x5 3.0d smoke on start up

[the shreksta]

Cheers guys...........I will keep an eye on it

[the shreksta]

IF it is something worse say the valve stem oil seals/ turbocharger how much would i be looking at to fix?

i dont think for a minute its either as it doesnt smoke when warm

i wouldnt buy a new turbo i would have the standard unit rebuilt

[X5-D-Sport]

Re turbo seals....
if these were failing, it would prob Blue smoke lots & always & also gobnle engine oil too...
so simply dont worry about it..

.re valve stem seals... generally they draw oil on deceleration "generally"... and then when you accelerate you briefly get a single large puff of BLUE smoke...

as you only get a blast of BLACK  smoke on start-up.. its safe to say that you have a heater plug or two that are dead... either way, dont worry about it for now... and get around to swapping them out in the summer when you can take an easy afternoon doing the job with a cold can of beer or coke to hand...

if it starts in the current near zero temperatures & just a little black smoke on start-up...
just dont worry about it for now.
....simples....

[the shreksta]

I don't get any black smoke mate, it's just a bit of white/blue on 1st start up for literally 2 seconds then clears

[X5-D-Sport]

How many miles has your beast driven so far ??

valve stem seals smoking me possibly be improved slightly simply with an oil change..
either way, a small puff on start up will likely not get any worse for years..
wouldnt worry.

[the shreksta]

its done 108k with full service history

just had oil change before i bought it mate, about 2 days before lol but only a stamp in book so no paperwork stating which oil was used

[Horizon]

[quote="the shreksta"]
I don't get any black smoke mate, it's just a bit of white/blue on 1st start up for literally 2 seconds then clears
[/quote]
Perfectly normal

[the shreksta]

[quote="Horizon"]
[quote="the shreksta"]
I don't get any black smoke mate, it's just a bit of white/blue on 1st start up for literally 2 seconds then clears
[/quote]
Perfectly normal

[Horizon]

Whitish Blue / stand at the back while some one starts her up, get your Snoz in the smoke, does it smell of burnt oil or fuel ?

[the shreksta]

[quote="Horizon"]
Whitish Blue / stand at the back while some one starts her up, get your Snoz in the smoke, does it smell of burnt oil or fuel ?
[/quote]

well it doesnt smell like burning oil..............that is a smell im familiar with from my previous imprezas

its like a smokey dry smell if that makes sense

burning oil has a smell y
ou cant forget lol

[X5-D-Sport]

Dont worry about it...

some times we can get to be perfectionists with our favourite toy...
and we want PERFECT running... like the day they rolled off the production line...

right now, the issue is tiny, prob a failed heater plug... and some times only truly worth dealing with when its a bigger issue...

Personally speaking, if it worries you that muvh, just put £40 a week into a jar some place to chase it up incase it becomes a major issue...
eg... i have a gearbox niggle... it works fine, but occasionally jumps hard from 1st to 2nd...
so, Im just gentle with it meanwhile... the box will probably do another 20k miles & get no worse... but Ive save £1100 in the last 6 months just incase it goes belly up, and found a London based company that will swap in a recon box for £950 fitted...

I think we are all guilty of wanting "perfection" from these beautiful machines.

I think we should be happy that yours starts on the button, and worry about the "puff" of smoke ONLY if it becomes a "cloud" & chokes you each morning you start up lol.

[the shreksta]

[quote="X5-D-Sport Salisbury"]
Dont worry about it...

some times we can get to be perfectionists with our favourite toy...
and we want PERFECT running... like the day they rolled off the production line...

right now, the issue is tiny, prob a failed heater plug... and some times only truly worth dealing with when its a bigger issue...

Personally speaking, if it worries you that muvh, just put £40 a week into a jar some place to chase it up incase it becomes a major issue...
eg... i have a gearbox niggle... it works fine, but occasionally jumps hard from 1st to 2nd...
so, Im just gentle with it meanwhile... the box will probably do another 20k miles & get no worse... but Ive save £1100 in the last 6 months just incase it goes belly up, and found a London based company that will swap in a recon box for £950 fitted...

