Bill109

05 525i m54 160k mi
Started my day today at 7 am on my way to work with what I believe is a cracked oil separator (Pcv valve) so early morning im stripping the bumper off the car to get it on the tow truck...
Within a 1/4 mile lost almost all the oil in the car, and had a huge cloud of smoke follow me to my stop where it was then towed.

Is this a common failure for bmws in cold weather? I let the car warm up for almost ten minutes this morning as it was Nearly 0 degrees out..

My findings include, a bunch of oil in the exhaust pipes.. And it looks like a bunch of oil was pushed out the valve cover. So I'm assuming the lines from the oil separator to ccv were clogged and the pressure built up and the cold weather allowed it to push the oil out of the valve cover and then burst the separator...?
Can anyone validate my theory or point me in a new direction? Cars at the Indy right now and I'm sure the bill iS going to hurt. What's a good price for this job? $
Note: I see on Ecs website a cold climate oil separator.. Worth it or just go Oem? All the lines will be replaced

vkhong

The improved OEM oil separator has an insulation jacket around it. The ECS Tuning unit does too. Based on the mfg part number listed by ECS Turning, it appears to fit the E60 M54 engine as well

KyleB

Yep, there are two versions. If you're in cold climate, you need to get the one with the insulator on it.

Sorry for the bad day, car breakdowns blow chunks.

Bill109

Do the current Oem replacements have the insulator on them?
Also.. What if oil got back into the motor. Are the injectors shot? I'm assuming since oil is costing the exhaust it ran through the motor... What would need to be replaced bedsides injected if this happened..?

Breaking down sucks, yes but it's a good time now to tackle a few other things while a good indys hands are in there..

KyleB

Here's your diagram showing the standard and cold-climate parts:

RealOEM.com BMW E60 530i Crankcase-Ventilation/oil separator

As for oil being in the cylinders, I wouldn't worry about it. Get a new system on the car, and fire it up. Any residual oil that's in the cylinders and exhaust system should burn off. Believe me you're not the first person to have that happen, but you did the right thing by shutting the car down before you ran the oil sump dry.