DIY: change of the CCV / Pressure regulating valve / oil separator

The following diy is for a '99 528i automatic. the pictures are for the most part self explanatory of the process, but i will say you don't need a whole lot of tools, mainly torx (2 sizes), sockets: 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, and 13mm some flat screwdrivers and patience.

Just make sure that you connect back all the plugs you disconnected before, there are like 6 of them, but it is easy to find where they belong, they are matched to the sensor.

The result after the installation of the new CCV and hoses is incredible. the car drives way smoother, it accelerates better, there are no more weird noises and the "intake manifold control unit" doesn't shake anymore.

just to say it took me about 4 hrs+ to do this. it is really not hard to tackle this valve.

Great work Aioros--Those pics are going to help alot of the diy'ers out there wanting to tackle this job--it's gonna take a lot of the guess work out. I have a question--that last pic above--the small vac hose thats right in the middle of the ccv--that hose you state--goes back to the top of the intake and plugs in. On my 2003 model--that vac port is not utalized-but the vac port on the ccv is there on the part--I'm going to try to use that vac port on my car--I'm wondering just where it would hook up on the intake---is the spot just a normal vac port, or is there a check valve or something like used?
Thanks

Aioros - GREAT write-up and pics. Will save this thread to my favorites. This was a great service to your fellow Bimmer nuts. BRAVO.

Great info and great detailed pics.

Will be doing this soon on my 2000 ... I'll take comparison pics to illustrate any differences.

Good job

Great post! Would you be able to post the parts list required for this job? TIA

Great writting! Change CCV did increase the power, but maybe has vacuum leak at other place as mine.

Nice, I plan on doing this soon...thanks for the good pics!

to answer Poolman's question: if you look in the first set of pictures, in the "second-to-the-last picture" you can see the thin-long-orange striped vacuum hose on top of the engine, if you follow the hose to the left you will see where it ends there is a small tubing and that's where is goes connected.

these are the parts I changed:
CCV #11 61 7 501 566 $75.20
Vent hose #11 15 7 532 649 $19.80
Vacuum hose #11 74 7 797 175 $24.25

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/h/e/54.png parts 4 and 6

Thanks Aioros--I went back a looked at the top of your engine and saw where the connection is made--the metal tube up top. That tube goes to the back of the negine--I suspect that there is another vacuum hose and the other end connecting at the back top right of the intake--you might should check there and make sure those hoses in that area have not given up the ghost --as did the one connected to your ccv valve. I checked mine back there and found them to literally falling apart.

Aioros--I spent some time over at real oem trying to find just where the vac line hooks up on that metal tube thats at the top of your engine. I had no luck find out this though--would you check for me concerning where that metal hose hooks into the intake and if there is a chack valve with the part.
Thanks

Originally Posted by BMR_LVR

Aioros - GREAT write-up and pics. Will save this thread to my favorites. This was a great service to your fellow Bimmer nuts. BRAVO.

+100. THIS is a prototype of a GREAT DIY...inspirational...ALL DIYs should look like this.

How different is this on an M54 - 2003 - 530i - 5sp?

Poolman- I checked the vac line and there is another hose after the tubing. this hose goes towards the wall where the steering wheel is located. I have no idea where it goes from there, but I don't think there is a check valve connected to it.

Mudbone- If your engine looks like mine then it maybe the same type of valve, get the last 7 digits from your VIN and check on realoem.com

What are the symptoms of a failing ccv? i heard somewhere if you cover the port on the back of the ccv and the car idles smoother then the valve is bad?

Originally Posted by ganesht

What are the symptoms of a failing ccv? i heard somewhere if you cover the port on the back of the ccv and the car idles smoother then the valve is bad?

Let me elaborate, i know that the ccv valve when bad can mimmic a vac loss, in which case this test would work, but are there any other symptoms that could be dued to a bad/failing ccv?

At picture 014, the Oem CCV hose is very different with mine, I also bought from the dealer.

Parts were ordered and received. With the help of aioros's wonderful illustrations, I will be tackling this job over the weekend. Let's hope it all goes well!! Hopefully I will be reporting back a smooth and easy completion report, lol.

Originally Posted by n01un0

Parts were ordered and received. With the help of aioros's wonderful illustrations, I will be tackling this job over the weekend. Let's hope it all goes well!! Hopefully I will be reporting back a smooth and easy completion report, lol.

