Idle issue and oil burn...

dva99999

Zorg Guru (I)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Feb 14, 2016
Points
85
Location
Wirral
Model of Z
Z4 3.0 E85 Automatic
Hi all, (accidentally put this on wrong forum page)
For a while I've had an issue where when parking the car after a hard drive I've smelt and noticed a little smoke coming from the passenger side of the engine. It's not a lot and there is still plenty of oil when I check the car.
Only recently I've now noticed that when idling from cold it seems like the engine will cut out, the rev counter dips between around 600-900rpm. Once the engine is warm the problem goes away.

At first I thought it was 2 different issues neither one of them serious enough, as I was neither losing oil (much) nor was the car stalling. But I have read that both issues may be caused by one particular problem, that being a crack or perished seal in the rocker cover. I don't have anything with me to do a test for oil pressure but can anyone confirm this?
The car does not seem down on power but I darent drive it too hard in case I cause further damage.

There is a really good article in Pelican Parts on how to change the seals on the rocker cover, and I have done a similar job on an old MG.

Cheers
D
 
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Ianmc

Zorg Guru (IV)
British Zeds
The M44 Massive
Joined
Oct 12, 2014
Points
165
Location
New Forest
Model of Z
Z3 (M44)
Not sure if it is relevant but my son had a similar problem on his E46 318i recently. Turned out to be the filler cap leaking/not sealing properly. Very small amounts of oil were reaching the manifold. An easy first check and new cap fixed it.
 
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