Z4 Roadster (E85) Smelling Hot (Oily)

I have an 03 Z4 with 40K and have been having a hot (Oily) smell. I had a friend put the car on his lift and could not find anything leaking under the car or on motor. All the fluids check good. Has anyone experience this or does anyone have any suggestions.

If you had a Z3, I would say it's a certain sign of a bad Crankcase Ventilation (CCV) valve. That will force oil into the exhaust and produce a burning-oil smell at the rear of the car, particularly after a long drive.
The Z4 probably has the same system, and the same failure modes, but I'm not 100% sure.
Try searching on that.

Time to replace your valve cover gaskit. You can get the kit from your BMW Dealership parts dept. I just replaced mine I was also getting the burning oil smell. The kit consist of one valve cover gasket ,15 rubber washers that go under the valve cover gaskit bolts and 2 spark plug gaskits. You see these when the valve cover is removed. If you do it yourself make sure you clean the area where the gaskit will go well and add some rubber gaskit sealer all the way around the surface before you apply the new gaskit. Took me about 45 minutes to do.

Originally Posted by Mikey48

Time to replace your valve cover gaskit. You can get the kit from your BMW Dealership parts dept. I just replaced mine I was also getting the burning oil smell. The kit consist of one valve cover gasket ,15 rubber washers that go under the valve cover gaskit bolts and 2 spark plug gaskits. You see these when the valve cover is removed. If you do it yourself make sure you clean the area where the gaskit will go well and add some rubber gaskit sealer all the way around the surface before you apply the new gaskit. Took me about 45 minutes to do.

Thanks for the advice. Could you see any sign of leaking around valve covers? I thought that might be the problem so I have looked pretty close to see if any leaks and did not see any.

Originally Posted by Mikey48

If you do it yourself make sure you clean the area where the gaskit will go well and add some rubber gaskit sealer all the way around the surface before you apply the new gaskit. Took me about 45 minutes to do.

Man, I sure hope I never have to remove that valve cover. You only need to apply a small amount of RTV sealant at the corners of the valve body and at the corners of the half-moons, There is a good illustration on the Biesan website
http://www.beisansystems.com/procedu..._procedure.htm
near the bottom under "INSTALLATION OF THE VALVE COVER".

Speaking of the Biesan website, it might be a good time to replace the VANOS seals. Look over their background info: http://www.beisansystems.com/index.html .

It is hard to see. The gaskit will leak in the back, along the bottom edge where it is very hard to see, and also into the holes where the valve cover bolts go.

I am not sure of what all the consternation on the valve cover is all about. When I replaced the Vano's O-rings three years ago on the Roadster, the valve cover was a breeze. You can remove, replace and regasket the cover in less than one hour.

I do believe you are making mountains out of mole hills.


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Originally Posted by Blacklane

Man, I sure hope I never have to remove that valve cover. You only need to apply a small amount of RTV sealant at the corners of the valve body and at the corners of the half-moons, There is a good illustration on the Biesan website
http://www.beisansystems.com/procedu..._procedure.htm
near the bottom under "INSTALLATION OF THE VALVE COVER".

Speaking of the Biesan website, it might be a good time to replace the VANOS seals. Look over their background info: http://www.beisansystems.com/index.html .

Thanks so much for the response. This web site is awesome. I am not very mechanically inclined other than the fact I screw everything up. But at least I can look at this site and make my mechanic think that I know what I am talking about.