I would think it would work nicely

 

If it's a simple swap across I'd go for it.

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Little over a month ago, I spotted a M56 car at a local pick and pull junk yard. I grabbed the valve cover and dipstick , along with 6 brand new coil packs , for the unheard of sum of 43 bucks. The plastic diaphragm in the valve cover has a hole in it and needs to be replaced. It's a very small hole it it, maybe I can fix it with some right stuff and then see it it will work. I'll be putting this cover on , when weather gets a bit warmer. I have a couple of different ideas on this for now. One I started working on last night. I'm using modeling clay to make a mold of the area under the CCV cap on the cover. Once the mold is made, I plan on pouring urethane rubber for the fitted part to go into the cavity on the cap, then hook up a PCV valve, right on top of the cap and let that be the fix for vacuum control.

 

You can buy the rubber diaphragm for about $20

Edit: Nice haul at the junk yard BTW. I miss the Pull a Part in Columbia SC.

 

I saw a DIY in the DIY section on this forum.. Let me see if I can find the link

 

Why would you do this when you can switch to a catch can? $500 is absurd for something that will be non-issue for the rest of the car's life.

 

The risk where I'm located isn't just the fouling of the CCV - the bigger risk is the freezing of the dipstick return tube and any of the CCV or catch can hoses that might accumulate "mayo" The design on the newer BMW engines is similar to the M56 - with an integrated CCV but they also heat the external tubes.

 

Btw, GAS is coming up with a new CCV system that goes on top of oil filter housing, in case you are not aware of it..

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We'll probably all die waiting on that lol

 

I realize I'll have to replace the plastic BMW cover over the VC and a new vent hose.

Anyone see any issues with this mod? Are there any fitment issues I might not have considered?

May also need an M56 intake distribution piece or make some kind of adapter.

 

http://e46fanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1066308

 

Thanks for posting the link - Figures the OP is from Buffalo NY - he sure understands the cold weather issue.

 

money shot.. pics came from the thread above

 

Sorry for the 2 questions but:
-What is "Frozen CCV/Mayo"?
-Why does the m56 has 2 oil caps?

 

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=17139960&postcount=55

BMW Service Interpretation Bulletin (SIB) regarding CCV freezing

The above SIB describes the issue. It recommends to change to the cold weather kit (insulated tubes and wider dipstick drain tube) - this has proved insufficient as cars in extreme cold weather continue to experience engine failure even with the CW CCV kit. ergo BMW changed the design of the CCV to an integrated version for new engines.

 

M56 cover has 1 oil cap, but the location is offset compared to the M54 cover. The mayo is a yellowish looking substance on the oil cap which happens when you drive the car for short periods of time and don't let the oil warm up properly.

 

Thanks Solidjake, is I have seen pics of m56 valve covers and for some reason they seem to have 2 oil caps.

I figure that's what I was seeing on my oil cap, as after replacing the motor, I went for a short test drive and had what you just described, I was a bit worried thinking the motor installed could have a bad headgasket, but upon taking a long drive it was gone and figured was just condensation. It is fairly cold here and constantly changing weather.

To the OP, good luck. I'll be thinking of this as next mod.

 

Yeah if your head gasket was bad it would be all up in the oil not only on the cap. It does get worse when cold too.

 

Am only in CT until june, then is back to AZ for me lol. Although I lived in Ct for 12yrs all my other cars werent picky as the bmw's so didnt had this condensation issue until now. But hey always good to learn new things, but even though am moving am still considering this m54 to m56 swao as it looks better too.

 

On purchasing the diaphragm for the CCV, do you have any info on where to buy the part , and maybe a part number? I've been searching for almost a month and haven't found the spot to make this happen.
On the urethane rubber pouring, the material that I'm using is the same stuff that is used when pouring urethane bushings for suspensions. It's extremely hard and should hold up for the job. If it doesn't, I'll use my mold and have a machinist turn me one out of aluminum.

 

Individual parts for the CCV aren't available.


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Don't understand the mayo issue, I don't drive very much and when I do its short trips. Never mayoed anything anywhere. When I capitulated to e46fan paranoia and changed the crankcase vent plumbing out for the updated parts including the dipstick tube I observed no evidence whatsoever of mayo or condensate or impending failure of the original parts. Those parts were just fine when replaced.


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Where do you live? I never had the issue in my couoe when living in Az, now that am currently in Ct didnt had the issue until winter came, esoecially this years temps been rising and lowering quickly, plus the garage is very humid as well.

 

And not to mention the upgraded "stock look" of the M56 CCV simplified system. One less thing to worry about. Next thing is to get someone to get rid of our surge tank that is too low in the coolant system and make a coolant reservoir/surge tank to go in the passengers side empty space.

 

If only that cover wasn't that expensive

 

Keep your eyes open, they are out there in junked autos, and can be bought on the cheap. I'm going to continue to check the spots for these, now that I know.

 

Seeing as how many of these M56's are going to get junked in the next couple of years due to the integrated fuel-pump dying ($6000 repair job), I think that the availability of the M56 valve covers should be increasing. This seems like a great solution, and it's not something they added in new models. My e34 525, with a M50 engine had the ccv integrated in the valve cover as well.

 

A quick search on eBay turned up a couple of M56 valve covers in the $250 range. Not crazy, IMO.

 

:clap::clap:
Already submitted my offer. Stay away from that cover :evil::eeps:

 

I have an M56 setup coming my way later this week, we'll see how it goes.

 

Some things that I have just learned. The M56 valve cover (lets call it an update) update has some down sides for certain vehicles. You have to get the coil packs for the M56 as well for the older production M54's. When you change the coil packs, the plugs are different which would require a coil harness. On changing the coil harness, the wire pin outs are different. The new vehicles don't have this problem but the older production vehicles might get a CEL. From the harness change, there is one thick wire that has no where to go in the new coil pack harness set up. The alternative may be to keep your harness and add the coil pack connector plugs to your existing harness using the correct pin out for the new coils. Also have to check to see if the resistance between the 2 different coils are close enough to not over heat the drivers in the DME. Research research research. But in the end the clean setup (for me) is what I am looking for.

 

What year are the "older production m54" ?

 

According to realoem, the older coil pack design was used up to 9/2002.

 

By older style coils you mean the ones that get bolted into place? And the m56 valve cover uses the coils that just push in, correct?

 

Yeah, M56 will need newer harness and new style push-in type coils.

 

The cosmetic engine cover for M56 is not bolted on like the ones for M54, but has rubber grommets that fit the 3 engine stand-offs. Are these stands readily available for M54 or need to be transferred from a donor M56 ?

 

This part?
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw-parts/screw/13537515327/
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BV13-USA-01-2004-E46-BMW-325Ci&diagId=11_3102