HELP Crank Case Vent Hose Clip Broke Inside !!

[SamerZ33]

Hello, yesterday i purchased a m6 f13 it smoke and requires a lot of maintenance to get back on the road properly i have been a bmw tech for the past 3 years but never encountered such a thing and everyone is saying to remove the cylinder head cover (valve cover) while attempting to remove the ccv hose they were so hard and brittle while twisting i heard the clips just break of and i took the bank 1 out missing 1 clip bank 2 same issue both clips broke and went down. it's either i start pulling apart or wait for someones suggestion this is my own personal vehicle. everything is brittle on this thing since it's high milage 135k. any suggestions ?

[Opie55]

I broke part of one and by some miracle it fell outside the engine. I think before I did all the work required to get the valve covers off on that engine I'd evaluate exactly what is under that hole. A little piece of plastic can sit a lot of places forever and do no harm. I'd also evaluate if it is possible to reach and grab the pieces with one of those little flexible grabber cables. Use a small boroscope camera to see where the piece is sitting. I once shot one of those red plastic straws for an aerosol can into a cylinder through the plug hole and pulled it out with one of those grabber cables. On the other hand, if the car has 135k miles it probably can't hurt to replace the valve cover gaskets. They are probably weeping some by those miles.

[SamerZ33]

So ive talked to a couple people some said to try with a vacuum (didnt work i tried ) even opened the oil cap to see how much vaccum i was pullling i'd say it wouldve been enough to pull out but didn't. second that this has happened to him and he didnt care enough to remove the valve covers . ima try to get a camera in there to see where they are at ive researched a bit about how the plastic piece sits on the valve cover and it doesnt seem that tab would hit a valve or cam or something itll just sit somewhere for the rest of it's life. ill keep this thread updated. the valve cover gaskets seem to have been replaced around 70k ish mile i can't see and wear and tear or even oil seeping. i just hope nothing goes wrong

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by SamerZ33

So ive talked to a couple people some said to try with a vacuum (didnt work i tried ) even opened the oil cap to see how much vaccum i was pullling i'd say it wouldve been enough to pull out but didn't. second that this has happened to him and he didnt care enough to remove the valve covers . ima try to get a camera in there to see where they are at ive researched a bit about how the plastic piece sits on the valve cover and it doesnt seem that tab would hit a valve or cam or something itll just sit somewhere for the rest of it's life. ill keep this thread updated. the valve cover gaskets seem to have been replaced around 70k ish mile i can't see and wear and tear or even oil seeping. i just hope nothing goes wrong

Just putting a vacuum on the mounting hole would never pull it out even if you had a vacuum a hundred times as powerful. You would need to get a small hose right up to the object. All a vacuum is doing is lowering the atmospheric pressure in your engine but the only thing it will remove is vapor. Imagine taping up your living room air tight, then putting a vacuum hose through a hole in the wall. It will create low pressure in the room, but will not pick up a single spec of dust. Vacuums work because of the rapid air movement right at the end of the hose as higher pressure air outside rushes in to fill the vacuum inside. But that rapid air movement dissipates after an inch or two from the end of the hose. Plus the broken plastic piece is sitting in a small pool of oil that holds it down.

[GottiLee]

Its not going to be an issue!!

[GottiLee]

I did the same things a few weeks ago. After few nights of losing sleep and searching I couldn't find any results of this topic and was scared shitless, and wasn't going to risk damage over plastic clips so I pulled apart my lids and decided hell its time to dig in.

Answer* - where that hose inserts at is tied to the oil seperator system like this(https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5...-and-seal-kit/). when I checked mine the outlets are too small for large items to pass, could it cause restriction sure. but there also a mesh like filter. so have no immediate fear but I would recommend removing and shaking it upside down when you have time to do a tune up. below ill list some helpful images I took and found.
Also, I learned the clips at end of hoses you and myself broke are due to them needing to be unscrewed and rotated 90º then pulled. not unscrewed and pulled.

[Opie55]

Hoses that connect that way ( by partial twisting) are called bayonet mount for whatever reason. The N63 vent hoses twist about 25 degrees, not 90 degrees.