2000 528i dead

[cjh1925]

This is a wierd one. A week ago the car suddenly lost power and then died. When I turned around to coast down hill to get off the road I noticed a huge smoke screen behind the car. The engine was also seized. When I pulled the dipstick it had a vacuum in the crankcase and made a strange gurgling sound. A few days ago I pulled the plugs and found all 6 cylinders full of oil. Engine now turns, no evidence of coolant leakage into the cylinders. Any ideas as to what could cause this. I suspect the PCV system since oil has to be getting in through the intake manifold downstream of the throttle assembly. Also, what damage could this do, if any, to the cats? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have the Bentley manual but I can find nothing in it about the PCV system. (There has to b a better manual out there for these cars!)

[JhwShark]

We need more details...

It turns...how by hand, when cranking by starter, will not start but turns??...
Any noise when it died??
Do you park outside?
Prior to the issue do you take short trips?
Is it very cold outside (freezing)? Could have a frozen condensate issue in your oil flow...
Have you looked at your timing belt??
Have you looked inside the coolant reservoir for oil sludge?

Do a compression check across the 6 and post results.
Jon

[cjh1925]

Thanks for your response. To answer your questions:

1. It turns over with the starter with all plugs removed. I only jogged it and it blew oil out about 20 ft! All cylinders have a large amount of oil in them. It hasn't drained down after a week and a half so the rings are good. It is supposed to be warmer the next several days so I am going to suck the oil out.
2. My average trip is about 13 miles going to work.
3. I live in Massachusettes so yes, it is cold. Car is usually garaged although now it is out so my truck can be under cover since I am using that for commuting.
4. No oil sludge in coolant
5. Car has chain, no timing belt.
6. Car made no noise when this happened. I don't plan to do a compression check since I am pretty certain that there is no mechanical issue with the engine. The fact that all 6 cylinders are affected says to me that the oil has to be coming from the intake manifold.

I am sure that there is some system that connects into the intake manifold that caused this but I am not knowlegable enough about the systems to figure it out yet. There is something called a DISA valve that is attached to the manifold that I am suspicious of, but I don't know what it's function is. This is a bad time to be working outside on a car what with the cold and the fact that it is the holiday season that limits my time to work this problem. The Bentley manual has proven to be worthless in this instance. Thanks for any help.

cjh

[JhwShark]

You may have an issue with condensate in the oil freezing. Due to the temperatures in your local, the short commute, and parking outside at night (and day at work?) your engine produces condensation that does not get burned off. This can freeze up inside the oil flow...

Search this forum at a broad level for condensation in oil, or freezing water in oil, separator freezing..something like that.

If you can post a link to the manual I could point to the most likely device I believe the Oil Separator is the failure point. The parts (separator, hoses, intake gaskets) are available from Pelican and others for a reasonable price. You must remove the intake manifold to replace the separator, The cylinders and intake need to be cleaned and plugs replaced; the O2's and cats clean themselves during running.
Jon