I think we are all guilty of wanting "perfection" from these beautiful machines.

I think we should be happy that yours starts on the button, and worry about the "puff" of smoke ONLY if it becomes a "cloud" & chokes you each morning you start up lol.
[/quote]

Thx mate

Its from my impreza ownership that I worry so much. My impreza had 12k spent on the engine/turbo/gearbox etc and was running 440bhp so the slightest knock/leak/smoke etc usually gave me nightmares............the damn thing had porsche 911 gt3 brakes on it and just to replace the front discs and pads was £1k............

[X5-D-Sport]

O:-)  mmmmm

Well if its any comfort..... there is a huge amount of redundancy built into X5's....

EG, the steering & joints & suspension are capable of taking an additional tonne of weight...
The engine is DE-Tuned, compared to what can be extracted from it & the gearbox (though a pain) is quite able...
The brakes & bearings & U/J's are huge & all the bolted joints are also huge....
The radiator & intercooler is potentially twice what it actually needs to be....
... even the thickness of sound proofing is huge....
I'm quite sure I could do a rock trekking week with only 3 wheel nuts on each wheel & half of the coolant missing... as the capabilities of these X5 things are fabulous...

as opposed to the Scooby, where it was sooooo highly tuned that EVERYTHING had to be perfect or it would destroy it's self..... YES the Scooby is an amazing machine - I had one, but as you said... its working fine or costing a fortune... one or the other.

You will often be told by the guys n girls here to "ignor it"  until it becomes obvious where the noise or irritation comes from...

eg, I'm sure I have a sticking valve lifter... it's not effecting performance one iota, but I was worrying months ago... but since hearing the expert opinions here, I will ignor it until I can be SURE which valve it is and "one-day" if I can be arsed I will fix it... but for now, I have more important things to get working, like the A/C before summer comes etc.

Just add to the list of little niggles you want to solve on these Big Ass Trucks of ours, and most often, what seems like a nightmarish trauma is a 30 minute fix & some shared knowledge.

As for the puff of smoke.... I've not seen many big diesels that don't smoke a wee tad on start-up... New or Old.
If it is valve stem seals.... it's not going to cause a major problem, & if there is a big problem, then you will see your oil level falling every week, and a reason to dig a little deeper..

There are a few things definitely worth doing.... and top of the list is to ensure you have gotten rid of the old stock crank case breather filter & replaced it with a swirl filter... got a decent engine oil change & filer too, got a good new air filter, ensure the gear box has enough oil - and if its working ok, then leave it well alone...
Keep your diffs topped up, and the drive-shaft UJ-rubber gaitors in good condition..

Other than that - enjoy the ride on one of the best 4x4's ever made.

[the shreksta]

Cheers bro

I do love it if must admit so I want to look after it best I can

Yeah the impreza when highly tuned became very highly strung..........good fun though

[RenoHuskerDu]

[quote="jaynana"]
[...]
also note that the E53 is the pre DPF era (which i think is a blessing) so the exhaust isn't the cleanest..
[/quote]

Actually, we bought our E53 3.0d in Germany and it does have a DPF. It was apparently first sold in Italy (or the Italian part of CH) as the manual is in Italian. And it also smokes white/grey a bit in the morning when cold. After it's warmed up, there is no visible smoke but you can always smell the exhaust.

OTOH our E70 40d does not smoke or smell at all, any time, afaik so far. Wifey has a new Citroen 4x4 Berlingo with AdBlu and whilst it makes no visible smoke I can smell its exhaust.

When I romp on the 3.0d throttle the first time  in a drive, there is some black smoke visible behind the 3.0d but it only lasts for a few seconds. Others on the list speculate that this is accumulated soot that the DPF missed.

FYI and hope that helps!