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Thread: E39 540i white smoke at start up..loosing my mind!

  1. #1
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    E39 540i white smoke at start up..loosing my mind!

    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!

    :'(

  2. #2
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    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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  3. #3
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    I'll take a small video tomorrow and show you guys

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    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.

  5. #5
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    When it's cold out all of my cars make white smoke (steam). Depending on how cold it will steam for a long time
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  6. #6
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    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

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    Quote Originally Posted by JimLev View Post
    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.

    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?

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    Quote Originally Posted by BavariaE34 View Post
    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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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    No, those are unrelated to the smoking
    Your mechanic also sounds like an idiot. Maybe try a BMW specific independent mechanic...
    sadly, he is! lol

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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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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    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

    hey, you own ascfabrics? lol I've been following you on IG haha
    I'll record a vid later of the car once i turn it on, i Just cant see it being normal for the winter!

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    Here you go

  13. #13
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    btw its -2°C outside, so that's 28.4°F
    its been sitting outside for almost 10 hours in that weather.

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    Doesn't look at all unusual to me.

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    Didn't do that before the swap thought

  16. #16
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    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by shwy View Post
    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.
    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!

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    Btw it was pretty windy when I taped this, so it is more than what it looks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by shwy View Post

    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.
    ^-Bingo.
    The twin "scuba" tank mufflers can hold a lot of water. The tank that doesn't have an outlet can easily hold a gallon of water. When I chopped off the twin tanks I was surprised how much water poured out.

  20. #20
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    That does not look wrong/bad to me.
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    Ok...I'm gonna chop it off.....
    The muffler...dont get any ideas lol

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    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...
    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    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
    Quote Originally Posted by JimLev View Post
    Doesn't look at all unusual to me.
    Yes to all these.
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    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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    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    Yes to all these.
    Fuel filter is new, maybe ill change the fuel pump soon.
    I also got the fuel pump relay, will swap that soon.

    in the mean time, muffler delete this Saturday, lets see what happens!

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by BavariaE34 View Post

    in the mean time, muffler delete this Saturday, lets see what happens!
    Shake it and see how much water pours out of it after you cut it off.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JimLev View Post
    Shake it and see how much water pours out of it after you cut it off.

    So turns out, low compression in cylinder 5.
    i had an engine swap dec 2017, and got an extended warranty on the engine, they were going to give me a replacement but hey dont have any, so its going to be a refund.
    now i will need some luck finding a new engine.


    sh*tty

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