Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    23
    My Cars
    2012 535xi

    2012 BMW 535xi misfire, P0171, CCV repair.

    I'm going to describe a repair with many photos. I'm limited to 5 photos per post. So I'll try to present this in several different, consecutive posts.

    The vehicle is a 2012 E70 535xi (N55 turbo inline 6). 58,000 miles but out-of-warranty. The problem was a failed CCV (crankcase ventilation) membrane/diaphragm, which is located within the valve cover. The standard repair is to replace the valve cover which is not only extremely expensive ($450 for the part) but also time-consuming and difficult. Here I describe fixing it with this $40 part which I paid $60 to ship from Russia to the USA via express shipping. It was shipped through an outfit called EMS which took 11 days from the time it shipped and 13 days from the time I ordered. Enough about that at present except to point out that, in the end, by doing-it-myself and using this part, it cost $100 instead of up to $1500.

    https://vanos-bmw.com/product/repair...mw-11127570292

    They don’t have good (or any) instructions for this particular kit, but they do have some instructions that are useful and pertinent for a similar job, in fact the replacement on the N52 engine used in earlier models of the X5. You should read this first and then realize that I describe my own approach (in fact, I was unaware of these instructions when I did this job):

    https://vanos-bmw.com/product/111275...53-11127548196

    Briefly here are the problems and diagnostics: It began with misfires, a noticeable missing happening at idle and quickly progressed (drove it once) to missing during acceleration as well as idle. Within a day, check engine light was on; a plain old generic code reader produced DTC P0171 “lean on bank one.” Also, a loud whine/screech/squeal/hiss/howl sound. I can’t quite locate it with a stethoscope, except it is closer to the front of the engine than the back. Best I can tell, it actually sounds like it is emanating from inside the valve cover just a few inches to the driver’s side of the oil cap. It doesn’t sound like it is the oil cap itself that is leaking, but it is almost certainly a vacuum leak, or at least the sound of air whistling somewhere . Within another day, car cannot be driven because it will barely start and only sputters with lots of smoke out the tailpipe. At this point, code P1120 “pedal position circuit error” had also been stored. I think this was triggered by me attempting to rev the engine when it wouldn’t do anything but sputter. Also my code reader recorded P1000 and P0000, codes that are apparently related to the particular scan tool I have and I don’t believe are pertinent. Finally, I did not get code P0174 “lean on bank two,” but I mention it because on many other vehicles it is also triggered when the CCV valve fails (according to various forum posts).

    In this case, vacuum leak is due to failure of the CCV valve diaphragm/membrane, which causes a huge vacuum in the crankcase and sucks air into the crankcase through one of several available routes: the valve cover gasket or oil filler cap, or the front or rear main crankshaft seals, believe it or not! I don’t know if there are other routes. But trust me, I’ve repaired this exact problem (not the exact parts or procedure, however) on a previous BMW, a 1997 540i, and the main symptom there was a howling sound emanating from the rear main seal that could be heard blocks away! That sound was air being sucked through the rear main seal because of the intense vacuum in the crankcase.

    Diagnosis: On many cars, people say to try and remove the oil filler cap while it is running and see if the vacuum is so intense that you have to pull like crazy to get it off, and you get a huge swoosh of air when it does come loose. That was the case on this car. But on this car, there is an even surer and very easy test. Remove the engine cover (just pull it upwards near the front, and then pull it towards you. Don’t lose the little rubber things that it plugs into at the rear). In the middle of the top of the valve cover is a circular, raised portion with a “high voltage” sticker on it. A small plastic cover with two easy-to-press-in tabs allows you to remove that small plastic cover which exposes a hose barb. Connect a piece of tubing to the hose barb, blow or suck on the tubing. If you can blow or suck air through it, then the membrane has a hole in it and requires replacement. As I said, you can buy an entire new valve cover, and go through the process of replacing it, or you can just pay the dealer $1500 to do it, or…keep reading. Here’s a photo of the raised, circular portion with the hose barb and cover (blue tape is stuck to the hose barb):
    DSCF5279.JPG
    Here is a picture of the new part, on the left. Vanos-BMW also sells just the replacement membrane for $19, which I also ordered but did not actually use…it is on the right. In order to use just the membrane, it would be necessary to remove the existing plastic housing intact without damaging it too much, and then glue it back on. I was skeptical that the existing housing could be removed without damaging it, and I’m very glad I ordered the kit! It turns out that the kit does not use the same membrane, and is designed to be replaced a little more easily.
    DSCF5269.JPG
    My plan was essentially to sand around the edge of the original housing until it came off. So I had glued sandpaper to paint sticks to use like a file. I intended mostly to grind away the thicker portion of the edge, making the plastic real thin, hoping that portions might be peeled off after it was paper thin. However, I assumed that it was glued on with ABS (PVC?) cement and would simply have to be filed away. I put blue tape on the thicker portion to show what I’m talking about. Prior to beginning, I disconnected an electrical connector and 2 hoses so that I could move them out of the way (marked with blue tape/arrow).
    DSCF5277.JPGDSCF5275.JPGDSCF5272.JPG

