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Hey Chez, check out my thread here, as I have been going through the same thing with the same motor; http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/48568-ccv-valve-help/ Basically these engines leak oil like a sieve, but there is things you can do to prevent it. The ccv (also called the oil seperator, or cvv) gets blocked and puts pressure on the rest of the engine. So the oil goes for the easiest escape route which is usually a gasket or o-ring somewhere. If you fix the leak, it will just leak again in either the same place or somewhere new, so its always best to fix the cause which 99% of the time is the ccv. If you leave the blocked ccv you will end up with the oil eventually leaking through the valve seals and into the cylinder which is expensive to repair. Unfortunately that is the stage I am up to as the previous owner didn't maintain the car properly. After you have fixed the ccv, then fix all the leaks. If you live in Auckland I'm happy to show you what I have learned.

New ccv and new ccv hoses have been installed. The coke bottle oil catcher was just a test to make sure the new ccv and hoses were working. The plugs were replaced about 2 months ago. I pulled the first one out recently and it looked clean.

Anyone? Should I take it into Glenn at Botany Motor Worx for a scan with his gear, and an emissions test?

Time for an update. All necesary oil seals and gaskets done except the sump gasket. The sump gasket is leaking a tiny tiny amount but its a major job to do as you need to drop subframe, support engine, get new wheel alignment etc. So I tightened the bolts at the leaking areas slightly above the torque specs. Did an oil flush and changed for new castrol 5w30 synthetic, with new filter and new gasket for the oil filter housing. Those that were behind me on the bimmersport day on Sunday would have seen I was still burning some oil. Sorry about that lol. That left valve seals (ouch) or something blocked somewhere I had missed. So I replaced the ccv pipe with a longer one going into a coke bottle to make a home made oil catchment tank. I then blocked the hole on the inlet manifold. I went for a big drive today and still oil is being burnt out the exhaust, so that points to valve stem seals or the need for a valve grind, or both. Then I ran a scan with the torque pro app, and it brought up this; "TID:$01 CID:$15 Rich to lean sensor threshold voltage (constant) Min: 4,096 Current: 737" Maybe its a failed o2 sensor and my car is burning fuel, not oil? I cant find any info on the net about this code except I think it is the sensor before the first cat. Can anyone shed some light on this? My rear cat has been removed, the internals removed, and then replaced, but this shouldnt throw a o2 sensor code right? Any help appreciated.

Spray brake cleaner on different parts of your inlet manifold etc while the motor is running, and if the engine revs a bit higher when you are a spraying a certain point - there is your leak.

Thanks for the advice. I checked the brake booster and there was no oil in it thank goodness. The drive belt and radiator need replacing though The previous owner(s) really didnt maintain this car. I did all the seals on the vanos and cam sensors at the front of the motor, and the seal on the dipstick tube.

I did the vacuum pump today with new viton seals, and for anyone that is interested the torque settings are; 12nm for the torx screws that hold the housing together. 10nm for the 3 bolts that mount the pump to the motor. You will also need a new hose clamp as the old style can only be used once. It was very tricky to get the pump in because of the limited space but I managed it. I used a smaller 1/4 inch torque wrench as the space was so tight.

Cost me $112, but you can get them from milland for $99.

Does anyone know the torque settings for the 5 torx screws that hold the vacuum pump together?

Thanks, I picked up the orings plus the orings for the vacuum pump and the dipstick today. I bought the more expensive viton ones, as they are far superior to the standard bmw ones. My oil seperator arrived today too.

Can anyone tell me where the vanos seals are? Is it #5 on this image? http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=EX52&mospid=47663&btnr=11_3296&hg=11&fg=15

Well, my parts have still not arrived after ordering them on Wednesday. Normally I use Paul at Milland as he is excellent, but he was temporarily out of stock so I went with another bmw supplier. I will not make that mistake again. In the meantime I thought I'd do a few things while I wait for the oil seperator to arive; I bought some Castrol 5w30 fully synthetic oil and a ryco filter in prep for the oil change I will do in a week or so. I bought a new gasket to do the oil filter / cooler housing at the same time. Repco had a great special on this weekend - oil was $55 instead of $89, and there was 25% off the filter too. I checked the vacuum pump as was recomended on here, and sure enough it was leaking. I removed it and discovered the o ring was squashed flat; I gave it a complete clean and will get new o rings tomorrow and refit. I used throttle body cleaner on the internals as I was scared degreaser would be too harsh on the aluminium; I completely cleaned the engine. I also cleaned inside the head through the inlet holes by spraying in a large amount of throttle body cleaner, and then removing it by soaking it up with a rag poked in the holes. I will look at the crankshaft position sensor next but I cant locate it. Is someone able to help here please?

