ccrellin

Hello all! First time poster and sadly it has to be for this...

I lent my girlfriend and her mother my '05 545i to go to the beach with and before I did, about two weeks ago it started making a whining sound. I can hear it when I am driving but if I accelerate, it goes away. I thought it was a belt but I took it to a shop and they sprayed a little lubricant and it didn't seem to do anything. They wanted me to make an appointment to have it checked out thinking that it could be a seal in the throttle body but they weren't sure. I didn't have time to take it in
Anyway, the other day the AC, which always comes on when I start it up, would come back on after I shut it off. Related? Probably not. Well....long story short, they are at the beach and the sound is much louder now and there is a little white smoke coming from the muffler when she accelerates.

What is going on? Is my car possessed? Is it a simple seal (god I hope so)? They are taking it to a shop tomorrow but I would really like to know what to expect!

p.s. I added the AC issue in since they plugged in two readers and couldn't get codes. Was a fuse blown that could have caused the AC and no-code issue?

AchtungE60

Seeming that this is your first post (by the way welcome to forum) that I take it you're not a DIYer.

White smoke coming out of tailpipes tells me that you have oil getting into your cylinders or some very shit gas was used.
How many miles on this car and when is the last time you changed spark plugs? Did you notice any oil getting to the plug?
When did you change your valve cover gasket/gaskets? Old one could be the cause of above.


AC coming on when starting depends on the last setting you put it at. normally it's best to turn the AC off when exiting a car. Are you stating that even if you activate the AC no lights would come on at ALL? Or that it just wasn't getting cold?


As far as the whine, Tensioner pulley bearings do tend to start to go out after this age and also belts due to weather/humidity change with everyday use. How long has it been since you changed belts anyway? This is a 2005 and although OE conti belts do last up to that long, they're probably cracked around the ribbing and in need of replacement anyway. IF the AC belt isn't already broken which it probably is if your AC cluster did come on but no cool air came out. Two belts are going to run you $40-$50 from Advanced Discount Auto. A tensioner should be about $55 or so. BMW changed to a different system (hydraulic) and you do not want to convert believe me. Get the tension pully from Pepboys those will be about $55 each. There are two but to find out what is causing the issue, do the belt change and see how it works out. If you hear an abnormal whine or chatter you take the AC belt off and test is the chatter gone? If yes it's probably that tension pulley (unlikely new belt)
If still there, take off the serpentine belt. Chatter gone? if so probably that tension pulley. So replace the one that is necessary.
From experience with BMW, It's probably not the AC side tension pulley.
It could be some other pulley but probably unlikely.

I think your problem is simple.
Fill up on premium gas, maybe a fuel system cleaner to boot.
Change the serpentine Idle tension pulley and both belts.
This will probably fix the issue.
After this the noise will probably go down or disappear. Normal for a BIT of noise from new belts for first 100 or so miles...same with brake rotors and pads while they break in.
After this start looking into plug swap and valve cover gasket/s replacement.


Oh by the way, codes only come up for logical (electronical ) issues not physical SO you will not get a code thrown for the any belt or any pulley but probably would if your spark is not up to par and getting misfires or whatnot from trapped oil.


Good luck

ccrellin

Thanks for the reply!

1. I would turn the AC off and a few seconds later, it would come back on. Cold air and all. Turn it off and again, in a few seconds, it comes back on. I am guessing gremlins.

2. She filled the tank up prior to the trip somewhere on 95, so I am guessing shit gas since I never had that problem.

3. 60k on the car so it could be the pulley's or bearings. AC on or off has no effect on the whine....it is there regardless.

4. This is a new car to me so I don't know when the last time the belts were changed, but the sound seems to be coming from somewhere not by the belts. I will take the top cover off and check closer when she comes back if the shop doesn't take care of it.

5. There is a check engine light so I was thinking that since the noise comes when off throttle, that it might be a throttle body gasket leak. The change in vacuum pressure and the code might mean that air is coming in past the MAF and causing a lean code? When I accelerate a vacuum is created causing the seal to re-seal? Thoughts?

AchtungE60

Please post the P code! You state "lean code" but that can also be gas related FYI. One time I filled up at the gas station and when i started up I immediately got a code for running lean.
So if you're into taking the valve cover off I assume that you are a DIYer. lol

1. Gremlins are common. Seriously. More common with battery issues.
2. when you say 95 i assume you mean interstate and not the octane of the gas? because 95 is high octane! lol
3. when i say pulley that pretty much is the bearing... no belt lube will be able to get rid of that...when the tensioner is at the end of it's life it's just at the end. The wine would more likely be associated with belt. You will hear a whine before a belt snaps. Inspect belts, it doesn't need to be rib cracks but frays in the belt. If you've never changed them I would assume age is going to be an issue although you have 60K.
I understand taht you have 60K miles (extremely low miles for that year)but age is important when it comes to the plastics on the car. The tensioner never gets a break. There is tension on the pulley since the belt was put on. When it's driven the pulley spins probably twice as fast as the RPM's because of it's size. It's like a 3" plastic pulley.

I have a 2004 325 and I just replaced belts lastnight. The car has about 62K on it I think. Belts were original and cracked up pretty bad...well serpentine was, the AC side has a fray in it. All my other Bimmers had an electric fan. this one has a fan clutch. Honestly it made no difference as I changed from the bottom...didn't have to remove anything besides underbelly pan after driving it up rhino ramps. Tight fit for my hands but it worked. I see people removing the fan and buying tools and so forth. Even using the T50 torx to take tension off the pulled. You can do that but if you use a 5/8" short socket and a long 3/8" rachet drive its like a 5 min job. It's quite funny to see people go the long way for no reason.

ccrellin

Well my girlfriend took it to a dealership who had a mechanic look at it. He said that it was a valve cover seal that is causing oil to get in and burn, hence the white smoke. He said this is also causing the whine (not sure how, but maybe he is right?). I think the valve cover should be a 30 min removal job? I am going to look for tutorials online. I bet I can do this is an hour total...

RTR

Valve cover gasket replacement on the V8 is time consuming.

You might find these links helpful:
https://5series.net/forums/topic/123...t-replacement/
http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/07/45/43
http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/07/45/46

AchtungE60

yes it's a bit more involved that one would think but still an easy DIY
I knew what the white smoke was from but the whine? I'll probably have to disagree with that one.