Bad News!

[bonner 330ci]

Today i went to my mates garage to put some loctight on my hubcentric spacers, jacked the rear on the diff, got the job done and fired her up! gave a little reve 3 or 4k and swiched off once on idle, 2 mins later she would not start!!! checked all fuses relays ect, got the diagnostics out cleared codes n started again come back with a vanos senser and cam sensor altho cam has aways been there not been an issue!! last thing to try tow start! done this around the block and nothing, till comin to a junction i dipped the clutch up again then she fired up!! is still running fine now and does restart with no issues, i then checked oil and it was bone dry!! i only gave it a full service 4 weeks ago using magnatec 5/30 fully sythetic i have no oil leaks car dont smoke and heating blows hot no oil water mix any ideasdontsmoke

[Guest DazH]

Well if it hasn't leaked out and has not found its way into the cooling system, the engine must of burnt the oil. The only other thing I can think of is that you have an oil leak that occurs during driving when crank case pressure gets higher and engine oil viscosity is lowered due to temp

Clean the engine casing with some good detergent (Diesel or gunk), fill her up with oil and keep a very keen eye on the engine.

If no leak is found and it's still drinking hard, you may find yourself with HG failure or a failed piston ring. If one of the rings have failed, you might not see blue smoke as it's quite subtle. My M50 had a blown piston ring when she was installed in my E34 5er and I bought it like it! only found out when I pulled the rings...

Cylinder 3 - My M50B25

Hope this helps and please keep us posted!

[bonner 330ci]

Oh dear dont like the sound of that lol!! ive used a good 7.1/2 litres of oil since service! exhaust fumes are very clean has that sorta sweet almondy smell to it if that makes sence? oil i used was magnetec 5/30 could be to thin? milage is 176k, have google the prob and a few ppl were talkin about ccv being blocked and somthing about revmatching? down shifting while slowing down?? when u say use a good detergent are you talking of engine flush?? i have an mot this friday so hopfully the emissions test will tell us il keep this updated!! cheers daz

[Guest DazH]

7.5Ltrs of oil in 4 weeks. O'deary me...

CCV is an interesting suggestion. I would imagine mayonnaise would be present with a failed CCV. Rev-matching is an advanced driving technique used to maintain speed during cornering similar to double clutching. You can drop gears and land in the correct rev for the gear by matching the engine speed with the gear. Might be wrong but I cant see any connection to your symptoms so I would scrap that.

I would fill her with oil and clean the engine bay. Keep a keen eye on it and see what happens. If you see nothing, shes losing it internally.

[bonner 330ci]

Might pay to buy a new ccv and hoses i have been told the breather systems are not too good and do fail. i hooked one of the hoses off to find it caked in crap oil or carbon?? as for mayo i only get it on the oil cap but only due to short journeys as when i do a good run it goes, but yeah il fill it up n drive her gently!! and see what happens on friday il get them to have a good look at leaks and then maybe if i have some money left get them to do a compresion test if its worth it? Thanks again bud!!

[Guest DazH]

Might pay to buy a new ccv and hoses i have been told the breather systems are not too good and do fail. i hooked one of the hoses off to find it caked in crap oil or carbon?? as for mayo i only get it on the oil cap but only due to short journeys as when i do a good run it goes, but yeah il fill it up n drive her gently!! and see what happens on friday il get them to have a good look at leaks and then maybe if i have some money left get them to do a compresion test if its worth it? Thanks again bud!!

Yeah, you could even change the CCV yourself. Its not tooo difficult to get to. The mayo under the cap is nothing to worry about :)

As I said, I would clean the engine, fill her up and drive her normally. If you see any mess on your newly cleaned beast than you know its an external leak.

[bonner 330ci]

Good stuff! cheers mate i goin to put thru mot and if nothing is found il get the bay steam cleaned!! And hopfully i have a faulty dipstick lol!! as for the ccv i think it needs doin so if all goes well il treat her to a new one!!!! luckily i only do about 4 miles a day so if it is burnin oil shouldnt burn toooo much!!

