[Starless]

This is the journey I would not take again. Major PITA. Oil separator is a "tricky sucker" like somebody commented. But I hope the pictures of every step of the way will make this diy a little easier for somebody else. I followed these 2 wonderful DIYs that contain everything you need to know:

The one by Lbert - http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323335&highlight=lbert+oil+separator

And the one by djmcmath - http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=536123&highlight=

I took more pictures and included my comments making it a separate DIY. Enjoy!

 

[Starless]

Thanks, guys!

I think I'm done with preventive maintenance after this one for a while. This one got me
I was also hoping to improve my low idle situation (my idle in drive is 625 rpm and I'd like to see it at 700rpm). Obviously cleaned ICV and throttle body, cheched DISA. All vacuum lines seem to be good. But alas...Must be torque converter. What ever...

 

[Starless]

Very good write up!!

Question.... why didn't you take out the intake manifold??

Thank you.

For 2 reasons: you can change the separator without removing the intake manifold. It's a pain, but do-able. And second being the difficulty level of the job of removing the manifold. It would take me like 8 more hours to do that. Here is what djmcmath from Fanatics says about the job:

"Removing the intake manifold. This is a bear. You***8217;ll need to have a new gasket set and a torque wrench that***8217;s good for 11ft-lbs (you really want these torqued right), as well as a magnet-on-a-stick, some small screwdrivers, a pair of circlip pliers, and probably some other stuff. I should emphasize the difficulty here: I***8217;ve rebuilt transmissions, I***8217;ve pulled engines from cars with nothing but a floor jack and a socket set by the side of the freeway, I***8217;ve built whole brake and suspension systems from the ground up. But even with all that experience, I dorked this process up twice in a row. If this is your daily driver and you have to drive it tomorrow, and you***8217;re not entirely confident about how this process will work, maybe pulling the manifold isn***8217;t for you tonight"

So, I left it alone.

 

[Starless]

You make it look so easy.

Man, thats a really good DIY!! This DIY makes it look easy but you can still see its a tough job!

Well, taking stuff apart is easy. It's the OS itself that's difficult to remove and even more difficult to install mainly due to it's extremely inconvenient to reach location deep under the intake manifold in a very tight space. On the photos you can not really see the depth but the the wrench with the torx bit at the end on one of the pictures gives you an idea. And you have to be positive that all the OS hoses are attached securely to it otherwise you'll have a leak and you'll need to start all over again which, trust me, you do not want to do. Not very difficult technically but requires lots of patience and attention. That's it.

 

[Starless]

Great job on the DIY Alex...I just did this yesterday and you're DIY was key.

I would like to point out one observation though. On re-installation, I found it easier to install hose #2 first while in place in the car as this hose must be rotated.

This allowed me to connect all hoses within 10 minutes!

Let me point out that I have a MY 2000 323i with an M52 so install may be a little different.

Again, thanks for the DIY, Great Job!:thumbup:

You are very welcome. Glad everything worked out for you. As for what hose to connect first, it's whatever works better for you. I tried hose 2 first and had no luck, but I'm glad it took you 10minutes, it took me much longer :thumbup:

 

[Starless]

What failure caused you to do this job?

I replaced mine preventetively before it started leaking oil (one of the symptoms). Leaking unit can be the cause of increased oil consumption.

 

[Starless]

Great DIY. I'm replacing mine when it gets warmer. Did you get all the parts from Plaza? I live here in MO. I know they give you a CCA discount.

Oh, no. Plaza is good (they say) for service, but it's the most expensive dealership in town too...I live 5 minutes from Plaza and buy parts there only in a pinch.

I bought mine from Tisher (www.getbmwparts.com) - $150 for a complete set including all hoses

 

[Starless]

I went to the Tisher site and couldn't locate the CVV. I put CVV and then oil separator in the search engine and turned up no hits. How do I locate the CVV?:dunno:
Thanks

Here is the link:

http://www.trademotion.com/partloca...fo&PartID=789937&siteid=214672&catalogid=4462

 

[Starless]

Alex, so the needed parts are the CVV, vent pipe, connecting line, vent hose, the return pipe and the dipstick housing, right? Do I need any o-rings, etc?

Jake, if you buy the kit from Tisher it will contain everything you need ($150) and it's cheaper then buying parts separetely. The only additional thing I bought was the lower intake boot, PN 13541435627. You can also buy a throttle housing gasket in addition, PN 11611716174. I just reused mine.

If you do decide to buy everything separately this is the parts list from Lbert's diy:

These are included in Tisher's kit:

11617501566 Oil Separator
11611432559 Oil Separator Hose to Valve Cover
11157532629 Oil Separator Oil Dip Stick hose
11617504535 Oil Separator Connecting Hose
11617504536 Return Pipe from Connecting Hose
11431740045 O-Ring Oil Dip Stick Tube to Oil Pan

Additional:
11611716174 Throttle Housing Gasket
13541435627 Air Intake Boot; Lower

Good luck!

 

[Starless]

Alright so is Tisher a user on Bimmerfest or a parts supplier? I am having a hell of a time getting all the parts and I refuse to go to the dealer so a kit is very attractive right now, does this include everything for the CCV as well as the Oil separator system?

