Photos from inside oil fil cap showing coating/metal peeling off from engine/metal

[TX]

This is a second follow up to my earlier thread about the powder coating of my valve covers bubbling up on my engine and peeling off. I decided to open the oil fill cap and inspect inside and noticed a mess of black sand like substance in various areas on the metal. when I rubbed it, it flaked off in my hands and felt gritty, like sand. It appears the coating is peeling off. Why would there be coating inside the engine? Photos follow. The clean metal spot is what I rubbed off with my finger. Please forgive me for the massive photos. I will be taking the car to the dealer as soon as possible because when I pulled that mess out with my finger there were clearly shiny metal shavings in it once I rubbed through the black grit sand like mess from the wall. What does the inside metal area under the fill cap look like on your engines? Textured like mine or smooth? Anyone else have bubbles in the coating on the outside too? In the photos you will see the coating bubbled up on the outside also. Car is a 2009 built in 09/08 under BMW extended warranty still.
Thanks,
X

[///Lyubm]

maybe thats copper from rod bearings

[G80indy]

Wow ... Have never seen this before. What have your OCIs been?

[TX]

You can see the oil on the chain and gears. It doesn't look half bad there. The dealer changed oil under maint plan on schedule since new. They would change it for me based on time since I never did the miles. Last oil change was 5K to 6K miles ago. Car has 37K miles on it for a 08 production/in service 09 model. Never tracked, never abused. Always warmed up oil before getting over 3K rpm. Something isn't right here from what I'm seeing so far. Oil inside looks good, it's not black, slightly medium brown. Feels clean except for the stuff I rubbed off the inside surface was like gritty paste or sandy and even saw a few metal shavings in it once it was rubbed down on my fingers. Help!!

[TX]

Originally Posted by ///Lyubm

maybe thats copper from rod bearings

BMW will need a bigger couch to hide behind if that's true

[Leonardo629]

Looks like all you need is a new cover/gasket.....still under warranty?

[TX]

Originally Posted by Leonardo629

Looks like all you need is a new cover/gasket.....still under warranty?

Yes Sir, it is under a full coverage BMW extended warranty still. Cost me a small fortune. I would be OK with replacing those items as you mention, except for the metal shavings I found inside. If the sand like coating grit got into my oil there is damage to the engine internally which explains the metal shavings I found stuck to the sides. I can't imagine what the bottom of the oil pan must contain. Rod bearings as mentioned? Crank? who knows... I can't wait for the service advisor at the dealer to tell me that's normal which I fully expect to happen. ugh.

[Parkanzky]

Yikes! Good luck! I'll have to pull my oil cap and see what's in there!

[AirbusPilot]

Oil analysis. But, it appears that engine is toast.

[BPMSport]

My 08 motor looked like that. The outside looked normal and was not bubbling though. I showed BMW and they didn't think much of it. Has nothing to do with engine condition. It shouldn't happen though.

[1MOREMOD]

that doesnt look right. never seen that one before. maybe your past tech has a mustard additive to help the rod bearings.

[Grail05]

damn now im going to open my oil cap and check..

[mkPOTO]

Originally Posted by Sean05

damn now im going to open my oil cap and check..

same

[dmppdx]

Audi had a similiar issue with valve covers on S4's in the 2004-2006'ish models where the paint would flake off of the valve colvers, both on the insides and outsides.

I'm not sure it will really cause and issue. I had that happen on my S4 and it didn't seem to cause any issue.

Audi was replacing the covers under warrantly based on the justification that if large pieces of paint would flake off they could potentially clog up the screen on the oil pump.

Assuming what you are seeing is paint, it should get filtered out in the oil filter. I'm not expert on paint, but I wouldn't think it would be abrasive since it would be much softer than metal.

[M3PO]

I think a lot of cars have this. Mine has it too. I'm hoping it's like asbestos and if you don't disturb it, it will be okay. lol

[tjsabec]

Here is a picture of my 2008, my paint is not peeling... I would present car to dealer for sure.

[Bx Tpr]

That sh!t shouldn't be happening. I would powdercoat the valve covers in a nice color and be done with it.

[kwike92]

Originally Posted by ///Lyubm

maybe thats copper from rod bearings

hahaha!!! lol

[TX]

Originally Posted by tjsabec

Here is a picture of my 2008, my paint is not peeling... I would present car to dealer for sure.

In your photo I can see two bubbles on the outside of your valve cover. I do not see any peeling inside. Must have been a defect in the paint or painting process of these parts on the 08 cars perhaps.

[TX]

Any other owners see this on their ///M?

[M3-S65]

Just checked mine, negatory.
Bad head gasket or cracked head?
Anyone know what our coolant mixed with oil looks like?
Get engine oil analysis done - Blackstone.

[TX]

Originally Posted by M3-S65

Just checked mine, negatory.
Bad head gasket or cracked head?
Anyone know what our coolant mixed with oil looks like?

thanks for the reply.
I'm not really worried about the color of the oil. It smells normal. What I was really getting at is the material similar to powder coated paint that is peeling off the inside and bubbling up. That is then mixing with my oil and running through my engine.