still smoking after OSV replacement

hey guys i'm new here to the forum and the E38 world!!! I just recently purchased (about a month ago) a 2001 740il with 169k. It was smoking like a freight train on every start-up. so after reading numerous post about bad OSV's i replaced mine on sunday. When i pulled the old OSV off it seemed almost new however everything was covered in oil(i did the procedure without removing the intake manifold). now almost a week later i still have smoke on startup. The thing is i only get smoke after i drive on the interstate at the following startup or it sits over night... if i drive around town i'm fine with every following startup... any idea's do you think the cyclone seperator could be bad or could there just be that much residule oil in the manifold and the said hoses?

It might be your Cyclone Oil Separator (COS). It's more work to replace though. Part is cheap (around $30) but in order to replace it you need to remove your timing chain covers. There is a hose that runs from front of an engine (COS) to OSV. When I was replacing my OSV, mechanic told me that if there is a lot of oil in that hose, (COS) needs to be replaced also. I am about to start this project myself and based on your mileage I would also replace timing chain guides while working at it.

Now, I'm not a mechanic but this is the info I got from my local shop that works on BMWs.

Yea thats what im afraid of which in turn will cost me more than i purchased the car for..... I have been readinf on e39 forums where 540i owners were bypassing the failed system using a catch can setup.... Has 740 owners had success doing this...

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Going ahead with the OSV bypass tommorrow, we will see what happens... if that doesnt work than it's up for sale!!!!

It might be OSV or worn stem seals. Try using Mobil1 20W-50. That will reduce the smoke considerably.

Rulled out the stem seals with the amount of oil that is in the intake manifold... Will deffinately keep you updated after i finish bypassing the system today....

ok well got the cvv bypassed... no smoke!!!!!! but the pipe that connects the osv and the cvv has a crack in it and is causing a new issue... so looks like i will be pulling the intake manifold this week... this is interesting because the " best" Euro repair shop in the area told me the smoke was because the engine was blown....

Awestfield ... How is this setup working out for you? I am in a very similar situation and also recently purchased my vehicle. Did you also put a catch can in line with the valve and the breather filter in the pic? Is that venting the crank case well enough?

I am fairly certain that my cyclonic OSV (the unit near the timing chain) is gone. Since I recently replaced my PCCV and noticed a puddle of oil sitting in the rear of the intake manifold.

I was thinking of doing something very similar as I do not have the money to have the OSV replaced. I am planning on keeping the vehicle for a long time and would like to have a clean permanent setup that would resolve these oil in the intake mani issues.

So I was planning on doing the same thing, and with a catch can in line from the brass value. But instead of using a breather and plugging the center port in the PCCV, I was thinking of mounting a connecter there and having the hose from the oil catch can mount there. Im thinking that would provide plenty of vacuum to draw from the OSV (which is bad).. the catch can will catch the oil.. and gases will go back into the intake.

Am I missing anything? Would like to get this done ASAP. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

When I first got mine, I pulled the entire intake off and cleaned it (wow...lots of oil) and replaced all of the gaskets, including the valve cover gaskets. Did the OSV and found I did not need to replace the OS cyclone assembly (returned it). I am glad I did this...mine is a 1995 but only had 126k on it, but the intake and valve cover gaskets were drying out and cracking.

Originally Posted by Awestfield

ok well got the cvv bypassed... no smoke!!!!!! but the pipe that connects the osv and the cvv has a crack in it and is causing a new issue... so looks like i will be pulling the intake manifold this week... this is interesting because the " best" Euro repair shop in the area told me the smoke was because the engine was blown....

just goes to show you how much of crooks shops really are to take your money... you buy their trust and then they've got you by the balls.

Originally Posted by jitsjaf2009

When I first got mine, I pulled the entire intake off and cleaned it (wow...lots of oil) and replaced all of the gaskets, including the valve cover gaskets. Did the OSV and found I did not need to replace the OS cyclone assembly (returned it). I am glad I did this...mine is a 1995 but only had 126k on it, but the intake and valve cover gaskets were drying out and cracking.

Thanks for the info. Mine is a 2001, M62. Yeah I definitely plan on replacing the gaskets as well as the valve cover gasket. After I first got the car, almost a month now, I replaced the PCV w OSV which is the rear intake cover. When doing this, I noticed alot of oil in the intake manifold. I also noticed that the inner vent pipe was also completely dislodged from its correct position. This is the one that goes from the rear intake mani cover thru the interior of the intake mani to the front of the intake mani .. into a small hole which I believe eventually routes to the plastic intake piping behind the MAF. So I had to remove some of the intake piping in front and my throttle body. When I did this there was a good amount of oil slowly pouring out of the middle plastic pipe.. the one behind the maf that goes to the throttle body. I was able to reach thru the throttle body flange and dry/clean up much of the oil in the mani as well as correctly re-position the inner vent pipe. I also cleaned as much as possible by reaching in thru the back of the intake mani as well. Then I replaced the PCV as carefully as possible. This was about 2 weeks ago. I've already driven close to 1000 miles since then and yesterday my check oil level light came on and I was about a quart low on oil. I changed the oil about 3 weeks ago with full synthetic Mobile 1 for Euro, 0w-40.

So, at this point i am still seeing plenty of smoke on startup and am burning about a quart of oil in about 1000miles of calm highway driving. From what I've read and the amount of oil that was in the intake mani , I think there is a good chance my cyclonic OSV in front of the engine is not functioning well. Even if it is good... eventually it will go regardless and this is why I am interested in the oil catch can setup. As I mentioned I want to keep the vehicle for a long time and thus I am interesting in such mods that actually lower overall maintenance costs and efforts while not doing any damage. So this weekend I am planning on opening the front of the intake mani as i mentioned above and cleaning again and also double checking the inner vent pipe and also making sure that there is an O-ring on the end there since i didnt check for that last time. As well as going ahead with the oil catch can setup that i mentioned in the previous posts. I am relatively new to BMWs, but I personally do not see a down side to the setup and in theory I think it should work quite well as I am not really changing any of the normal vaccum flow of the sub system and really just kinda putting a catch can in-line so that oil is caught in the flow before it enters the rear of the intake mani... and doesn't build up in the intake mani and doesn't get into every other place it isn't supposed to. Of course i know I will have to monitor emptying the catch can regularly, but this is something that I can live with happily.

So I am really looking for anyone who may be able to validate or invalidate this catch can setup. Thanks again.. Any and all advice is welcome!

-eternal