    To be continued...
    Last edited by dkitt; 12-17-2017 at 12:54 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    23
    My Cars
    2012 535xi

    CCV Repair Continued

    I also had removed the air box, so I covered the air intake, the hose connections, and generally the spark plug/coil area, to keep plastic dust and sandpaper grit from getting where I didn’t want it. Also had my shop-vac nozzle handy to vacuum this stuff away.

    DSCF5282.JPG

    I began sanding away the cap along the front driver portion (just because that was the easiest place to work and see). After that area was pretty thin, I took a utility knife and tried to pick away some of the plastic. I found that the lower portion did not have glue on it, and I could get the knife under the thin plastic pretty easily and break off pieces of plastic. You can see in the following photos that it was possible to work around the cap and remove a strip about ¼ inch thick more than half-way around the housing.

    DSCF5283.JPGDSCF5284.JPGDSCF5285.JPGDSCF5287.JPG

    To be continued...
    Last edited by dkitt; 12-17-2017 at 12:56 PM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    23
    My Cars
    2012 535xi

    CCV Repair Continued

    At this point, I decided to file more near the top, and soon I found that I had exposed the orange edge of the original membrane. I exposed a section of an inch or two. Using a flat screwdriver and just gentle prying, the entire cap portion just broke completely loose and came off. It turns out there is just a very thin strip around the whole thing that is actually cemented (maybe heat-fused?) and it broke away pretty clean and easily.

    DSCF5289.JPGDSCF5290.JPGDSCF5291.JPGDSCF5292.JPGDSCF5293.JPG

    An important thing to note here is that the seal around the edge of the membrane on the original design is made by the membrane itself being pressed between the housing piece and the valve cover piece. Therefore the glue joint on the original would not necessarily need to be air-tight. But the replacement part requires that the joint WILL be air-tight. It’s hard to describe, but you will see what I mean when you examine the parts. I wasn’t sure if I was going to use something like ABS or PVC cement (I still don’t know if the plastic is ABS or PVC), or if I would use RTV silicone. Since it must be air-tight, I decided to glue the replacement part on with RTV.

    Although the old cap came off pretty cleanly, the surface that the replacement part needs to glue to was still a little rough. I filed around that surface and test fit the replacement part until it slid on smoothly. (I put a rag in the exposed hole so that crap wouldn’t get into the crankcase). There is a spring in the original that you must re-use, DON’T FORGET TO REPLACE THE SPRING when you glue the replacement part in place! (Sorry I didn’t get a photo of the spring). Also I cleaned the surface of the center hole because this is where the new membrane seats. The replacement part fits inside of some channels in the valve cover hole: you will see that it must be oriented (rotationally) in just one place. In other words, the hose barb will be pointing in the same direction as the original. The spring doesn’t have a lot of tension, so when I glued the replacement part in place, I just stretched a small bungie cord between a couple of the fuel tubes on either side, and over the top to hold it in place while the RTV dried. Since RTV takes a while to set, at this point I just left it overnight so as not to take any chances of having it come loose.

    Next day I had a terrible scare. I started up the car and it ran fine, no missing and no codes. But after it got warm, the whining sound of a vacuum leak returned! I checked with the tubing on the hose barb, and the membrane was intact. I checked by stethoscope and with smoke from a stogie that no air was being drawn in around the repair joint. I even wrapped electrical tape all around the repair joint, all to no avail. I had to assume that that either the valve cover gasket had been damaged and was still leaking, or else a front or real seal had been damaged and was still leaking. I was fit to be tied. Because I had no more time to work on it that day I just shut it off. Next day I put it up on ramps, removed the bottom cover, and set out to try to pinpoint if I could where exactly that whining noise was coming from with my stethoscope. But lo and behold, after starting and running for over an hour, the whining sound did not come back. I drove it in traffic, up and down hills, under hard acceleration, up to 100 mph on the freeway, revved the engine dozens of times while parked, but nothing I did resulted in the whining sound coming back. I have been driving it a week now with no problems. I can only guess that whatever seal the leak had been going through due to the intense vacuum basically just sealed itself after running the engine to normal temperature and then letting it cool down. Yesterday I put it back on the ramps, removed the bottom cover and examined best I could for any oil leaks that might suggest a front or rear main seal was damaged…also around the valve cover as best I could. I see no oil, everything seems fine. I still don’t know where that air was getting in, and I hope I never do!

