Smoke on startup from cold. 3.0 d facelift

[steve1986]

Hi fellow x5ers.

After leaving my car for a couple of days I get some blue smoke on startup and if I rev it puffs blue . Is this normal for this engine on 118k ?
I don't see any  once warm but....... When accelerating hard in the dark with a cars lights behind me I see a fair amount of smoke.

It does do this more than my old  Audi 2.5 a6 v6 tdi

Any ideas if this is normal (paranoid about the turbo now lol)

Thanks

[Rusty]

Completely normal. I wouldn't worry unless you get blue smoke at all times.
Is your X mapped? If so, this would explain the soot when on full bore.
Hth
Russ

[steve1986]

Hi rus thanks for the reply,

No not mapped (yet), and only when really giving it hard throttle at night with headlights behind .....or on cold start after a couple of days it will puff blue for a few seconds at idle then for a few light/medium revs puff blue smoke.

I work in the car trade ..(and used to work for BMW)  but its funny that when you buy one yourself you notice so many more things lol.

My a6 v6 TDI only really smoked on startup after a couple of days even on 145k miles .

Must admit although the BMW is only marginally quicker it feels like a complete different beast lol. With the window open turbo is very loud whereas Audi was quiet so I guess these must be running much more boost. Turbo sounds good though not rough in any way so I'm hopefull Its all good.

New car scared syndrome I think lol

Thanks Again

[Rusty]

No worries

Just sold mine with 87k and after being sat for a while I would occasionally get the blue puff at startup but that is all. Mine was mapped too so did kick out some soot when given some.

I only ever really heard the turbo when either the window or pan roof was open and by a hedge or similar. They don't run much boost pressure even when mapped as it isn't boost that gives the extra oomph, more down to fuel pressure and injection time hence the soot [emoji3]

As I said before, sounds pretty normal and I'm sure others will be along to confirm as much.

[dal.a]

Mine was really bad on cold mornings especially and it smelt really strong. I've just changed the glow plugs, manifold and battery and it's now smoke and smell less and starts on the button whereas it struggled before.

[TimX5]

Mines the same , more so when the weather is colder and on a nice hot it doesn't really smoke at all , mine shows all 6 glow plugs not working on diagnostics but still starts on the flick of the key so not too worried but the smokes abit embarrassing so I'm gonna change the glow plugs and relay sometime soon.

[chelsea]

yep....mine 124k, sometimes puffs a very little smoke on start up and if used for commuting for a couple of days puffs a little on first kick down but runs great.

[steve1986]

Thanks 

I suspected the glow plugs as I know they are only used when very cold on direct injections, my Audi's were gone when I purchased 5 years ago and tbh honest only in the very coldest of days would it take a few turns to start .

The BMW starts fine ATM just with a bit of smoke after a few days so very similar.

Looks like a new set of glow plugs are on the cards

Thanks for your replys. Certainly calming my nerves lol

[Clive]

Mine is the same has 150k on it starts first time but on a morning on start up loads of blue smoke but smells of diesel and it's a bit lumpy for first 5 seconds.

[X5Sport]

Sounds like glow plugs....

[Colin]

yes glow plugs for sure , i dont think any of my plugs work but it will start no problem , i use the remote heater every morning half hour before leaving the house , its all nice an warmed up .. no smoke ..

[Clive]

What you use to check the plugs and what's a remote heater?

[Colin]

My mechanic checked the glow plugs for me ,  as for the heater , well theres lots of reading on here about it , the webasto heater beside the engine some x5s had factory remote  some were activated via the obc screen, others like mine had neither so had to have an aftermarket remote system fitted , money well spent ..

[Razoor]

I used a multimeter set to ohms to check my glow plugs. One ohm or less resistance is ideal.
My car was quite smokey on start up, so i changed all six glow plugs and the control unit while I had the inlet manifold off. Only two of the glow plugs were found to be faulty.
It is alot better, but still smokes on cold starts. Going to try some Forte diesel cleaner next to see if it helps further. If this fails I may get the injectors refurbed.

[Clive]

Had a c110 scanner on mine today shows 6 glow plugs does that mean the unit is at fault shurley 6 plugs have not gone off.