cooling system questions - United Bimmer Community

**gemnilvr** · 02-11-2010, 12:20 PM

here are my issues: 2002 530i 135k

1. smell of burning oil after driving and coming to a stop
2. check coolant level light
3. service engine soon light
4. smell of coolant every so often thru vents
5. temp gauge goes to red then back to normal after topping off coolant
6. heater blows cold air then hot ait after topping off coolant
7. do not see any leaks of coolant on the ground, where is it going?
8. overheated again only alot of steam this time on lower drivers side
9. level float in reserve coolant tank gets stuck down, when i touch it it pops up and this last time my fingers were coated with a dark oilt residue not coolant. smelled of gasoline.
10. i have added some stop leak pellets in the coolant and some aluma seal too
11. the car starts and runs fine , is the thermostat the possible problem
12. i dont see any cracks on the radiator and the hoses look good, where could the steam be coming from on the lower drivers side towards the front, is there an overflow for if the pressure is too high or too hot?
13. no white smoke coming out the tailpipe no smoke at all and the iol level has stayed the same so where is the burning oil smell coming from? and why is the oil level the same?
thanks for and suggestions!

the car was certified thru bmw and covered to 100k so im thinking alot of the parts on this car were either replaced or very well maintained. ive had no issues with the car except the normal maintenence and common failures such as electrical ,battery and wiring harness ,wet carpets ,final stage unit and a few other minor things!

Big Evil · 04-23-2010, 02:27 PM

What you're describing sounds an awful lot like a warped head. Oil in the coolant, overheating (which only makes the warpage worse). Wet carpet and the smell of coolant inside the car can be caused by a leaking heater core. The oil level may be staying up due to coolant leaking in or fuel bypassing the rings and ending up in the crankcase. There's also a problem with the PCV system that can happen occasionally. Ask any BMW tech about the "hooter valve" next time you're at the dealer. I'd have it in for a compression test and a scan asap.