    One thing I would appreciate is if someone out there with this same engine would perform a little test for me. This is in reference to the vacuum test of removing the oil cap. On one car I worked on (a 2010 VW with the 2.0 TSI engine), when its CCV membrane failed the vacuum in the engine was also intense, but when it was repaired, it had almost no vacuum whatsoever holding the oil cap. On my car, there is not intense vacuum anymore, but there is still a mild vacuum I can feel when lifting the oil cap off. I would like to confirm that this is normal.

    OK I’m done here in regard to the repair. I hope you won’t mind a little commentary about a couple of related things:

    First, this company vanos-bmw has great stuff to help make repairs less expensive and easy. Check out their website for parts to your BMW, particularly these CCV membranes that they have for many models. But they have a serious distribution problem. I think there is money to be made by someone willing to distribute their parts in the USA, such that a guy can get a part without paying $60 shipping and still having to wait two weeks.

    Second, if you give any thought to what BMW has done in this design, you will be just as disappointed in BMW as I am. There is literally no excuse that they have glued this membrane into a $450 valve cover. These membranes have been used on essentially every model BMW since the mid-90’s and they have a long track record of failure. There is no other reason to provide a hose barb on the top, except to test it. Yet they have provided just such a hose barb, with a fancy little clip-on cover, and yet did not design this stupid thing to be replaceable. In my opinion, this is intentional, drive-you-to-the-dealer tactics, and built-in obsolescence. A vehicle like this consumes a huge amount of resources and energy to manufacture, and it should be utilized to the fullest in consideration of that environmental impact, consistent with the mantra: reduce, reuse, recycle. But our economies do not encourage this. Rather, it is economically beneficial for manufacturers to produce, intentionally, products that cannot be reasonably maintained and that go to the trash heap years before their time. Also, to be able to hide all maintenance and repair information, and charge outrageously for diagnostic technology should not be allowed. I don’t know all the answers as to how society can force manufacturers to stop this built-in obsolescence, but this incredible waste needs to stop. This is what is destroying Mother Earth.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    23
    My Cars
    2012 535xi

    CCV Repair Continued

    Here are two photos of the finished job. I peeled the high voltage sticker off the old part and stuck it back on the replacement.
    DSCF5300.JPGDSCF5301.JPG

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Montreal/Cape Coral
    Posts
    207
    My Cars
    2012 X6 35i
    Awesome thread, thx for posting it.
    2007 FJ Cruiser (best vehicle to date)
    2012 X6 35i Sport
    2013 ML350 BT
    2019 4Runner

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Dunsmuir, ca
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    2010 BMW x5 3.0si
    I AGREE WITH THE NOTE TO WASTE, AND FEEL ITS RIDICULOUS PUT LIGHTLY. I FIRST HAND SEE THIS CONSTANTLY, AND REALISTICALLY ITS CHEAPER TO REPRODUCE THAN RECYCLE GENERALLY, AND WE MAKE IT THIS WAY.
    I HAVE A X5 E70 2010 3.0si or Xdrive3.0i X5 2010 N52 gas straight six. I believe I am experiencing this problem, as today the noise was horrific. once before or twice for very short period, when starting or, then stoped and I thought it was a belt tension, even today for a sec, i did. Even seen a video where it made even more sense this pulley could be busted. However, this screeching was ear piercing death. I do not think it could have made this noise as it appear to be from all directions and almost paralyzing. I am going to look directly into this diaphragm on the valve cover. Additionally, BMW has made the valve cover out out plastic, intensionally, not just the stupid part that moves, its HDPP or other PVC on the M54 which sucks to say the least I think older version if the turbo N55.


    My tires were very crumby form ash and ceramic wear, how does the daily cleaning of rims affect the performance of the brakes and in general if anyone knows?

Similar Threads

  1. 92 Bmw 525i for parts or repair
    By dtsguitars in forum BMW Parts For Sale
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 02-04-2006, 03:10 PM
  2. 92 Bmw 525i for parts or repair
    By dtsguitars in forum BMW Parts For Sale
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 02-04-2006, 03:10 PM
  3. BMW M3 in need of repair
    By djfmf in forum Wheels and Tires
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 01-31-2006, 09:14 PM
  4. Are BMW's more expensive to repair??
    By Blaze One in forum 1991 - 1999 (E36)
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 05-21-2004, 11:19 AM
  5. 1998 BMW 328is 55k $9,000 (repairable)
    By severecaraddict in forum BMW Cars For Sale / Wanted
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 04-12-2004, 09:53 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •