Hi all - I know its wrong (but ive searched everywhere else, and im pretty much at my wits end)....
Wifes E39 535i ( v 8 ) is making a whooping/whirring sound at idle and when its slowing down/stopping, from somewhere around the front of the engine bay (at least I think its the front).
It only happens when the car is fully warmed up - from cold there is nothing/nada, its perfect. Once it starts happening, the car also rumbles and shakes, like its about to cut out, but revs never really shake or drop - allways around 600.
Also, on start up, theres a big ploom of white smoke (but this settles down very quickly), and this smoke reappears once the whooping/whirring sound starts. Im guessing the start up smoke might be the leftovers from the previous nights shaking/whooping.
We've had a new water pump about 12 months ago, and have spent the last 12 months trying to bloody bleed the water system properly, and seem to have finally got it fully bled about a month ago.... 3 weeks later and this starts.
Not losing coolant as far as I can tell, but it had eaten a good amount of oil recently (lost about 2.5 liters, but not sure when I last checked this - may be best to assume its lost this over the last 6 months). I've topped it up now and will monitor carefully.
Any ideas? Ive had a few myself, but would rather have a second opinion before I start to throw random parts at it:
1 - Crankshaft Breather valve (the diaghpram)
2 - Alternator bearings
3 - Some sort of belt or tensioner problem
4 - Viscous fan problem - I can stop the fan with a few pieces of paper
As an aside - when I had the whooping/whining sound, I opened up the oil cap and it stopped - same result with the dipstick when removed. Hence my thoughts strayed to the diaghpram problem.
Any help at all appreciated - i know its the wrong car (my E30 never had this problem lol)
Cheers
