Need Advise: Oil Sludge on 728i '97

[BMW2007]

Dear Bro, Sifu,Went to used car dealer for car shopping today, was eyeing a beautiful 728i and attracted me to further check on the engine bay. What i found is the oil sludge after removing the oil filler cap, the oil sludge is very obvious on the oil filler cap as well as inside the engine. The car was clock at 180,000 km, is it common for such a high mileage car to built up the oil sludge on the engine? Checked the last service sticker, it was done in 2009 but the previous service was in year 2007. The ex-owner only drove 5000 km in 2 years as the rich guy rarely use the car and owning a few cars as well. I guess this might be the reason of oil sludge built up due to long interval oil change. There are also minor oil leaking on the PS hoses. Checked the BC, it displayed message "check coolant level", seems to be insufficient coolant. Hope it is not a leak.. The speedmeter also noted with 1 or 2 lines of pixel is missing. Checked the function of power window, found the left side at the back is not working. Any idea how much cost to repair the above issues? My key worry is still the oil sludge in the engine, can it be easily flush out or an overhaul is needed?Any idea or comment will be much appreciated!Thanks so much.

 

[anxious]

Dear Bro, Sifu,

Went to used car dealer for car shopping today, was eyeing a beautiful 728i and attracted me to further check on the engine bay. What i found is the oil sludge after removing the oil filler cap, the oil sludge is very obvious on the oil filler cap as well as inside the engine. The car was clock at 180,000 km, is it common for such a high mileage car to built up the oil sludge on the engine? Checked the last service sticker, it was done in 2009 but the previous service was in year 2007. The ex-owner only drove 5000 km in 2 years as the rich guy rarely use the car and owning a few cars as well. I guess this might be the reason of oil sludge built up due to long interval oil change. There are also minor oil leaking on the PS hoses.

Checked the BC, it displayed message "check coolant level", seems to be insufficient coolant. Hope it is not a leak.. The speedmeter also noted with 1 or 2 lines of pixel is missing. Checked the function of power window, found the left side at the back is not working.

Any idea how much cost to repair the above issues? My key worry is still the oil sludge in the engine, can it be easily flush out or an overhaul is needed?

Any idea or comment will be much appreciated!

Thanks so much.

Unless you are prepared to overhaul the engine, I would just walk away. Rich people dont always maintain their cars properly as I leant through my E36 experience.

see http://www.bmwclubmalaysia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12081&highlight=experience+e36

 

[BMW2007]

thanks bro. how much the cost if overhaul has to be done? is it top overhaul or??

 

[kgb]

32 pages of pure suffering heheheheh

 

[Vincent Hor]

Bro, 180,000kms on a 97 car is not considered a high mileage. It works out to be less than 15,000 kms per year.

What I found out is most of the M50/M52 engines oil cap & view of the inside of the oil cap always shows minute strains of oil sludge. This is quite common. How does the car drives? Get a compression test done? Anyway these M52B28 engines are cheap in the potong shop. A nice low mileage engine kosong from Japan would probably cost less than RM4K

PS hose can be a bit expensive. The one with the pressure can cost around RM1.5K to replace. Missing pixels can be repaired as some like Herbert has done it.

Power window regulator set is expensive if you buy them new (RM1.5K) Second hand can be found at around RM450 - RM500

If you really like the car, then have it sent to a reliable mechanic to check the car throughly.

Dear Bro, Sifu,

Went to used car dealer for car shopping today, was eyeing a beautiful 728i and attracted me to further check on the engine bay. What i found is the oil sludge after removing the oil filler cap, the oil sludge is very obvious on the oil filler cap as well as inside the engine. The car was clock at 180,000 km, is it common for such a high mileage car to built up the oil sludge on the engine? Checked the last service sticker, it was done in 2009 but the previous service was in year 2007. The ex-owner only drove 5000 km in 2 years as the rich guy rarely use the car and owning a few cars as well. I guess this might be the reason of oil sludge built up due to long interval oil change. There are also minor oil leaking on the PS hoses.

Checked the BC, it displayed message "check coolant level", seems to be insufficient coolant. Hope it is not a leak.. The speedmeter also noted with 1 or 2 lines of pixel is missing. Checked the function of power window, found the left side at the back is not working.

Any idea how much cost to repair the above issues? My key worry is still the oil sludge in the engine, can it be easily flush out or an overhaul is needed?

Any idea or comment will be much appreciated!

Thanks so much.

 

[BMW2007]

Thanks Vincent. Your reply gave me some "boost" and +ve feels. I have not really test drive the car as it was a Sunday when i was there yesterday (the dealer is actually closed on Sunday with all cars parked back to back). However i didn't notice any abnormality of engine sound. It is just sound normal when engine is started and rev the rpm slowly up to 2.5.
The car is in PG, i will bring it to a mechanic to check in next 2 days and then do a test drive on express way.

Since you have seen most M52 with oil sludge, what do you think it can be easily flush out?

Thanks.

 

[viewfinder]

I'm with anxious on this... walk away. My M50 has clocked over 200K km and has no visible sludge in the oil cap nor the valve cover compartment. During a valve cover gasket replacement service, all is clear and covered with golden colored oil. Rod, valve lifter, chain, etc etc.

