This prob has been boggling my mind with no resolution in sight.

I have an 04 545i with 80K miles that smokes after sitting idle for a few minutes with the usual stab of the gas pedal. I have progressed with changing the updated passenger side valve cover and new crankcase hoses as documented in SIB 110107. All the crankcase vent valves are new and updated. No engine lights, idles great and accelerates well. The only problem is the puff of smoke accelerating from idle. It does not appear to be valve seals as there is no smoke during start up.

In addition, pulling out the oil cap will result in the car stumbling and dying. It appears there's lots of vacuum. Plenty of oil inside the old hoses. What on earth is causing the oil to be pulled into the intake?

 

If it is after the car idles for a period of time yes it is the valve seals. You can lesson the burning with the lucas additive as some of the others have tried



Normal these car have a closed crankcase. so when the oil cap is loose or off the motor, it will go lean, as false air is entering the motor.

 

This is what bad valve stem seals do as per your symptoms. Very common on the 8ers. You can do them yourself in a long weekend. Buy your valve stem seals from a vendor like RMEuropean, ECS, etc as well as upper timing case covers, & Valve cover gasket kit. You can rent the N62 timing kit and the valve spring toolkit from bimmertoolrental.com. Additives will not fix your issue and this is a valvetronic engine with very low vacuum. This is why you have a vacuum pump. Removing the VC oil cap will not greatly affect the combustion of the engine due to this. Only the idle a little bit.

Couple of tricks.
(1) Remove the blower cover / ducting just in back of the rear of the engine for access.
(2) Remove the engine hoist connections.
(3) Unbolt the AC line on the passenger side so you can slide it out of the way when needed. (i dont mean disconnect it).
(4) go to a pool supply store and get teflon grease for the spark plug tubes. They are crazy hard to get back in without.
(5) When installing the cover push down on the cover but then tilt it towards the side of the car it faces so the short bolts get threaded in first. Then thread the larger bolts up top and evenly tighten down. Make sure no gaps exist or it will leak.

 

I don't think it's the valve seals as the hoses were filled with oil that was being drawn into the intake manifold. Any thoughts?

 

Oil in the lines and intake is perfectly normal. 3 things known to cause smoking on your car. CCV, Bad Rings, Bad Seals.

CCV failure will cause severe running issues along with smoking. (ccv smoking gets worse as the car runs)
Do a compression check to see the condition of your rings. (bad rings dont stop smoking)
If those come up clean, ITS YOUR VALVE STEM SEALS. (this are worse at idle and clear up or minimal with the car above idle)

 

I agree with about 90% of what you say. and it really does not pertain to the oil issue however...


Try driving the car like this. LOL

Car will Start to misfire and have multiple misfire codes...

and depending on the amount of air entering the crankcase the car may not even make it to cruising speeds.

 

Well boys & girls - the price of replacing valve stem seals is about to nose dive. i just witnessed AGAs (All German Auto - Escondido, CA) new tool that allows you to replace both intake & exhaust valve stem seals without removing the cams. No, it's not a typo - I did say intake valve seals. I didn't believe it at first either - But I saw it with my own eyes.

 

More info please. Did you get your seals done?

 

They have my car now - I witnessed the install on another vehicle.

 

Yes I did - Picked it up today.

Authorized sneak peek of new N62 valve stem seal tool by All German Auto - Escondido, CA



Allows you to replace the valve stem seals on a BMW N62 without removing the cams.
The tool kit will be complete.
Valve compression rods for intake and exhaust.
Brushes to plug oil returns.
Ratcheting wrench for compression.
Control handle for compression rods.
Spark plug hole plugs with center bore for T. D.C indicator.
6.0 mm valve keeper install tool.

** Will be available in about a month **