'04 325i problem!! advice plzzz! - BMW Forum

coolcooltracy · 05-11-2009, 02:28 AM

I just bought an 04 bimmer and had it for a little over two months (it had 86k mi on it).. well dealership told me nothing about the history.. after the papers were signed they only gave me the keys. well of course, i assumed that i could wait til i drove it abt 3k miles then change the oil. well then 5 days ago (and 1800 miles driving it), i started the car and A LOT of white smoke came out. then later while driving my oil light (which turned on as RED) came on and I drove it another 5 mins to go home.. i didnt know i was supposed to stop IMMEDIATELY when red. we checked the oil and of course, it was filthy and level was low. well then we changed the oil (my dad says that was the problem but everyone said it may be the head gasket.. my dad said no oil in coolant and no coolant in oil so that's not the problem) we put 6 quarts of oil in.. then i drove it and the yellow oil light came on. well i pulled over and read the manual and it said i could drive it but no more than 30 mi.. so i drove it home which was about a mile and a half from where i was.. we put another quart in (which makes it 7) OH! also we changed the oil filter which i read it soaks about half a quart of oil.. we r checkin it every now and then and so far it looks a-o-k.. BUT I just wanted any of you experts to PLEASE give me any advice that would help.

IIIAnTiChriST · 05-21-2009, 08:39 PM

I think the max amount of oil you should be putting in that car is 6.9 quarts and it HAS to be synthetic.

coolcooltracy · 05-21-2009, 09:23 PM

yeah, it's mobile 1 fully synthetic and the kind for high mileage too. and about the 6.9qts, idk cause after 7, its still not at the max on the dipstick.. (accoding to my dad) but if it's the ccv which i believe has something to do with oil as well as air (oil seperator??) idk, would the level of oil have something to do with that??

IIIAnTiChriST · 05-21-2009, 11:06 PM

Tell me which codes you got again Ill look em up in the book and ill get back to you.

coolcooltracy · 05-22-2009, 05:37 AM

P0174 & 171. Thanks, again.

coolcooltracy · 05-22-2009, 05:39 AM

basically, what my dad was going to do was change all of the sparkplugs, the air filter and the ccv.. but, would you know how many "vacuum hoses" are there for the ccv/intake or whichever.. bc idk if i mentioned it, but BMW said they changed it but the guy at autozone said it looked collapsed.

coolcooltracy · 05-22-2009, 05:43 AM

oh HEY! as well as that, bmw gave me the list of things that needed to be replaced. it was an order form should i tell you whats on the list? bc i see that it does not say anything about the "CCV" theres something that says "pressure regulating" which costs $87.14 I have all of the part numbers of what they said i needed

BimmerE39 · 05-22-2009, 09:23 AM

BMW CCV's kind of suck. I already had to replace mine once, but it makes a huge difference before and after. Mine was causing a serious vacuum leak.

marti5 · 05-22-2009, 10:55 AM

CCV valve I would say seen this loads of times the white smoke on start up is the big clue.

IIIAnTiChriST · 05-22-2009, 12:53 PM

Those 2 codes preety much mean a number of things that would make it hard to pinpoint. First change the ccv then reset the engine light see if that helps. Oh and please do include the list that bmw gave you.

coolcooltracy · 05-23-2009, 03:05 PM

Ok so Marti5, yes my car did have smoke on start up.. But not so much after the oil was changed.. & BimmerE39 my dad did get the ccv changed today and he said there's a maaajjorr difference. Antichrist, updating for you that my dad got the air filter ccv and the sparkplugs changed and he said that there was a major difference on how well the car can run now.. I've been @ work all day so I haven't been able to drive it to test it yet, but I will definitely update when I have driven it. Thank you all so much and antichrist, the codes on the list I will include tonight when I get a hold of it. Thank you guys for the support, you all gave me hope!

Rebekah325i · 05-23-2009, 05:41 PM

This may be too late but you should take the car back to where you purchased it (along with all reciepts) and let them know that this car has had this problem already and this isn't exactly as small as a flat spare. This could be the beginning of catastrophic engine failure which would then need to be covered by the dealership depending on your state's laws. Also, run to your nearest auto parts store and pick up the chilton or hayes repair manuel. It's about 20 bucks and the best investment you will make towards your car.

IIIAnTiChriST · 05-26-2009, 08:03 PM

Hahah glad to see everything is fine, let us now how she's running.

coolcooltracy · 05-26-2009, 08:28 PM

Everythings ok! Sometimes @ start up, the rpm is a little over 1 and goes up n down a lil bit but once the engines warm it stops.. Also, since my uncle fixed it and not at a shop.. Idk how to reset the service engine light..

IIIAnTiChriST · 05-26-2009, 10:58 PM

Auto zone should be able to do it for you. Also you can purchase a device that can reset the service engine light as well as give you diagnosis when it lights up. It's about $140 bucks. I would defenutly try to reset the light at auto zone to make sure it doesnt light back up after driving for about a 100 miles. Hopefully it wont and you can go back to driving the finest automobile in the world without any headaches.