Well, ordered some parts today - new oil separator on its way. I degreased and cleaned the whole engine. Now if there are any future leaks they will be easy to spot. The inlet manifold had some oil in it which I cleaned out, and I also cleaned out the sludgy dipstick tube. I also cleaned the throttle bottle and the maf with carb cleaner. I also had a look into the engine through the head inlet ports, and there wasnt any oil on top of the valves, so hopefully that means the valve stem seals are ok? What do you think?

Damnit. If they are toast what is the aprox cost to get them done?

Thanks for your extensive knowledge and advice. The top ccv breather hose had collapsed on itself so I replaced that a couple months back - it was nearly completely disintegrated. I also fixed a leak in the rocker cover when I first got the car about 6 months ago. I will replace the other hoses, and use a new manifold gasket. I also noticed that a very short, thin hose had either previously broken, or I had broken it upon removing the airbox. It goes from the bottom of the airbox to a tube that sits next to the dipstick - it looks like a vacuum line of some type. It was completely deteriated too so I will replace that aswell, whatever it is. Regarding valve stems - would they show up on a compression test?

Yea, the oil and filter were done about 10,000kms ago, and I will do another one when Ive got the new ccv valve etc in. I will be using an engine flush too so as to get rid of as much gunk as possible.

Here is the link to my car on real oem. http://realoem.com/bmw/select.do?vin=PR00173 Its an automatic station wagon, and has had the oil cooler replaced about 10,000 kms ago.

So I have a 2004 E46 with the N46 motor. Car has done 120 thousand kms aprox and has 240,200,200,200 compression on the cylinders. I'm getting blue smoke if I idle for a while and then accelerate (like after waiting at the traffic lights) so I suspected the ccv valve was munted. On the N46 and N42 you have to remove the inlet manifold to get to it which was a major mission but I did it over two evenings. Sure enough it was pretty clogged full of crap and had never been replaced so hopefully that is the fault. I think they are meant to be replaced every 80k or 100k or something? Anyhoo, while I'm in there I figured I might as well ask if there is anything else I should check/clean/replace? I managed to get all the plastic hoses off intact and they are in good condition except for having oily sludge in them. Should I soak them in degreaser, or petrol, or something else to help clean them out? The dipstick tube has sludge in it too so I removed that ready for soaking and cleaning too. The inlet manifold gasket looks pretty good - can I reuse it? There is oil around what I think is the oil pressure sensor(?). Does that mean that needs replacing too, or just a seal or o ring? There is a very very small amount of oil around the cam sensors too - does that mean they need their o rings replaced also? Sorry for so many questions.

Hi, I'm Nathan and I'm new here. I have previously owned an e30, and two e36's, and now have two e46's. The wifes car is a red 2003 320i sedan, and I haven't done much except for motorsport mags and tyres, and a sound system upgrade with a couple of alpine v12 amps and some vifa component speakers front and rear. My car is a black motorsport hamann wagon, and I've done a couple of things so far; # Hamann front spoiler (already had the hamann roof spoiler on it when I bought it). # Painted the wheels, grille, spoiler mesh, fog light surrounds etc. # Fixed the damaged tailgate and debadged most of the car. # Cut down the license plate surround on the front. # New plugs. # Remove the main cat, gut its internals, and refit. # New chrome exhaust tip. Lots more planned, but I have a pesky oil separator to take care of first. Sorry about the pic, my car badly needs a wash! I have some build pics of the work I have done too if anyone is interested. I'm looking forward to meeting some other bmw fans and learning as much as I can.