the swirl flap actuator shafts in the inlet manifold. Anyway easily solved with blanking plates there as I have described above. Just to help some other members out if they have a similar leak. It does NOT require a new turbo despite what your dealer mght tell you unless your losing lots of oil. Mine is not noticeable on dipstick.
08-20-2010, 03:28 AM
#57
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Hi,
I have 09/2007 525d facelift 145 kw. I decided to look breather condition and after removing brether, I was very surprised... There was no filter element inside! I thougt, someone has saved some mony before selling and just thrown filter element away. Decided to buy now one from BMW dealer and they gave me exactly the same...no filter inside the case. Part nr is 11127794597 and the picture even do not show separate filter
http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E6...er_head_cover/
Has anyone struggled this problem? Should there be filter element inside or this is this some kind of new solution? Breather is looking like this...
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/8735/img5143o.jpg
I have 09/2007 525d facelift 145 kw. I decided to look breather condition and after removing brether, I was very surprised... There was no filter element inside! I thougt, someone has saved some mony before selling and just thrown filter element away. Decided to buy now one from BMW dealer and they gave me exactly the same...no filter inside the case. Part nr is 11127794597 and the picture even do not show separate filter
http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E6...er_head_cover/
Has anyone struggled this problem? Should there be filter element inside or this is this some kind of new solution? Breather is looking like this...
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/8735/img5143o.jpg
08-20-2010, 09:59 AM
#58
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That's right, Jario!
My 09.2006 530D with M57N2 engine does not have an oil separator too. It seems they have decided to remove it entirely as obsolete part. There is no such item listed on realoem.com too, so don't worry it is normal
Even without it, it's a good idea to replace the breather every 30000 miles or so.
My 09.2006 530D with M57N2 engine does not have an oil separator too. It seems they have decided to remove it entirely as obsolete part. There is no such item listed on realoem.com too, so don't worry it is normal
Even without it, it's a good idea to replace the breather every 30000 miles or so.
09-12-2010, 07:20 AM
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My Ride: BMW 530D E60
My M57N2 engine also does not have a element inside the breather box. Spoke with an experienced BMW technician who told me they did away with the loo roll type and replaced with vortex type. BMW were still experiencing some problems (even with vortex type) so stopped fitting them altogether on later models.