Don't know if I should be worried or...

[mosaud1998]

Last time I had this white stuff was when I flushed the coolant in the summer. Went away after I drove the car.

I had the coolant flushed again back in December since the coolant flange was leaking.

Just noticed the white stuff yesterday when I went to change the oil

Cars a 09 BMW with the non turbo inline 6 N52 with 76k miles

 

[JohnnyG]

It's winter, so that looks like normal condensation to me. You have to consider how you are using the car. If it's mostly short trips, I think that's the biggest issue. I'll bet it goes away when temps warm up.

 

[JavierH19]

should be just fine. i take it your oil was black and not milky since the cap would be much much worse than that.

 

[GR_CoB]

Typical cold weather condensation. Mostly noticeable in short tripped vehicles, or vehicles that sit for a few days between long trips.

 

[SatinSilver]

As mentioned it's probably fine. And I've seen much worse than that this time of year. That doesn't look too bad.

 

[mosaud1998]

It's winter, so that looks like normal condensation to me. You have to consider how you are using the car. If it's mostly short trips, I think that's the biggest issue. I'll bet it goes away when temps warm up.

I drive about 12 miles (one way) to work. 6 days a week.

 

[BISCUT]

Do you or another driver idle often? Or do you believe more due to short tripping in cold weather?

 

[simple_gifts]

No issues IMHO; if you look at this set up I had on my 89, the oil cap was on top of a tower and actually had ice form under the cap in the winter; Didn't matter how far i drove it.

I believe the cap was put on the tower to prevent an uninformed mechanic from touching the rocker arms because he might not know what is going on under the cover there.

 

[Quattro Pete]

That's nothing. This is what it typically looks like under the cover of my M54 during winter.

 

[jeepman3071]

Mine has that, my commute is 8 miles one way. My previous job it never had any of that stuff under the oil cap, but the car got nice and hot over my 100 mile daily commute. Now my oil barely reaches operating temp by the time I pull into work.

 

[Rand]

That looks fine come back when it looks like someone dumped in the extra thick mayo.