Crank case breather or CCV issues?

ver328i

Well-known member
My Dads 328i picked up a heavy smoking habit on Tuesday. I know that he keeps her well maintained, does not rev it and hardly drives it. So last night we checked it out before getting the mac in. The smoke is blueish white(oil), there is no signs of Mayo on the oil cap. When pulling out the dipstick with the engine running, there's a slight dip in revs. Coolant level is normal, oil level is normal...

Futher investigation leads us to a oily Crank case breather pipe(no1 below).
I remove the pipe from the vanos cover and find that it totally clogged where it attaches. No way the engine could breath normally with that gunk in there. So google and logic tells me that because of that blocked tube(No1), the suction from the intake mani that usually draws oil vapors, now drew oil from the drain tube(No6) through the CCV and into the intake causing smoke.

Can this really be the case?
can the CCV be damaged because of this?
can the engine be damaged because of this?

Please help - I really hope its not serious. We did unclog the pipe but there is still smoke

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hoosain

New member
i had a similar problem with my e60
i replaced the ccv and cleaned out all the pipes car smoked for a day after that and ever since that car 100% no smoke
as far as engine damage i would say no
 

moranor@axis

///Member
Official Advertiser
it can make the tappet cover gasket go or is some very bad cases can crack the tappet cover... if you see no oil around it then you should not have any damage...

if the smoke does not go away in a few days replace the CCV it could have failed causing the oil in the pipe...
 

ver328i

Well-known member
Thanks for the input guys. There is no more smoke. We ran the engine, detached the brake booster pipe from the intake mani and sprayed a quarter bottle of "o2 sensor safe" carb cleaner into the intake. This would help burn out any oil patches and gunk from inside the intake. Needless to say the car blew out some heavy smoke for a few minutes. We drove it slightly spirited for a couple of minutes after which the smoke vanished and the engine is now running smoother than ever.
 
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