Burning oil - Heavy blue smoke - Please help

[x555]

I'm no expert but isn't the smoke just the exess oil being burnt of.......how long have you had it running for bin??? i would have thought that it would take a while to get back to normal so i would expext a bit of smoke for a while.

[AW8]

If it was my car I would 1st go with what stevox5 advises re checking the turbo, (simply because I trust his advice). I would want to check this first as any turbo failure & associated woes could prove costly.

If ok I'd consider other stuff mentioned such burning off any excess oil from the old breather & checking for muck around pipework near EGR valve.

Even if sorted I'd check air filter was fresh & unclogged, check for abscence of cowboy remap & ensure oil was fresh & correct type with fresh filter.

Definitely no mechanic & thus I'd probably quite happily take mine to a trusted & suitable expert if unsure &/or unmotivated to mess with this myself.

[b11nnl]

Thanks, x555, Once I changed the filter I started the car, let it warm up and then done less than half a mile drive. I was most likely expecting instant results without the vehicle even being warm....I suspect the excess oil would still remain in which that whats was being burnt off but in the case of an issue getting worse I stopped. How long do you think I should let it run for? I will keep monitoring the oil level in the mean time

Thansk steveox5, I will look at this also tonight, will update the post with findings.

AW8, thanks for the advice, I have the turbo checked, I'm going to give it time to warm up see if its any oil residue but then now looking to book it an the stealers. I dont know any reliable BMW mechanics in the area.

Its strange the turbo sounds fine, there is no loss of power/idles fine....if it was the turbo should I not hear strange noises?

[Turks]

If it is the Rings then they will need replacing anyway, a few miles drive shouldn't do any harm especially as you probably drove it for a while before you even noticed blue smoke. I doubt it is the rings on a 3.0d engine anyway.

So, I would check the oil level from cold to make sure you are fully topped up (not overfull though!!), I would then let the engine warm through for 5 mins on idle and then take for a drive somewhere... bypass would be good so you get a decent run through the gears, country road would also be good to get the constant speed and load changes. Hopefully you should start to notice the smoke reduce after say 10 or more miles of driving like this... oil will take a very long time to burn off fully with light heat alone!

Afterwards, let it fully cool down again before checking the oil level again.

I'm no mechanic but this is what i'd do in your situation.


Turks.

[AW8]

[quote=""b11nnl""]I dont know any reliable BMW mechanics in the area. [/quote]

Consider trawling through This BMW garage guide courtesey of & credit to a fellow BMW enthusiast - John G.Burns

Fwiw if you find a good BMW indy check to make sure thay have had plenty of expereience working on same engine with similar symptoms. Smokey diesels no rarity so shouldnt be too much of a difficult task. Check on hourly rate compared to main dealer. Whoever you deal with be mindful of consequences of being pusshed towards a whole new turbo if this can be avoided.

I dont know enought to advise more on the technical front & thus wish you all the best in getting this sorted.

As a footnote worth putting basic car info in signature so folk replying to posts know (e.g 3.0d prefacelift, 4.4i facelift) . Also worth putting rough area nest to username so folk can point you in right direction for local parts/services if ever sought.

[b11nnl]

Turks, thanks for the advice on the run and AW8 big thanks on the list on BMW garages, I found one on the list which is local and have had good reviews. Excellent. If the run doesnt burn off the excess oil then I'm going to book it it, fingers crossed its nothing major but will update this thread as it develops. Cheers for all the help, if you have any further ideas please feel free to input

[stevox5]

Hi mate

If you only drove it for that short a distance it's fair to say the oil would not have burned off in that time,I would be surprised if a good run once warmed up does not sort it out.
Good luck

[b11nnl]

Based upon the advice I was brave and decieded to take the vehicle for a good run since the breather change as in the last attempt I must admit I didnt let the car warm fully.

Firstly I checked the oil level and this was fine. There was alot of smoke (blue) once I got going and once the engine was warm the smoke got stronger, I pulled in near a Tesco and the entire car park was full of smoke, luckily this was late at night and nobody was there . By this time I only had done a mile...

I then went onto the bypass gave it a bit of throttle and the smoke started disappearing!!! I then done nice 15mile stretch and safe to say the smoke has now completely gone. Wohooo!!

This was interesting as the vehicle was smoking for around 15mins but this issue defo was the clogged breather.

Big thanks to J_K, Turks, X5Sport, stevox5, AW8 for the contribution to the post and help!!! Many thanks

Big thanks to x555, mate...you saved me hours of work on the breather change with the pics and details!!! Cheers!

To conclude, car seems to run perfect now, even thoough there was small amount of oil being burnt it was disappearing the longer the car was on so this must have been the excess oil. This has been interesting as most people would fear the worst in this scenario. I must say the the breather looked clogged, the shear weight of it said it all.

Big thanks to everyone....now my x5 is back on the road.

[AW8]

Great news - I hope you re later able to report better running & improved mpg too

[x555]

Great news .........but don't we always fear the worst it's a bit like that with mine at the moment i'm having a few probs but they will get sorted it's just a matter of time and plenty of patience.
Though it does feel a little like on top gear when they have the back up car haunting them.........in my case every time my head comes up from under the bonnet i think i can see a bmw technician laughing at me.

[X5Sport]

Glad it's all working out in the best way, and that it turned out to be the least serious issue. BMW engines are pretty strong but they do have their little qirks - as we've both just found out. It also prompted me to do the breather and air filter on our X5 too. Glad I did coz it had the nasty old foam version, even though the later version was fitted according to BMW when they checked the VIN. Orrible job, but happy I've done it and saved some dosh - as I'm sure you are too

[stevox5]

Glad it's sorted with the best and cheapest outcome.

[Sanj]

Think that's a beer or two at the Meet!

[pvr]

Excellent news, great result. Very satisfying when the DIY works out

[Turks]

Glad to have helped... glad its back on the road in good order without spending precious hard earned on getting it looked at or even worse getting the rings done!!




Turks.