Burning Oil

[Jayson Naidoo]

Hi There : My BMW Friends

I own a 2004 E46 318i Sports and recently when i start the car only in the mornings i get the smell of burning oil. Looked all over but cannot identify this problem. I do not have mechanical warranty. I have faith and trust that you my friends out there can help me cos i am worried.

God Bless

Jayson

 

[Legacy]

My guess would be that your tappet cover gasket is leaking onto the exhaust manifold. Check your engine bay for spots of oil and take some pictures and post them up here.

Does your cars' exhaust smoke?

 

[Jayson Naidoo]

Thank You for taking the time to review my message.
No my car does not smoke.

Jayson

 

[moranor@axis]

if it does not smoke its most lightly what legacy said...

 

[andrewbuch]

Our 2004 E46 318i went to the dealer 6 times for an oil leak..

They replaced:

Tappet cover Gasket
Oil filter housing
Oil filter housing top
Oil filler cap
Some other gasket
Tappet cover Gasket again
and a few other parts I cant remember

Then we sold it, & the new owner took the car back to the same dealer (unfortunately for them it was now just out of motorplan) as it still had an oil leak, but they did not cover costs as they claimed it was now leaking from another place, but I feel they just did not manage to fix it the first 6 times..

 

[Funky Toyz]

Could be the Vacuum Pump as well. This part sits behind your engine out of site and there are usually no traces of oil leaking as you can't see it. What happens is the oil seeps out the vacuum pump and drops onto the exhaust manifold which causes the burning oil smell.

 

[Jayson Naidoo]

Remember this only happens in the mornings.
I took the car to the mechanic this morning and he tells me it is the tappet cover gasket.

thank you

 

[chrisc]

If you have replaced the tapper cover gasket so many times, I doubt it is this again, unless the cover is distorted. The gasket is not just a piece of flat rubber or cork, it is moulded to the tapper cover.

You only need a small spot (less than 1/4 teaspoon) on a hot manifold for this to produce a smell.

Why not steam-clean the engine thoroughly and then have another look?

Take off the covers/pans underneath and do a really good clean, and leave the pan off for a few days and inspect it.

I also had Auric Auto fiddle with my 318ti several times to fix an oil leak. They got it 95% right, but there is still an occasional spot on the floor.