Introduction
On the burning oil problem on the e53, it comes from several places. The vanos internal gasket, the oil separator, or the top crankcase gasket. If you have and solve the oil burning, please post your solution here. Particularly, get OEM parts to replace the CCV (oil separator).
Jerky movement with acceleration without an engine code? Its likely the gas filter, a $50 part that's under the car.
Air conditioning stops working? Save $1000 by following the 15 minute repair posted on the web. The final stage resistor must be replaced for $50 and Bimmerfest website has the video.
Door handles snapping off or windows not moving? OEM PARTS ONLY. You need a window regulator and this take hours if you've never done it before. Get the part from the BMW dealer and bring it to a cheap neighborhood repair place.
I dont have many details except to go to bimmerfest for specific instructions. This was meant as a guide to BMW owners, knowledge from 20 years owning and x5, z3 and 330ix.
One comment
what are you even doing…
My oil burning has stopped recently because so much residue has built up inside the engine( I believe). If black soot shoots out the exhaust when you accelerate and tgere no leaking oil on the engine, the it's likely that oil is seeping past the piston rings through to the gas-burning side and coming out with the gas. The mechanical fix means having the engine head smoothed and/or replacing those rings with thicker ones to block the gaps. The lazy way is to wait for junk to gather in those holes and block further leakage. That's a $2500+ repair vs $free. At my worst I burned a quart every 250 miles, cheaper than gas and no harm to the engine (sorry, environment).
Paul Tast -