yellow-ish stuff on engine oil cap (BMW)

ltnmzh

ltnmzh

ltnmzh

Associate
Joined
6 Aug 2011
Posts
480
Hi guy,

Is it a serious problem for this yellow-ish stuff on the engine oil cap? Should I be worried about it?

This is a 2010 BMW 120i with 20k miles. Not sure about the previous owner's driving. This is from a local main BMW dealership (franchise, I believe, is the right wording as it's listed on BMW's official website).

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EDIT* fixed oversized images
 
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It's water mixing with the oil. It could be a head gasket of course. But as above, if you do lots of short trips then it could be condensation forming. Has your coolant level dropped?
 
DannyW said:
they design stuff to last more then 2 years
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They might well design stuff to last that long....but do they build it to last that long? Then there's the problem of maintenance - and let's face it, your reputation in particular on here is not that of someone who takes car maintenance seriously, rightly or wrongly.....so why take anything that you post as fact?
 
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If your coolant hasn't dropped, change the oil as mentioned (clean the cap) and keep an eye on it. What colour is the oil on the dipstick - if its normal then i would say just caused due to condensation. How long have you had the car, is it an option to take it back to the dealer to have a look at ?
 
Just keep an eye on it for now, its not unusual for a car used for short trips to get a bit of a buildup - run it for a couple of weeks and monitor it
 
I have, a bmw 6 as it happens (i know the 120 is a 4) and the car was fine - it had been doing short trips though and if its not been bought yet then as above dont bother taking the chance
 
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Hm i wont be trying to find any 8x vauxhall thanks.

Strange that they would make it this way. All of my cars have been 5 years old + and none have ever exhibited anything like thatl
 
It's a problem with the differing materials not heating up as quickly, even my little merc a-class suffered with it.

The traces of water vapour rise to the highest point of the engine and settle of the surface, if this surface is cool and has a constant spray of oil mist, you'll get the yellow sludge.
 
teulk said:
If your coolant hasn't dropped, change the oil as mentioned (clean the cap) and keep an eye on it. What colour is the oil on the dipstick - if its normal then i would say just caused due to condensation. How long have you had the car, is it an option to take it back to the dealer to have a look at ?
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lol this car doesn't have a dipstick. oil level is checked digitally.
 
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