oil breather/separator

[Smeeagain]

I was of the understanding , possibly incorrectly, that if I changed the oil breather (or separator as BMW call it) on my 2004 E53 3.0 D Sport from the foam type to vortex type that it then did not need changed.
Dealership telling me today that it still has to be changed every 3 rd service?
Thoughts?

Smee

[X5Sport]

Can't see why it would be.  They never changed the bog roll AFAIK it wasn't a 'service item'.... ???

[Horizon]

There is nothing to block up on the vortex type separator, you can see through it, it works on a centrifugal basis instead of a straight filtration idea. Doesn't give you much faith in Service reception staff, most are clueless.

[Smeeagain]

My thoughts entirely.
They couldn't even agree between themselves if there still should be Inspection 1 Inspection 2 being used or simply a service (car has done 170,000 miles)

And they did replace the bog roll - but only every 3rd service

For those who may be interested, they reckoned I needed Inspection 2 £349, plus airfilter, pollen/micro filter (presumably different to air filter?), plus fuel filter (the last 3 items because it should be done every 3rd service.
Total cost £439.
For servicing a 10 year old car.

I said no.

Appreciate oil and filters cost a but, but I'm doing it myself

Smee

[X5Sport]

Pollen/micro filter is at the back of the engine bay where the AC air intake is.  It's just a big fine air filter.

The oil is the most expensive bit, the filters are pretty cheap.  It's a straightforward DIY.

Richard

[Smeeagain]

yep just youtubed it all - and the oil being the expensive bit is the bit I'm not going to compromise on - presumably I can get non OEM filters that will be just fine and even dandy

Smee

[X5Sport]

ECP do them.......SERVICE25 is today's code.  I bought air/oil/pollen filters from them.  Oil I got elsewhere.  I used Castrol 5W50 EDGE FST.  No issues on the E46 engine of the same type.

Richard

[Smeeagain]

thanks - with that code I can get 8 litres of oil from them for £44.98 (magnatec 5w30)

Smee

[kamb]

i got Petronas Engine Oil Syntium 5000 AV 5w30 10 litres for £37 from amazon

[kamb]

oil breather change isnt that hard trust me i had to do it twice in 2 days as thought i forgot the o-ring

first time 2 hours as was also changing glow plug 

second time 25 minutes... I was lucky as just by chance a BMW mechanic was walking past and stopped to see what I was doing so he gave me a hand

[Smeeagain]

Yes Kamb, I know it easy especially when doing airfilter anyway,  but the whole point of the thread is that the Vortex type doesn't need changed !!!!
Even if its easy I'm not going to spend money on parts I don't need

Smee

[Smeeagain]

[quote="Smeeagain"]
thanks - with that code I can get 8 litres of oil from them for £44.98 (magnatec 5w30)

Smee
[/quote]

Update on the oil purchase.

I didn't complete the purchase online last night as I was running late and had to go out. This morning EuroCarparts emailed me and said here is a further discount code (effectively changing the discount from 25% to 30%)

Don't know if the code will work for everyone, but why not?
it is LASTCHANCE30
(and yes I know they do do a 30% code quite often but not always)

Now got 8 litres of Castrol Magnatec 5w30 C3 spec for £40 delivered - happy with that.

Smee

[kamb]

apologise

the BMW guy said that they have a blue vortex filter now which is better but you need to ask for it as normally workshop keeps them in house

[Smeeagain]

No probs

Ooooooh a blue vortex filter ........ so much better than black.

[kamb]

apparently so but have no idea why they both made from plastic