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Subject: Crank Case Vent Valve - E38 Author: profbodryak : member since October, 2009 : 10 posts Posted on: 2009-10-03 14:36:52

So who would come up with an idea to use torx screws in the back of the intake manifold? Obviously engineers from BMW that recommend to service the crank case vent valve by taking off the entire intake manifold. For those who decide to go the easier route (probably even in my case) here are a couple of ideas when replacing it:

I had my crankcase vent valve go bad at around 170000 miles. Symptoms included rough idle, burning oil, howling noise when engine warmed up and possibly increased fuel consumption. I bought a replacement part from Bap Geon for ~56 dollars. When replacing it I used the original torx screws to put it back on (in order to avoid taking off the intake manifold you need to disconnect all lines to and from the part, and two hoses in the back that are in the way of removing two lower torx screws).

Three months later the valve went bad again (maybe since it was a third party manufacturer). When replacing it again I realized that it would've been very smart to use the regular hex bolts to put it back on the first time. Two out of seven torx screws were stripped and I ended up having to cut off two of them with a saw.

The problem was is that I was able to unscrew 5 of them but the worst part was that the bottom ones got stuck. Eventually I broke off most of the cover (taking the risk of damaging the intake manifold however by doing this and braking off most of the back cover you expose those two screws) and used a saw to cut off those to screws. When you cut them make the first cut as if you were making a slit for using a regular flat blade screwdriver and make the second cut half way through the head of the bolt cutting off half of the head (I hope this makes sense). Then it would be easier to unscrew them with pliars. It is not easy on your hands sawing those off for about an hour so use gloves.

The bottom line is: REPLACE ALL 7 TORX SCREWS WITH HEX BOLTS!!! Hope it will make someone's life easier!

• Crank Case Vent Valve - E38 - profbodryak 2009-10-03 14:36:52 (8636 views)
  • Re: Crank Case Vent Valve - E38 - profbodryak 2009-10-05 13:48:41 (977 views)
  • I tried to do that on the V12 OSV but you can't use anything except torx. - woody750 2009-10-03 16:40:35 (566 views)
  • You own a digital camera? I would have loved to of seen photos of this. (nt) - Rogue7 2009-10-03 14:47:56 (560 views)
    • I wasn't finished, BTW Welcome to the board. (nt) - Rogue7 2009-10-03 14:49:38 (560 views)