2011 335xi white smoke, oil consumption, reduced power, cold start issues

[Boom335]

Ive read quite a few posts on the issues I am having. Im at a point where I am trying to determine if I should trade it in or invest money in it. If it is too costly I might as well save the money and trade it in. However Im not in the greatest position to buy something else, but could if needed. Would prefer to wait 6-12 months.


2011 335xi manual 68k miles. Dealer serviced throughout warranty.


Last year I noticed some white smoke coming from the exhaust when switching gears and accelerating normally. Ive taken it to the dealer twice and each time they came back with it being fine. It slowly degraded and the smoke and oil consumption has worsened. Other than having to put a quart of oil in every few weeks, it drove fine.
Until recently.


In the last few weeks, the check engine light now comes on when driving. It seems to go away after sitting for awhile with the car off. Noticing misfires and some power reduction.


And in the last few days the situation has worsened. Cold starts are now difficult. It will cut out on starting up several times and has a rough idle for a few minutes.


Seems like a no brainer to change the plugs and the coil packs but I have a feeling while there could be issues there, its not the root cause. I suspect a gasket or seal could be causing the smoke and oil consumption. Maybe a turbo seal from what I have read. With all this going on I think maybe I have fuel system issues as well. Injectors, maybe fuel pump?


Lastly my concern is other things that could have gone since Ive had this issue for awhile. For instance the cats.


I am going to post some diagnostics shortly but I wanted to get this out there as I need some feedback or opinions as soon as I can get them. I have to get moving on it.


Should I take it to the dealer to get their estimate? I feel like I can do plugs, couls, injectors myself but I also dont want to go down trying everything and hoping it fixes it. If it starts to cost too much, maybe I am better off getting a newer one. Cost I save on fixing it plus dealer trade it.


Thanks. First post here. And a lengthy one


Paul

[FASN8N]

Sounds like a head gasket. Does the coolant tank look like a milkshake?


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[jclausen]

Turbo seals or the pcv system, I think, either way I would take it to a good independent BMW shop, get the diagnostic before spending money on anything

[White94RX]

Leaking injectors can cause rough running, misfires, and smoke. Does it smell like burned oil? Or excess fuel?

[jclausen]

Also the remote possibility the oil filter stand gasket is allowing coolant into the oil but if that was the case you would have the Milk shake mix in the coolant system.

[bms5]

Most likely CCV causing high vacuum in the crankcase.

When it is idling, loosen the oil filler cap and see if there is a lot of suction as you try to lift it. If there is high resistance, you need to replace the CCV valve which is integral with the valve cover.


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[Boom335]

Sorry for the delay on updates. I took the advice here and brought it to an independent shop for diagnostics

They found several issues
1) oil leak from valve covers - replace valve covers and gasket, bolts - $1474
2) oil leak from oil filter housing seal and oil cooler seal - replace - $666
3) high pressure fuel pump failure - not working during cold start - replace hpfp - $1104
4) rear brake lines need replacing due to rust,bubbling - $493

All of the prives include parts and labor, fluids, testinng etc.

However none of these are likely causing the white smoke. Doing a pressure check on the engine today, but it is likely the turbo. Which would be around $3k to replace with parts and labor.

So I am wondering if anyone has any feedback on what was found. Seems valve cover, oil filter housing and fuel pump are common issues with this engine. But if I do all that work it is looking like $7k to fix.

Im at a point where I am wondering if it is worth paying that amount of money or putting it into a newer car.

Any feedback helps.

Thanks,
Paul

[teflonjones]

Do you have any mechanical skills, and/or someone that can help you that does? The valve cover is pretty easy. I have no idea why the quote is $1474. It's a few hour job and you can get a new cover with gasket already attached for only a couple of hundred dollars. The oil filter and oil cooler are easily accessible so those gaskets are easy to replace too. The hpfp is more of an advanced repair and that price actually isn't terrible, but there was a recall on them and you should be able to get it replaced for free at a bmw dealer (even if it was replaced before, it gets a new 10 year warranty from that date). Brake lines are another easy fix. You can buy kits with them pre-bent so you just drain the fluid, take off the old lines, and it's a simple job to wrench the new ones on.

$7k is WAY too much to put into a car with a roughly $20k value. If you can't do things yourself, I'd get whatever you can for it and move on to a new vehicle. Maybe a BMW isn't for you. Older and/or higher mileage cars really do require either some decent mechanical skills or a good amount of dispensable income to use (waste IMHO) on repairs.

Good luck with it

[Boom335]

Do you have any mechanical skills, and/or someone that can help you that does? The valve cover is pretty easy. I have no idea why the quote is $1474. It's a few hour job and you can get a new cover with gasket already attached for only a couple of hundred dollars. The oil filter and oil cooler are easily accessible so those gaskets are easy to replace too. The hpfp is more of an advanced repair and that price actually isn't terrible, but there was a recall on them and you should be able to get it replaced for free at a bmw dealer (even if it was replaced before, it gets a new 10 year warranty from that date). Brake lines are another easy fix. You can buy kits with them pre-bent so you just drain the fluid, take off the old lines, and it's a simple job to wrench the new ones on.

$7k is WAY too much to put into a car with a roughly $20k value. If you can't do things yourself, I'd get whatever you can for it and move on to a new vehicle. Maybe a BMW isn't for you. Older and/or higher mileage cars really do require either some decent mechanical skills or a good amount of dispensable income to use (waste IMHO) on repairs.

Good luck with it

Thanks for the feedback. Was looking for some information like that.
I bought the CPO to be able to cover a lot of things as I was just too busy but that ran out. I may try to do a few things myself. I did a lot of work on my old mustang years ago. Much simpler but did swap out the heads, intake, cam, etc.

And I agree, the cost is crazy with the labor so appreciate that feedback. I’ll start with the dealer and see if they will do the fuel pump. Any idea if the turbo would be covered as well? If both of those were covered I would be in good shape.

Thanks!

[teflonjones]

Unfortunately I believe I may be mistaken on the HPFP and Turbo warranty being extended on your car. It may only go up to the 2010 model year cars:
https://www.bmwblog.com/2012/08/16/n...stegates-only/

I had to research this for my 2008 335Xi because of a problem that sounded a lot like the HPFP was bad, but thankfully it turned out to be something smaller and much cheaper (but still $700 including $150 for parts). I'm not so familiar with how it applies to the LCI cars like yours, sorry!

[Boom335]

No problem. I talked to my local dealer and they told me it was not covered. I guess I’ll just have the independent shop do the fuel pump and assess what I can do myself and go from there.

Where would the best place be to order valve covers, filter housing seal, brake lines etc? New to the DIY world of BMW but looking to dive in now. Thanks again.