Moisture residue on 52 oil cap on startup - time to panic?

[E82_125i]

I am currently in the midsts of a love/hate relationship at the the moment with my 125i. Since my waterpump died on me a few months ago i am now constantly on edge waiting for the next thing to break.

Something that is troubling me quite a bit at the moment is the possibility that when my waterpump died that it caused some damage (it didn’t overheat, i got the yellow coolant sign and limped it somewhere safe and turned it off quickly). Because of this i often check the oil cap to make sure theres no milky residue indicating a failed head gasket.
Since the weather has turned colder and wetter i have noticed on start up (after it has been running a couple of minutes) that there is a thin milky film that looks like condensation. Not what looks like the typical coolant mayo but is enough to cause me a concern.
I use my car car daily for work so i should be burning the moisture off however admittedly i do shortish 10-25 min journeys throughout the day.
Once its up to temp and after sitting overnight there is no sign of any film on the oil cap.
Am I overthinking this or do i need to start investigating this. My enthusiasm towards maintaining this car is starting to wane so if theres even a whiff of head gasket failure etc i think itll be time to move on.

The oil usage is also quite high now but within tolerance apparently but am quite concerned that its all linked, however the oil usage has never been great.

[B'stard Child]

My E82 125i has mayo under the filler cap in winter every year - My commute is 5mins so I’ve grown to expect it - it does get a good run once a month and that gets rid of most of it but the plastic valve cover doesn’t get as hot as the alloy earlier cars (IMO)

Oil consumption is up on mine (@76,000 miles) it never used to use any between changes now it uses 500 ml every 5000 miles - however I think a lot of this is down two two gaskets I need to change (oil cooler unit and oil level switch in the sump - both are weaping slightly)

Not had to do a water pump yet but I know that will be soon

[g3org3y]

To me, it doesn't sound like anything of major concern. I'm sure if your journeys were longer it'd be less of an issue.

Is it losing coolant at all?

I found the oil consumption on my N52'd 330i notably improved once the PCV system was replaced.

[E82_125i]

g3org3y said:

To me, it doesn't sound like anything of major concern. I'm sure if your journeys were longer it'd be less of an issue.

Is it losing coolant at all?

I found the oil consumption on my N52'd 330i notably improved once the PCV system was replaced.

Ever so slightly but not noticeably so. It seems to drop slowly over the months. I spoke to the mechanic over it who did my water pump and he didnt seem concerned. Said is more like due to old brittle pipes or radiator. The coolant still looks brand new in the expansion tank. I check it regularly.

As with the PCV did you get any other symptoms? I reckon im using about 1quart every 1000 miles or so at the moment and even though i have a smallish leak at the valvtronic gasket I think thats excessive even if BMW says otherwise.

So im now waiting for a big problem to pop up which may be the cause of it.

[E82_125i]

g3org3y said:

To me, it doesn't sound like anything of major concern. I'm sure if your journeys were longer it'd be less of an issue.

Is it losing coolant at all?

I found the oil consumption on my N52'd 330i notably improved once the PCV system was replaced.

Ever so slightly but not noticeably so. It seems to drop slowly over the months. I spoke to the mechanic over it who did my water pump and he didnt seem concerned. Said is more like due to old brittle pipes or radiator. The coolant still looks brand new in the expansion tank. I check it regularly.

As with the PCV did you get any other symptoms? I reckon im using about 1quart every 1000 miles or so at the moment and even though i have a smallish leak at the valvtronic gasket I think thats excessive even if BMW says otherwise.

So im now waiting for a big problem to pop up which may be the cause of it.

[Court_S]

I wouldn’t worry about it.

My wife’s old 125i always had some mayo under the fuel filler flap in the winter because it did lots of short journeys.

250ml of oil every 1,000 miles in a car doing short journeys doesn’t sound that bad.

How many miles has the car done now?

[g3org3y]

E82_125i said:

Ever so slightly but not noticeably so. It seems to drop slowly over the months. I spoke to the mechanic over it who did my water pump and he didnt seem concerned. Said is more like due to old brittle pipes or radiator. The coolant still looks brand new in the expansion tank. I check it regularly.

As with the PCV did you get any other symptoms? I reckon im using about 1quart every 1000 miles or so at the moment and even though i have a smallish leak at the valvtronic gasket I think thats excessive even if BMW says otherwise.

So im now waiting for a big problem to pop up which may be the cause of it.

PCV was replaced as post of a 'while your there' situation when doing the rocker cover gasket. Mechanic said it was very worthwhile doing as it as quite clogged up.

Your oil usage does not sound significant tbh. Try not to stress.

[d_a_n1979]

As others have said; don't put too much worry into it...

A decent Italian tune up sill soon clear it...

All my M52 & M54 engined cars did the same; they're known for it. Short runs, cold weather, more condensation build up etc... Takes getting the engine hot and running up to temps to clear it properly...

[B'stard Child]

d_a_n1979 said:

As others have said; don't put too much worry into it...

A decent Italian tune up sill soon clear it...
..

Trouble with the N52 the water pump massively speeds up and thermostat opens up when you give some beans and coolant temp drops into very low 80’s

Sit at a nice constant speed with a small throttle opening and you can get it up to over 105 which is exactly what you want to evaporate any condensation inside the engine

JM2pW

[E82_125i]

Thanks for everyones imput! It has subsided and there is still no appearance of it in the oil. However i have mad an interesting discovery. I have been investigating some long standing performance problems thats been steadily getting worse.

I performed a DIY smoke test on the car to see if there are any vacuum leaks and found smoke coming from an area down the side of the 3rd spark plug tube from the front of the block. I thought it was the valvetronic motor gasket at first but its coming from down the side of the spark tube.

Im wondering if im looking at a cracked valve cover here that may be causing moisture to enter the rocker cover when its damp. If its not the sole cause though then its an interesting find nonetheless.

[d_a_n1979]

B'stard Child said:

d_a_n1979 said:

As others have said; don't put too much worry into it...

A decent Italian tune up sill soon clear it...
..

Trouble with the N52 the water pump massively speeds up and thermostat opens up when you give some beans and coolant temp drops into very low 80’s

Sit at a nice constant speed with a small throttle opening and you can get it up to over 105 which is exactly what you want to evaporate any condensation inside the engine

JM2pW

Yeah the M54s could do that; wouldn't drop that low, but low enough to keep it there but it'd settle after a good while...

Didn't know that re the N52s; bit of an odd design isn't it

[E82_125i]

d_a_n1979 said:

Yeah the M54s could do that; wouldn't drop that low, but low enough to keep it there but it'd settle after a good while...

Didn't know that re the N52s; bit of an odd design isn't it

Can confirm that ive watched it do it! I think its something to do with efficiency.

[B'stard Child]

d_a_n1979 said:

Yeah the M54s could do that; wouldn't drop that low, but low enough to keep it there but it'd settle after a good while...

Didn't know that re the N52s; bit of an odd design isn't it

It’s what it does according to my little app that talks to the ECU thro the ODBC port via bluetooth - I got it just to keep an eye on the waterpump

It never got past 88 on a track day which did impress me seems to really manage the heat build up that you would normally get on track