Crankcase Vent Valve/Oil Separator

[hehehahee]

I have a BMW 530I 2001. The dealer showed me the following message:

"Found frozen oil/water mix in valve cover when topping oil off, needs crankcase vent separator, cyclone separator. System not removing moisture. Oil cap was frozen onto engine".
The dealer says it is the Oil Separator/Crankcase Vent Valve/PCV Valve that froze in the cold weather and they have an insulating kit that will fix it. It will cost me $1000 if I have the dealer fix it.
My question is how straight forward is the install of the kit yourself for a guy that can do minor mechanical repairs on cars? Also, does the kit work to eliminate the freezing of this valve? Is there anything else a person should do besides the kit?

[happyheart]

Did you ever get an answer to this post? I have the identical situation with a 2003 530i. For now, I am having the valve cover replaced to get the car running again, but since I live in Ohio I will eventually need to do the whole thing. Also, so you know where to purchase the kit?

[marti5]

The reason they freeze is that moisture gets in the SPLIT diaphram and freezes up, so after you fit the new one no moisture can get in to freeze up, as for where to get one, im afraid BMW.

[keeb25]

I've replaced the ccvv on a 2002 325i it was time consuming and you shoud replace all atached hoses because tey are going to be brittle I live in Florida and the gas at walmart and sams club has to many additives in them and the dealer wouldn't cover the part as they say it was due to a added fluid. and you can't argue with them and the warrenty company. I tried! the parts came to around $175.00 and they wanted $780.00 to do the job so I found a walkthrough on a oil sepirater replacement and ordered the parts from (Pelicanparts.com) online. the walktrough rated it a 8 on the toughness, 1 being a oil change and 10 being a motor swap. I thaught it wasnt to bad but if you have big hands and don't mind being scraped to hell then its doable. good luck

[BimmerE39]

I have to replace the crank case ventilation valve for my M52TU, grant it I avoid the dealership like the plague, but I was given a quote with labor and parts somewhere in the $550-600 range which seemed fairly reasonable. Dealership prices are out of control especially when you factor in the kind of service you get.