[acerboo]

just checked mine and its oily, its going in next week for the sunroof creak so will get them to look at it. thanks for the info

[quattrogmbh]

There is always going to be oil in this pipe as it comes from the positive crankcase ventilation. Rather than fit an oil separator, BMW deemed fit to simply burn the oil vapour off through feeding it into the intake.

If you take a look at the throttle body on the other side of the engine, following the pipe back up from the intercooler, you'll see oil in that pipe too, so its evident that oil IS going round the intercooler.

The problem is when oil escapes from the pipe through dodgy seals as then it makes a mess.

PS.. Can you please take a photo of the new pipe so we might determine if it is visibly different.. Thanks

[Dr Dave]

All turbo diesel engines new or old will be oily in these areas unless the crankcase is ventilated in a different way.

[Jude1]

Originally Posted by quattrogmbh

There is always going to be oil in this pipe as it comes from the positive crankcase ventilation. Rather than fit an oil separator, BMW deemed fit to simply burn the oil vapour off through feeding it into the intake.

If you take a look at the throttle body on the other side of the engine, following the pipe back up from the intercooler, you'll see oil in that pipe too, so its evident that oil IS going round the intercooler.

The problem is when oil escapes from the pipe through dodgy seals as then it makes a mess.

PS.. Can you please take a photo of the new pipe so we might determine if it is visibly different.. Thanks

Yes but it depends on how much oil is actually getting in there and whether this becomes worse once the hose starts to fail or lose it's seal. On the 530/330d cars there was a similar Puma raised and root cause was believed to be that if the cars were left idling for a pre-longed period of time then more oil than normal can collect in this pipe.

The only aspect I am not sure about is which other hose (s) gets replaced, it's either vaccuum, breather or and or a boost hose but they were never forthcoming to tell me, apparently this impacts on the red flexi hose seal failing but I am not sure how. I suspect it is a vac hose.

Jules.

[quattrogmbh]

The other hose which I believe is sometimes replaced is the 1.5" PCV pipe under the engine cover which feeds into the boost pipe at the top mount. Under the engine cover, this pipe only connects via a weak interference fit. Some members have had that join improved by the addition of a simple hose clip.

Pipe connects onto part 13 of http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...49&hg=11&fg=15

Also seems there was a production change on the Charge pipe after 07/2007

No. Description Supplement Qty From Up To Part Number Price Notes
01 Charge air line 1 07/2008 11617796295 $288.72 +core
01 Charge air line 1 11617812274 $298.96

[F104]

I'm not sure if hoses / seals are failing. Take the one from intercooler onto engine, you can move it axially where it connects to the engine. I believe these seal under pressure, but can leak oil when it's there and engine is not running.
Prolonged idling is not good for (diesel) engines and known cause for high blow by. Injected fuel can hit the cylinder walls, or condensate on it from a cold start, wash off the oil layer which is there to seal (called glazing), ruin the oil, and as there is no effective sealing left, blow combustion pressure past the piston rings, which then all ends up in the CCV pipe plumbed between filter and turbo.
To explain the oil content: You have a crankshaft running at you know what speed, quite a bit of oil running down from the cylinder head and small end bearings, all this hits the rotating crank, so it's not exactly a sunset lake in your sump. With blow by that pressure in the crankcase will build up, and cause a high flow of gasses and oil mist back up to the valve cover into the CCV. Mind you the CVV is not an open pipe, BMW has some centrifugal seperation build in, but oil does come out. For the 320D drivers amonst us, this site has a neat description of this and nearly every other aspect of the engine. Although in french loads of pictures/views, including the 123d. You can click each sketch/picture one and it expands. There's 15 pages or so. Have never been able to find a version in other languages, but i can handle the french

http://www.auto-innovations.com/site...MWn47t281.html

If it was only this relative clean oil being fed into the intake, then not too much of a problem. The mess starts when it hits the EGR flow, and it forms this tar like substance in your intake manifold

cheers,

[dxb335d]

Dont think this hose affects performance tho.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Dont think this hose affects performance tho.

