think the zed is dead baby...

B

bingboybri

Member
hi,just checked the oil toady and found a kinda yellowish milky gunk around the dip stic as i pulled it out!! and i looked under the oil cap and yep plenty coating the underside.........
i feel the zed is dead baby and its only got 33000 on it and its got full service history :(
 
Sounds like a possible head gasket problem. Has your coolant level dropped? The creamy junk in the engine can be caused by coolant mixing with the oil.
 
Let's not jump to conclusions yet! Your Zed deserves better! Bring her into an independent BMW specialist mechanic and have her looked over.
 
The red interior should fetch a few $'s if your breaking it.... :rofl:

Seriously though it is highly unlikely to be terminal. Salad cream in the rocker is typical of water getting into the engine and mixing with oil but it can build up if the car is never given a decent run, stored, etc.

Before putting any mileage on it's off to an indy or dealer for compression testing and some proper diagnosis. Worst case IMHO is a top off for a new head gasket.

Don't be tempted to drive it far though until you know....
 
its had a few good runs so it cant be from storage and i thought it was a head gasket,i've not checked the coolant level but will tonight,as for suggesting ebay... shame on you all lol
id never break it....... its my baby after all(well until something else comes along)
didn't think the m54 engine was prone to gaskets going and with only 30 odd thousand on the clock its not done many IMO
so much for them being bomb proof eh.........
 
bingboybri said:
its had a few good runs so it cant be from storage and i thought it was a head gasket,i've not checked the coolant level but will tonight,as for suggesting ebay... shame on you all lol
id never break it....... its my baby after all(well until something else comes along)
didn't think the m54 engine was prone to gaskets going and with only 30 odd thousand on the clock its not done many IMO
so much for them being bomb proof eh.........
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I wouldn't get too worried about it until looked at. They seem a pretty solid engine and over on the X5 forum a while back there were several members with 200k+ miles on this engine without ever missing a beat. I have just turned 80k miles on one without anything at all doing and consider it just nicely run in.
 
It may be just condensation. If you don't regularly drive the car up to operating temperature, moisture condenses in the oil. Take it out and drive it a few days, making sure you put some highway miles on to really warm it up. It's prob nothing.
 
Ted13b said:
It may be just condensation. If you don't regularly drive the car up to operating temperature, moisture condenses in the oil. Take it out and drive it a few days, making sure you put some highway miles on to really warm it up. It's prob nothing.
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Ted13b Forgive me but earlier in the post bingboybri noted that it has been on long runs so that would appear to eliminate the likelihood of simply condenstation.

While I like to look on the bright side and assume it's 'nothing' simply speaking if there is a more serious issue then putting 'highway miles' on it is likely to turn a curable fault into a damaged engine. A tiny gasket flaw/leak can easily collapse at speed and dump the coolant or pull the oil through the engine or various other combinations that all would lead to a roadside recovery and/or more damage.

Just IMHO an instance where caution is better than internet diagnosis
 
Yes - the quantity mentioned seems just too much for condensation.
 
It still could just be condensation, once it's built up it takes a lot of use to go again. I would get it checked with a combustion leak tester at a local decent indy.
 
well now you talk about just condensation........ my wife uses it daily but only for very short distances,its 3 miles to her work and 3 back with the occasional trip to the shops in between so you have now got me thinking
but there is a smell about the oil,not the usual oily smell but one i associate with there being a problem,does anyone else know the smell im talking about or is my nose over sensitive?!!
 
Does sound like headgasket failure, but that isn't terminal. Don't know current prices but a few years ago I got a Saab headgasket replaced and the craters in the ally head welded up for £500.
 
Just as Top Pup says, it could be condensation. As an old air cooled VW and Porsche driver, I always had creamy gunk in the oil filler cap. It's just condensation unless you run the engine hard and long and eliminate all the moisture in the crankcase.

I'd run a compression check and put the OBC reader on it and check for fault codes before jumping to the comclusion that it's dead.

Good luck,

Ghianut
 
hey thanks for all the advice,i love the car but when you get a problem it niggles in your head......... ive been thinking of trading for something different... maybe a little more economical too........ and dare i say a diesel!!!
i was looking at a 330cdmsport convertible do you think id be silly giving the zed up for a 3 series as i came from a 3 series to a zed......
 
I agree with Top Pup. It could be condensation. As an OLD air cooled VW and Porsche driver, I always had creamy gunk under the oil filler cap. Unless you run the engine long enough and hot enough you won't get rid of the moisture in your crankcase. I drove from Dallas to Wisconsin in a 356B Porsche and still ahd that creamy gunk under the oil cap. Go figure...no anti freeze, no water, no water pump.

I'd run a compression check and then check the OBD for trouble codes if any.

Ghianut
 
The milky brown color that you are seeing is indeed condensation. Its very common for condensation to occur, even on a moderately driven vehicle.
I am a certified technician, and i can 100% guarantee to you, especially after you stated that the vehicle is driven short distances. One thing which will probably help is to really drive the car hard for a good 20 miles. After driving, immediately turn the vehicle off and remove the oil cap. This will help allow the moisture to escape to the atmosphere. Any ?'s, dont be afraid to PM Me.

This is my first post on this forum, however i'm active on E90post.com
 
that sounds a little worrying driving it hard after seeing this under the cap,i always associated it with a head gasket away or a cracked block as we used to get problems like that alot when i tinkered with old cross flow engines and pintos when i was younger,but they were ten a penny and not an expensive bmw engine.......
 
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