Oil leaking into cooling system

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moehassan - 18 Oct 2006 03:32 GMT

What a disappointment!!
I have a 2001 530i with 92K miles on it. a few weeks ago my oil light came
on so I put in a quart of oil because it did show a little low. 300 miles
later it came on again.. i said, oh oh, so decided to take it to the shop.
Well, just the weekend before I planned to do that.. the radiator busted..
Coolant all over the engine compartment had oil mixed with it. Towed to the
dealer.. what a surprise!! they said, the oil is leaking into the coolant..
could be a busted head gasket.
They opened my motor to replce Gasket alongwith the replacement of radiator...
at cost of over 3K.
The BMW service mechanic ( supposedly with 15 years experience ) could not
find the source of leak. The head gasket looked fine... suggested to send the
head out for pressure test. If no leak found.. time to replace the motor.

All you BMW enthusiasts, novices and expert....I ask you for your opinion..
do you think it is a normal thing for an E39 motor to have such leak
developed in the head or the engine block that I lost 4 quarts of oil into
cooling system within 3 - 4 weeks.

Shouldn't the BMW USA step upto the plate and take responsibility for a
defective motor.

Please help..

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Dodgy - 18 Oct 2006 10:27 GMT

>What a disappointment!!
>I have a 2001 530i with 92K miles on it. a few weeks ago my oil light came
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
>Please help..

You don't say how many miles you covered in that 3-4 weeks, but given
that you've put 92K on in 5 years, I guess it would be quite I bit.

I wish you luck getting BMW to "step up to the plate", 92K miles is
not in insignificant mileage, and 5 years old is well outside of the
original warranty.

It wasn't long ago that a car reaching 100K was considered good going.

To me $3k for a head gasket and rad is a bit steep though, then again
that's the kind of thing I would tackle myself, and I guess parts
don't cost as much to get to me in the UK.

Dodgy.

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R. Mark Clayton - 18 Oct 2006 12:10 GMT

> What a disappointment!!
> I have a 2001 530i with 92K miles on it. a few weeks ago my oil light
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> Please help..

The cheapest diagnosis is loose head bolts, but these were torqued up
correctly in the factory, and should not present a problem unless the head
has been worked on. NOTE some BMW's have single use head bolts that should
not be refitted, in which case you will have to get a complete set of new
ones.

The cheaper diagnosis is a head gasket. More expensive are warped head
(e.g. after any overheating incident) or a cracked block (e.g. after any
freezing incident).

A basic compression test should reveal which cylinders are affected, you may
be able to hear the escaped, and once the head is off it can be checked for
planeness fairly easily.

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John Carrier - 18 Oct 2006 13:21 GMT

> What a disappointment!!
> I have a 2001 530i with 92K miles on it. a few weeks ago my oil light
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> Shouldn't the BMW USA step upto the plate and take responsibility for a
> defective motor.

The failure you describe, in the order of events you describe, is extremely
unusual. The E39 is known for a weak cooling system (although the I6 is
less problematic than the V8). Cooling problems (stuck thermostat, radiator
failure) that result in overheating can lead to failed head gaskets and/or
cracked cylinder heads and the symptoms you describe. This is exacerbated
to a degree by the temp gauge that will resolutely stay centered until the
temp climbs outside the normal operating range.

What was the most recent service on the car? When was the oil last change?
When was Insp II done? Has the coolant been drained and refilled at any
time (BMW recommends every 4 years since date of manufacture for your car
... 2 years is better)? Anything unusual in either the car's use or
performance prior to the arrival of the first symptom described?

There's a small possibility the engine had a manufacturing defect of
significant magnitude that BMW might feel inclined to replace it outside
warrantee (flaw in the head or block casting ... good luck!).

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Fred W - 18 Oct 2006 16:19 GMT

> What a disappointment!!
> I have a 2001 530i with 92K miles on it. a few weeks ago my oil light came
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Please help..

With 92k miles on it? Good luck getting BMW to cover anything...

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