Tisher is here:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=MorePartInfo&PartID=789937&siteid=214672&catalogid=4462

Yes, the kit will include everything you need.

 

[Starless]

Alex, what about the small vent tube that's on the side of the CVV? The one I just got has no cap to it. Does the one I have on my car now come with it?

Yes, the old one has a cap. You will reuse it on the new one. Good luck with the job!

 

[Starless]

Hi there,
I replaced the Oil Separator Valve and put it all back together...several times...now the car doesn't start.
It turns over, but that is about it.
Any suggestions?
There was a small hose on the original which was covered on the new OSV, this connected up to the silver bit of kit above the manifold. I didn't replace this hose, just removed it.
Thanks,
George

In some cars that little port you are mentioning is plugged with a rubber cap, in others there is a vacuum line going from it to the manifold I believe. Did you preserve the origilal set up? ( My kit from Tisher came with a long piece of vacuum line which I did not need). You said you had not replaced the hose and just removed it...Why didn't you replace it?? Are all the electrical connectors plugged back in?
Good luck!

 

[Starless]

Just did this today and it was hard getting the hoses off. I ended up breaking the CVV on it's way out. Thank you for the write up. Took me a while to do all of it but I saved myself some money. Since I was down there I changed the intake elbow. Tackled 2 jobs at once, although my intake boot was still in decent condition, but better safe then sorry later.

You are very welcome.
Glad to hear everything went well! :thumbup:
Good move replacing the elbow, I did the same and mine was in a relatively good condition too. But since I'm planning to keep the car for many years to come replacing parts that are known to go bad is not a bad idea at all.

 

[Starless]

This DIY again proved priceless. Many thanks to Starless and LBert for the time they took in documenting this procedure. Hole. E. SH!T.

The big hose clamp on the lower intake boot is someone's cruel joke, and the extra padding on the cold-kit didn't help with fitment of any of the hoses or the separator itself. Hopefully it will help with longevity (though with 99.5K miles on the original, I'm not upset).

I had a horrible time getting the dipstick to re-seat properly. Clean hole, clean Oring, lube hole, lube Oring, try to insert, take it out, repeat. It's in there and it's not leaking, eventually tried the original Oring and got it further into the hole, practically hanging on the thing from underneath. THAT'S supposed to be one of the easy tasks on this job. Terribly tedious job overall, lots of skinned and bruised knuckles, but it gave the chance to clean the MAF, throttle body and ICV, so there's a silver lining.

This type of task makes me think three things:

1) I'm glad I didn't pay someone else for the labor, no matter how much of a beeyotch the job was.
2) I'm glad I did it myself, because there are far too many little corners that might have been cut, mis-routed wires and hoses, etc. I know it's back together as it was from the factory, in every way.
and 3) I'm glad I don't do this for a living.

VCG and Vanos seals next weekend should occur right at the 100K mark. Timely!

You are very welcome, Micah and I had the same experience with the dipstick and that lower intake boot clamp. Ain't it fun? Little thing like these can take a lot of time (and they did) and that's why it took me longer than a reported average of 4-5 hours to complete the job. But you are right a lot of things were cleaned that the shop tech would not touch, etc.

Good comments!

 

[Starless]

Just wanted to say thanks for the DIY

Tackled this on Sunday on my 06 X5 - This DIY was invaluable.

There were moments when I thought it would be impossible - but I referred back to the DIY and took my time.

The X5 already had the winterized version of the CCV which is wrapped in foam.
This made removing the CCV difficult as it was wedged in there tightly - I ended up breaking it to get it out.

Removing the power steering resevoir bracket bolts and moving it to the side made it much easier to reconnect the hoses

Thanks again Starless!!

Wow, I'm glad to hear it was the same deal on X5. I'm often thinking that it would be nice to buy "the tank" for my wife. May be one day...

 

[Starless]

^ Thanks for sharing, Scott

 

[Starless]

Mine was very brittle and upon pulling the tube broke. Can this be ordered and from where? What would you call it? See picture #2 where it says to disconnect this.

Part # 13327503677. F-shaped connector or "support" in the bmw parts catalog. Buy from any dealership parts dept. or online here: www.getbmwparts.com. It costs $1-$2

 

[Starless]

How about the hose that connects to the boot. It's the smaller vacuum hose that actually was dry rotted. Is there a trick in separated those? Thanks for all your help.

I used a sharp knife (like drywall knife) or similar to carefully separate it by cutting and scraping it off.

Take a piece of that broken hose and go to any (closest) auto parts store and ask them for a foot of that diameter vacuum hose. Nothing special about it. Very simple.

 

[Starless]

I appreciate all your help. Did you mention this was a pain in the arse? I will get it just slow moving tight spaces. What do you recommend for removing the clamps on the lower air intake boot. Might end up cutting them and align them better when putting them back in. Thanks bro.

I recommend patience I tried 2 things: a long screwdriver and socket wrench with a long extension. As far as I remember, I had better luck with a socket wrench. Oh, and I had no problem removing this boot (which was easy), it was the re-installation that took some time...

 

[Starless]

You mean tis? It's online now. Here: http://tis.spaghetticoder.org
Go to engine--manifold--removal
Good luck, let us know!