My E70 X5's problems and fixes - latest - oil leak

[approved]

Hi All,

have been a long term serial BMW owner and I am now on my 5th X5, which we use for family duties. Its an 09 pre facelift 3.0d m sport and has done just over 67000 miles.

Came out of warranty in September last year as long story short, my dealership didn't inspire me with confidence when dealing with problems.

examples of this were the suspension dropping a few times, They couldn't find fault on multiple occasions.  Local specialist sussed it in 15 mins and one suspension airbag later it was fixed, never to return ( so far) Also had advisory on MOT , right at the end of the warranty period. slight play in ball joints. Not covered under warranty so back to specialist to check main dealer diagnosis and having only found play in one ball joint, they replaced that for about 200 quid and away we go again.

Today, to keep the full main dealer service history it went in for a oil change. The dealers tell me that on removal of the undertray, there is a little bit of oil in there and the engine has a leak at the rear somewhere that requires investigation. I asked how much of a leak and she said small and couldn't determine how long it had been happening for.

So, its 2 years since the last oil service (11,000) miles. Its never needed topping up, the oil level has stayed constantly full for the period and has never given me a minutes trouble, yet today, on out of warranty oil service, a suspected oil leak appears. Not DIYer, but my paranoia is starting to get the better of me.

Any body else come across anything similar?

[grumpywurzel]

Personally if you are out of the warranty and you trust your specialist more then why keep going back to the main dealer?

Like you say you haven't topped up the oil level (guessing engine oil level?) but have you checked your other levels? It might not be engine oil.

I have just had mine serviced and I have a leak, they thought it was a knackered CV boot but its actually the steering rack. The leak is so tiny that the garage said its not even worth messing around with it, probably an old seal slowly on its way out. There will be always something going wrong.

If you are worried go to your specialist.

[approved]

To be honest, the only reason i went main dealer is for the stamp in the book.

I think I will let the specialist take the cover off and we can both have a look together.

The good news is the car doesnt need anything service wise for 2 years of 14k so I dont have to second guess the main dealer again.

If anyone has any tales of small leaks at the back of the engine and what it amounted too, lets hear them.

[approved]

Well, a brief phone call with Darren Wood in Stockport and they suggested its probably the swirl flaps.

Went in today and indeed it is. I went through the pro's and cons and while the car is perfectly ok to drive as is, they are weeping oil. Adding the fact its possible that the swirl flaps could also fail at some point, causing catastrophic engine damage was more than enough for me. Booked in to have them removed.

£180 quid plus vat seemed bloody good value to me, problem solved and a bit of future proofing for a much bigger potential problem thrown in for good measure.

[grumpywurzel]

Good result 

[X5Sport]

Weeping oil?  I didn't know there was even a supply to them!  If there is then I have learned summat new today.  They are a simple open/closed butterfly flap.

They might have interpreted the EGR process by-products which do look like dirty oily crud as a problem, but all the cars have those products and it is a result of what comes out of the engine and gets recirculated rather than an oil leak.

[Horizon]

I was thinking the same, more likely rocker/ cam cover gasket.

[approved]

I tried to understand it better by using googling 'BMW swirl flap leak'

this is how someone else explained it.

"The oil leak isn't actually oil but diesel(I know its oil but not in the sense of an oil leak) as its coming from the intake manifold." which ties in it with it never needing any engine oil in terms of top up between services.

Sounds like my understanding of how it was explained to me was re explained badly (X5sport is on the money)

Anyway, that is where the oily stuff is coming from.

Main dealer solution is new inlet manifold!

[X5Sport]

Ah, the 'customer will pay even if we are wrong' diagnosis.  And they won't remove swirl flaps just change expensive bits (at your expense) until they hopefully hit the right problem.

Changing the manifold won't stop the gunk coming back anyway >:(

[approved]

Going to specialists has been a refreshing experience.

I keep thinking I should change it, but even with the couple of niggles, it still does its job very very well.

I'm more frustrated with the deterioration of bmw dealers attitudes and service levels than the problems with the car...the added bonus is my awakening to all of this will most likely mean the money I'm not spending on swapping, will probably end up keeping the X5 in tip top shape for another year or two and maybe, just maybe, cover the cost of putting a nice e46 m3 in the garage.

We shall see.

[X5Sport]

Totally agree.  Mine is still under warranty so has to be done 'by the book' but I look after our E46 (only a dry stored 330Cd Convertible) as I cost less than a main dealer and our local Indy is of a questionable skillset after they did serious electrical harm when just changing the battery!  Cost them a lot to have it fixed, by a BMW Dealer.  Oh the irony