[RobbieJ]

Hi Neil,

How old is she & how hard do you drive? I had a 330ci Sport and i was topping her up with a litre of oil a month. I thought similar things to you, and had it checked regularly by BM specialist but they couldn't find fault and put it down to my driving. I had no visible leaks with no smoke and the car drove fine. I didn't have starting problems but i did have it on my old E36 with turned out to be the crank shaft sensor, with was fine after i had it changed.

[bonner 330ci]

Hi mate! i do give it some when on carrage ways ect but not redlining it, the cars is a late 51 plate and has been sweet up untill now! i used to have a e36 328i 96 drove that the same but no issues, when we plugged her in after she died it came up wiv somthing to do with the vanos sensor? camshaft sensor has always come up but never been an issue! When tryng to start it it fired roughly then died it done this a few times but then gave up completly!! at first we fort it was the fuel pump as it didnt make the priming sound!! but since the tow start its been good as gold and fires on the button engine is smooth as they come!! il give it a steam clean and drive slow and see how i get on

[bonner 330ci]

Shes still goin very sweet!!!! just got to keep an eye out on the oil!! left for the whole day no oil spillage and no smoke on start up!! hopfully friday when it goes in for mot they wont find the cause!! Just wondered, if it did have a snapped piston would it sound noisy and run like poooo??

[Guest DazH]

Shes still goin very sweet!!!! just got to keep an eye out on the oil!! left for the whole day no oil spillage and no smoke on start up!! hopfully friday when it goes in for mot they wont find the cause!! Just wondered, if it did have a snapped piston would it sound noisy and run like poooo??

I doubt VERY much that you have a snapped piston.

[bonner 330ci]

I hope to god i havent!! if i had the no how id put a v8 or v10 inside lol

[Guest DazH]

I hope to god i havent!! if i had the no how id put a v8 or v10 inside lol

Common subject often brought up. If you want a V8 or a V10 you buy one with it already in it :) Reasons being; It's not worth the effort with your chassis.

Now putting a V8 in an E21 now THATS something I'd shave my head to have a lick of...

Stop worrying mate, it'l be fine. If the worst comes, you may not have the knowhow but combine all of us into the equation and you got yourself a workforce!

[bonner 330ci]

Good stuff mate cheers!!! are u a mechanic by trade or is it a hobbie?? u seem to no alot about all the differnt bmw's!!!

[Guest DazH]

Good stuff mate cheers!!! are u a mechanic by trade or is it a hobbie?? u seem to no alot about all the differnt bmw's!!!

Not my job. It's just what I/we do :)

[bonner 330ci]

Would love to have been a high end mechanic but the college wouldnt have me so most saturdays i have a tinka!! this is the best forum iv been on!! i joined a scooby one and ppl just wernt intrested!! went to a few meets and ppl again wernt intrested all stuck there nose up strange as everyone had the same car lol!! mot time shes in the garage all good to go!! hope it goes thru!!!

[Guest DazH]

Would love to have been a high end mechanic but the college wouldnt have me so most saturdays i have a tinka!! this is the best forum iv been on!! i joined a scooby one and ppl just wernt intrested!! went to a few meets and ppl again wernt intrested all stuck there nose up strange as everyone had the same car lol!! mot time shes in the garage all good to go!! hope it goes thru!!!

All wishing you luck mate

This is a forum where we will go out of our way to help unlike most(if not ALL) other BMW forums. We are pretty proud of that indeed. You don't need to go to college to be a grease monkey believe me. Just buy a knackered motor and start pulling stuff out! trust me...

[bonner 330ci]

Cheers bud! yeah its all good here!! iv had loads of help since day one!! much appriciated! if only i had a driveway or garage!!!!!! if it were the case my car would be in pieces and id be driving a cheeky cento lol, would love to strip mine and full nut n bolt rebuild and powdercoat everything underneith full poly bush id go for the full werx but for now i can only dream!! next step is to get me some x5 rims!!

[Guest DazH]

Cheers bud! yeah its all good here!! iv had loads of help since day one!! much appriciated! if only i had a driveway or garage!!!!!! if it were the case my car would be in pieces and id be driving a cheeky cento lol, would love to strip mine and full nut n bolt rebuild and powdercoat everything underneith full poly bush id go for the full werx but for now i can only dream!! next step is to get me some x5 rims!!

I don't have a drive way :) I pay 75quid a month to rent a garage from the council. THATS dedication