NHTSA Complaint #10222050 — 2001 BMW X5

I HAVE A 2001 BMW X-5. ON A COLD DAY IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR I LEFT WORK AND DROVE APPROXIMATELY 25 MILES WHEN MY YELLOW CHECK OIL LIGHT CAME ON. I COULD SMELL OIL AND NOTICED THAT MY VEHICLE WAS SMOKING OUT THE EXHAUST PIPE. I WENT TO THE NEAREST SERVICE STATION AND TURNED OFF MY VEHICLE TO CHECK THE OIL. WHEN I PULLED OUT THE DIP STICK, OIL SHOT OUT OF THE HOLE AND SPRAYED ALL OVER THE INTERIOR OF MY HOOD, ON MY FACE AND ALL OVER MY CLOTHING. THE OIL CRANKCASE HAD BECOME PRESSURIZED AND WAS FORCING THE OIL OUT THE ENGINE, THROUGH THE RINGS AND VALVE COVERS. AFTER WIPING OFF MY FACE, HANDS AND CLOTHING THE BEST I COULD, I ADDED THREE QUARTS OF OIL TO RETURN THE LEVEL TO ACCEPTABLE CONDITIONS. REPAIRS NEEDED TO GET NEW GASKETS AND OIL SEPARATOR, PCV VALVE, DIP STICK GUIDE TUBE AND HOSES. THESE REPAIRS COST $1690. LATER I UNDERSTOOD THAT BMW WAS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND HAD ISSUED A SERVICE INFORMATION BULLETIN # SI B 11 08 03 TO ITS SERVICE DEPARTMENT. I ALSO HEARD THAT MORE THAN 100 SIMILAR EVENTS OCCURRED IN MINNEAPOLIS DURING THE FIRST COLD SPELL OF THIS SEASON. BMW SHOULD HAVE INFORMED OWNERS OF BMW OF THE NEED TO REPLACE PCV VALVES IF REQUIRED TO BOTH PREVENT POTENTIAL DAMAGE TO CARS AND DRIVERS WHO LIKE MYSELF RESPONDED TO THE SITUATION AND ENDED UP BEING SPRAYED BY WARM ENGINE OIL. A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD EXISTED WITH OIL BEING FORCED FROM MY CRANKCASE INTO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. *TR