Blue smoke

[e46 guy]

Hi Guys

im wondering if anyone could help me,

i drive e46 318ti that displays the following symptoms,
rough idle when bringing car to a stop, lots of blue smoke out the exhaust when i drive off from a lengthy idle, or stop go situation like traffic.

the smoke is not there all the time so i know its not my piston rings, it comes randomly and varies from a puff, to a stream following me as i drive,
engine performance is not changed in any way and if i hadnt looked in my rear view i would not have noticed the smoke,

I took the car in for a diagnostic check and the tests did not pick up anything, the mechanic told me its my valve seals or stem seals that are finished, but searching through other forums most people with the same symptoms say its my CCV/oil separator valve that needs replacing.

i just want to make sure its either one of the two, can anyone confirm this?

 

[rick540]

PCV most likely

 

[STREETRACER]

is it a rough idle like cams or a miss or un even idle like 1000rpm 500rpm 1000rpm 500rpm?
If its a rough idle like cams start the car and take off your oil cap! if its the same you have a breating somewhere! The E46 will mis like a cam if you remove oil cap! if its an un even idle its the ICV!!!

My guess is your tappet cover gasket! remove some of your spark plugs und check for traces of oil!

 

[osiris]

hrmmm I always thought that if your car was smoking blue smoke that your rings were shot...or head gasket was on its way out, I had a box bmw that made blue smoke when I pulled off and then one day the engine just went bang, when I stripped the engine the cause of it was that the headgasket broke in between two cylinders!

 

[e46 guy]

Hi Guys thank you for the responses.

@ Rick540, what is/are the PVC?

@ street racer the rough idle is more like anything below 1000RPM esp if i have been driving and bringing the car to a stop at a robot or stop sign, funny enough if i put the car in neutral the idle becomes normal and smooth (its got an auto box).

the reason why im doing this is because i need to know what the cause is,as im off motorplan but still enjoy every inch of my car, id rather fix it then get rid of it.
but i also wanna do it right coz as we all know BMW parts are not the cheapest and i dont wanna spend a few grand and still see smoke coming out my exhaust pipe 3 months later

 

[rick540]

PCV is Positive crankcase Ventilation, not sure where it is on your car, but you can check on www.realoem.com

 

[ZOMBIE]

has the blue smoke problem been resolved?

 

[sidewayz]

i think its your valve stem seals

 

[Nic_s]

i think its your valve stem seals

Was also thinking it might be that, but wouldn't it be more white and pretty thick? I had valve stem seal issues with my E30 318i and it made a lot of white smoke.

 

[Jacques Motorem]

PCV is Positive crankcase Ventilation, not sure where it is on your car, but you can check on www.realoem.com

PCV is under the intake manifold - has three plastic pipes leading to it - one of these pipes could be leaking too

 

[hoosain]

PCV is Positive crankcase Ventilation, not sure where it is on your car, but you can check on www.realoem.com

PCV is under the intake manifold - has three plastic pipes leading to it - one of these pipes could be leaking too

+1000:=):

 

[Ricky318i]

please let us know how you solved this

 

[MightyMouse18]

Hi Guys

im wondering if anyone could help me,

i drive e46 318ti that displays the following symptoms,
rough idle when bringing car to a stop, lots of blue smoke out the exhaust when i drive off from a lengthy idle, or stop go situation like traffic.

the smoke is not there all the time so i know its not my piston rings, it comes randomly and varies from a puff, to a stream following me as i drive,
engine performance is not changed in any way and if i hadnt looked in my rear view i would not have noticed the smoke,

I took the car in for a diagnostic check and the tests did not pick up anything, the mechanic told me its my valve seals or stem seals that are finished, but searching through other forums most people with the same symptoms say its my CCV/oil separator valve that needs replacing.

i just want to make sure its either one of the two, can anyone confirm this?

---

My 318ti (2003) is doing exactly the same thing (not all the time) it idles fine, but if idle for too long then the blue smoke will come out.

Did you get your car sorted? I'm being told it's the pistons and is going to cost a small fortune to sort out :-(

Thank you

 

[Senna_87]

Hey e46,

My wifes f20 118i has the exact same symptoms...how did you sort it out?

 

[evnmopwr]

PCV Valve.

When its Shot it increases Crank Case Pressure sucking oil into your intake and burning off in Cylinders.

 

[Stephanv]

PCV or valve stem seals # e46 318 N42/6 life

 

[Beemerbro]

I would replace the PCV valve and all its associated hoses, remove the idle control valve and throttle boddy and clean them out, replace spark plugs and see if the smoke clears. If it doesn't its likely bigger issues that will cost you more to investigate and repair