If it's one of the boost hoses to the turbo systems, it will affect performance because it will be leaking air out of the system - ie. your boost pressure is dropping.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by E92Fan

If it's one of the boost hoses to the turbo systems, it will affect performance because it will be leaking air out of the system - ie. your boost pressure is dropping.

Is that red hose one of them?

[quattrogmbh]

Aye... Its the Charge pipe. It goes from the turbo to the intercooler. If it leaks air, you're losing boost. In most cases, I wouldnt expect the lost boost to be noticeable.

The black pipe is the Positive crankcase ventilation pipe, it takes blow-by gases from the crank case, within which there is condensate oil. This is then fed into the intake tract to burn. Its this condensate oil which blows out as a fine mist if the seal is poor.

I don't believe these pipes seal under pressure. If you take a look on RealOEM, its just a simple O-ring. The pipe may move axially, its designed to flex as the engine moves on its mounts.

[acerboo]

if oil is being burned anywhere surely this would show up on the dipstick?

[Jude1]

Originally Posted by acerboo

if oil is being burned anywhere surely this would show up on the dipstick?

Not necessarily as the amount is so small, a pre-longed exposure to a fine oil mist being sprayed looks a lot worse than it actually is.

Both quattrogmbh and F104 have both given good technical descriptions of the issue (which is great and what forums are all about), I do tend to agree with quattrogmbh that the hose isn't a seal under pressure hose, there is definitely a seal ring in there as shown in the previous diagram link.

The breather hose and red flexi hose (turbo to intercooler) are both now potentially known issues, but there is also an unknown small vac hose that can also be changed as part of this process.

Jules.

[dxb335d]

So there are 3 ''hose'' issues on the 335d!?

The red flexi hose, which if has oil on it needs replacing? What about the breather hose and Vac hose? where located and how to diagnose if there is an issue?

[Jude1]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

So there are 3 ''hose'' issues on the 335d!?

The red flexi hose, which if has oil on it needs replacing? What about the breather hose and Vac hose? where located and how to diagnose if there is an issue?

Breather hose at front drivers side corner of the engine block, just underneath the engine cover. Not sure on the vac hose.

[willhollin]

Applicable to just 335d's Jules?

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by Jude1

Breather hose at front drivers side corner of the engine block, just underneath the engine cover. Not sure on the vac hose.

Not the red flexi one?

[Jude1]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Not the red flexi one?

3 Hoses / pipes

1) Big red flexi hose from turbo to intercooler, located to the right of your airbox as you look down the front of the car with the bonnet up.

2) Breather hose, located just under the engine cover, specifically located at the front drivers side corner of the cover as you stand at the front of the car with the bonnet open.

3) Vac hose - not sure which one this is.


In most instances the dealer will just change the red flexi hose seals but in some instances will also change that hose as well. If they have read the Puma then they will also check the breather hose (no2 above), to make sure it hasn't dislodged and become blocked (if it dislodges then the oil will gradually harden plus the hose itself can degrade.

Jules.

[Jude1]

Originally Posted by willhollin

Applicable to just 335d's Jules?

Will,

I think so. Although it has been mentioned that there was a similar investigation into issues with 330/530d in the police force who experienced issues with a similar red flexi hose (turbo to intercooler), the root cause was believd to be that these cars spent a lot of time at idle. One of the earlier posts from quattrogmbh or F104 confirms this.


Jules.

[330cdsport]

I have my car booked in for Thurs to get the new pipe and seal. When I mentioned it to the dealer, they said that they are aware of the issue but see it more often on the X5.
I will have to check it out now too!!

[330cdsport]

Here are the pics I took this morning before leaving the car into get the hose replaced. The first two are from my car (notice the oil) and the 2nd two are from the X5 (all seems fine)

[quattrogmbh]

That looks like the later design on the x5. The pleats on the charge hose are deeper. Same hose was retrofitted to mine

[330cdsport]

Got the car back yesterday evening and was not expecting to notice any difference - but I definitely now have more low-down grunt. The car definitely seems to have more torque.

I had not noticed any loss of power before so it must have just dropped off gradually.

Anyway thanks everyone - as I would not even thought of checking the hose only for this thread.
Seems like I have had a mini remap again

Here is a pic of the new hose installed. They also cleaned the drip trap.