One thing I learned is, don't even trust 100% of mechanic. Mechanics are people, people makes mistake or overlook.

 

[Vincent Hor]

Check this link & see what those guys have to say. Does the car oil cap looks like this?

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117525

Thanks Vincent. Your reply gave me some "boost" and +ve feels. I have not really test drive the car as it was a Sunday when i was there yesterday (the dealer is actually closed on Sunday with all cars parked back to back). However i didn't notice any abnormality of engine sound. It is just sound normal when engine is started and rev the rpm slowly up to 2.5.
The car is in PG, i will bring it to a mechanic to check in next 2 days and then do a test drive on express way.

Since you have seen most M52 with oil sludge, what do you think it can be easily flush out?

Thanks.

 

[anxious]

32 pages of pure suffering heheheheh

I dont think anyone's suffering is a laughing matter.

Any way if u have read the 32 pgs, the "suffering" ended a long time ago and I would like to say that 90% of my 3 year ownership has been very pleasant.


BMW2007, my posting is not meant to discourage u. Just dont rush into it. Any car (as long as structurally sound ) can be fixed but its a matter of cost. I spent close to RM20k in my first year due to impatience and ignorance. Today looking back I accept it as a learning experience and am really looking forward to my next BMW. Most of my freinds with a RM150k-170k budget take the "safer" route of getting a brand new Accord or Camry but I cant imagine not getting a Bimmer, even if it my be 4-5 years old. Its not the badge that I am after, but the Sheer Driving Pleasure I get from a Bimmer.

As for u, I just feel that there are a lot of "good" cars out there which are waiting to be discovered. I feel you should take you time to locate the ideal bimmer for u.

Good Luck.

 

[BMW2007]

Check this link & see what those guys have to say. Does the car oil cap looks like this?

Yes, the sludge on the oil cap looks similar to the picture, kind of one layer coated on the surface. I do noticed the same inside the engine after cap is opened out.

Well, the info from bimmerfest forum sounds like sludge buildup is quite common on M54 as well, several reasons could be long interval oil change or short distance driving, moisturing and etc.
I was hoping the ARX process or some others flushing could help to get it rid off, if i would to buy the car.

 

[BMW2007]

Is Oil Sludge common?

I dont think anyone's suffering is a laughing matter.

Any way if u have read the 32 pgs, the "suffering" ended a long time ago and I would like to say that 90% of my 3 year ownership has been very pleasant.


BMW2007, my posting is not meant to discourage u. Just dont rush into it. Any car (as long as structurally sound ) can be fixed but its a matter of cost. I spent close to RM20k in my first year due to impatience and ignorance. Today looking back I accept it as a learning experience and am really looking forward to my next BMW. Most of my freinds with a RM150k-170k budget take the "safer" route of getting a brand new Accord or Camry but I cant imagine not getting a Bimmer, even if it my be 4-5 years old. Its not the badge that I am after, but the Sheer Driving Pleasure I get from a Bimmer.

As for u, I just feel that there are a lot of "good" cars out there which are waiting to be discovered. I feel you should take you time to locate the ideal bimmer for u.

Good Luck.

Yes Bro, i understand and really appreciate your sharing. It is good to warn me as i dont intend (supposed i dont have) the RM20K to spend for the engine overhaul. However my initial thought was the oil sludge is able to flush out, without overhaul the engine. It might be true that the oil sludge is kind of common issue to BMW due to several reasons mentioned above.

hmmm.. a superb condition (such as sludge free on high mileage car) of the 728 might be difficult to find. Perhaps Vincent could help to share his experience as he has sorted out many 7 series cars before buying his 728. However, if the oil sludge is un-common to 7 series (M52 especially) especially, then i will walk away from this era of car.

 

[Vincent Hor]

BMW2007, I have had 5 BMW with the 24 Valve motor (M50 & M52). All had the same sympton that you described. And also many friends M50/M52 that had the same thing too. It's a common sight for me as I exchange lots of views on engines and car maintenance with my mechanic over the many number of years.

So far, all the M50/52 that I have owned never had any compression issues nor requiring a top or full overhaul. Basically these engines are very robust and cheap on maintenance. Just have to be very careful with the coolant and never overheat the engine.

Unless you have the know how or experience, the best bet is to bring this car or whatever car that you are buying to a good competent mechanic.

 

[BMW2007]

thanks bro for the sharing. It seems that the sludge is quite common seen in most high age cars but it didn't required full overhaul or cause any compression issue. However it is also kind of unhealthy sign of the engine.. did you manage to flush it out or just leave it as it is?

 

[Vincent Hor]

I didn't flush the engine and so far didn't experience any issues. From the link it seems that this also evident in low mileage cars!

thanks bro for the sharing. It seems that the sludge is quite common seen in most high age cars but it didn't required full overhaul or cause any compression issue. However it is also kind of unhealthy sign of the engine.. did you manage to flush it out or just leave it as it is?

 

[MONTOYA]

infact the E46 320i is a well known sludge bucket too.

My suggestion is to do 2 rounds of auto-rx before spending on 32 pages of parts.

i have been using this product for quite sometime. really good.