So my car is going to drive me nutts.
Last Dec I got a new used engine with warranty on labour and parts for 24 months.
Everything was fine, but at cold starts it had some white smoke, I spoke to my mechanic who did the job, he said it could old oil and maybe with luqui moly engine flesh it will probably go away, tried that, still white smoke, change the throttle body actuator like he suggested and still nothing, warm weather came along and the smoke went away, so im like hmm....maybe it was bad oil...come around this year when the weather got cold again...guess who's back? yup...so as a typical concerned owner, I read here and there and said to myself, hey maybe its a PCV valve, while changing that there was oil in the exhaust manifold and the pipe that's it in wasn't connected, cleaned that up and put the PCV valve...well now...yea...still smoke, only when i leave the car out the cold, when the car is underground garage you can barely see it.
so what is it now? either oil separator or valve seals.
About to set this car on fire, what a money pit!
:'(
Is it steam? That's pretty normal for any car in colder months. Oil is more of a blue color and stinks. Coolant is white but will have a sweet smell.
I'm not sure what you define as "bad oil" but unless someone filled the crank case with WD40 it's probably not that.
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I'll take a small video tomorrow and show you guys
Think you meant intake manifold, not exhaust manifold.
The pipe your talking about, is it the one inside the intake manifold.
Are you using oil or loosing coolant?
One of the byproducts of combustion is water.
In your winter environment white looking smoke (steam) is normal.
It should stop after you've driven the car.
When it's cold out all of my cars make white smoke (steam). Depending on how cold it will steam for a long time
2016 428xi -Estoril Blue II/Black
2018 430iC- Estoril Blue II/Black
2018 330it - Melbourne Red/Venetian Beige/Black
Yes intake manifold not exhaust manifold, my mistake....but it's way too much smoke...I did top up the coolant a 2 weeks ago.
Like I said I'll post a vid later tonight
Yea intake manifold.
I was a bit low on coolant like a week or two ago, well that's what the car prompted, i opened the expansion tank and they red floater was still there, never the less I added coolant.
car was a bit low on oil since there was oil in the intake manifold and i topped it up, so i cant tell you if I'm burning a lot of oil.
now, an added problem I have in the car that I have not been able to figure out is long start ups.
im not sure if its fuel pump relay or crankshaft position sensors?!?! would that by any chance would have anything to do with it?
Those can cause poor starting but both those are usually total failure... Either no crank or then its fine. Long/slow starts are something else usually. Weak fuel pump, filter...
Your mechanic also sounds like an idiot. Maybe try a BMW specific independent mechanic...
Last edited by BimmerBreaker; 12-21-2018 at 09:34 AM.
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Find a different one if you can or an E39 enthusiast in the area
Throwing "liqui moly engine flush" at the engine is not a real solution, then replaced the throttle actuator? On an M62? Because he suspected it was causing smoking...?
That stuff just doesnt line up
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Here you go
btw its -2°C outside, so that's 28.4°F
its been sitting outside for almost 10 hours in that weather.
Doesn't look at all unusual to me.
Didn't do that before the swap thought
Water is a byproduct of internal combustion. on start up especially in cold weather, the hot exhaust gases cause any left over water in the exhaust from when the car was previously ran, to evaporate and get pushed out the tail pipe where it then cools and condenses again into smoke (steam).
Seems quite normal to me, even the tiny 4 cylinders (old 1242cc fiat with 59hp, etc) we had when I lived in England would be smoky when its cold out on start up, along with every other car on the road. but do testing, keep an eye on the oil and coolant level (DO NOT OVERFILL).
I had a cracked OSV cause smoke on start up but it was considerably more than that. does it have the distinct smell associated with Burning coolant or oil? I suppose a tiny fracture in the shrink wrapped part of the OSV could open up when its cold but that's throwing darts at the wall blindfolded at this point.
When did you last give the car a good blast? Its not uncommon for the muffler on the 540i to be filled with water. I assume that would be blown out when giving it a boot full for a period, but build up/remain if driven gently/commuted.
Last edited by shwy; 12-21-2018 at 10:27 PM.
You know what, it doesnt smell like coolant, no sweet smell, it does smell bad, not sure if its oil, I might have to burn some oil to compare haha.
I know water has a part of this, maybe I should do a muffler delete and find out?
PCV valve was just changed...so it's not that, I'm think either its valve seals or oil separator!
Btw it was pretty windy when I taped this, so it is more than what it looks.
That does not look wrong/bad to me.
2016 428xi -Estoril Blue II/Black
2018 430iC- Estoril Blue II/Black
2018 330it - Melbourne Red/Venetian Beige/Black
Ok...I'm gonna chop it off.....
The muffler...dont get any ideas lol
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
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