I forgot you had to remove the throttle body. Did you buy a gasket for that?

Originally Posted by Mudbone

How different is this on an M54 - 2003 - 530i - 5sp?

.

M54 engine is a bit easier, but requires more hoses, a total of four plus the CCV valve.

My car started buring oil out of the exhaust tip in light blue clouds. I was so upset because everyone kept telling me I blew by engine or cracked my head. My dad was mad at first because that's what he tought too and as he said (Kels, cars don't blow oil out of the exhaust because nothing happened) but that's exactly what happened. I was driving responsibly and all of the sudden I'm crop dusting. I live in Florida so there was no "freezing" issue that caused my CCV to break. It just did.

Anyways, I went online to see if anyone else had this problem and found my way here. After looking at the pictures and not having an extra $500 to donate to the BMW dealer I decided (with proding from my Dad) to do the repair myself. Keep in mind I am a 16 year old girl with little to no car repair experience. I picked up the part for $68 and went to work. I would look at the first picture and then go out to the garage and do the first step, then come back and check to make sure the step I did was correct. One step at a time being real careful I was able to work through it. My Dad kept tabs on the progress and helped a little with tool selection and hidden bolts. Even though I was real careful, I did have to replace one hose that fell apart when I touched it. (the lower hose) Since mine was a 3 series and not a 5 series some of the pictures were not identicle, but I could see what I was supposed to do anyway.

My Dad said that nobodywould believe that a 16 year old girl could do it herself so I have pictures to prove it! Car ran GREAT when I was done and no more SMOKE!! I was so excited and proud that I did this. So, no excuses you guys, get to it. Oh, and for the man in Germany that designed that hose routing and CCV placement on this engine, you should be working for a Hampster cage factory because you suck.

Originally Posted by KelseysBMW

My car started buring oil out of the exhaust tip in light blue clouds. I was so upset because everyone kept telling me I blew by engine or cracked my head. My dad was mad at first because that's what he tought too and as he said (Kels, cars don't blow oil out of the exhaust because nothing happened) but that's exactly what happened. I was driving responsibly and all of the sudden I'm crop dusting. I live in Florida so there was no "freezing" issue that caused my CCV to break. It just did.

Anyways, I went online to see if anyone else had this problem and found my way here. After looking at the pictures and not having an extra $500 to donate to the BMW dealer I decided (with proding from my Dad) to do the repair myself. Keep in mind I am a 16 year old girl with little to no car repair experience. I picked up the part for $68 and went to work. I would look at the first picture and then go out to the garage and do the first step, then come back and check to make sure the step I did was correct. One step at a time being real careful I was able to work through it. My Dad kept tabs on the progress and helped a little with tool selection and hidden bolts. Even though I was real careful, I did have to replace one hose that fell apart when I touched it. (the lower hose) Since mine was a 3 series and not a 5 series some of the pictures were not identicle, but I could see what I was supposed to do anyway.

My Dad said that nobodywould believe that a 16 year old girl could do it herself so I have pictures to prove it! Car ran GREAT when I was done and no more SMOKE!! I was so excited and proud that I did this. So, no excuses you guys, get to it. Oh, and for the man in Germany that designed that hose routing and CCV placement on this engine, you should be working for a Hampster cage factory because you suck.

GREAT JOB!!!! so you changed out your oil sperator ? how long did it take you ? did you get burning oil smell from inside the cabin ? or just outside the exhaust ? excellent job for a 16year old girl..... imagine you were 30 ? you prolly own the world lol....


GUYS I FOUND THE LINK... take a look
http://www.bmwservicect.com/oil_separator.html

It took a lot longer for me than the 4 hours some people did it in. I did most of it one day and then finished it up the next day. I did not have smoke in my car, just a lot from the exhaust. It just started happening so it did not get driven a lot like that.

Oh, and I'm planning on owning the World. Or at least a big chunk of it.

You go girl!!! That's awesome! You will definitely go far. You've done a job that most men have walked away........

Great job Kelsey.

FWIW I started working on my cars back when I was about 16 too.

I've learned a lot over the past 20+ years of DIY wrenching and saved thousands $$$.

You are off to a good start. :-)