Very Healthy 2002 E46 320d Smoking...

[Maanster]

Hi guys. Hope you are all well in this chillie weather.

Please help with the below:

I have a very healthy E46 320d,, which has started smoking after it idles for a while (2min's or so)

the smoke seems to be whitish,, bluish,,(not 100% sure) and is rich,, it burns the eyes...

any ideas why this would be ?

Thanks Guys..

 

[SimbaG]

Does not sound good bud
Im sure one of the Guru's will assist shortly

 

[Nikhil]

Oil breather filter most likely. Whats your mileage on ?

 

[Maanster]

Milaege is 286k

 

[EFJ]

Can also be turbo seals or the turbo it's self busy going out.

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[Waseem 333i]

As Nik said check your oil breather. You will need to replace that. Also you will need to remove your boost pipes and intercooler and clean those. If possible remove the intake manifold also. All those will have oil residue on it which will be causing that smoke on cold start.

 

[Maanster]

Hi Huys. Thanx for the notes. I removed the oil breather ( vortex type and not toilet roll type) cleaned it well and replaced. Still some smoke after idling for some minutes. There is no smoke on cold start al all.... only when it idled for about 3 to 4 minutes...

This car was 100% until i lost gears one day... would not select any gear all of a sudden. I have not yet replaced the clutch kit @ R5500 (budget restraints)... so its been standing for 3 weeks.. and then started with this smoke thing.

The car has full 15k service like clockwork

Should i still assume turbo ?

Thanx for the help gents

 

[Nikhil]

Just remember the car will buildup moisture in the exchaust if not driven so if you've already changed the breather and smoke appears after a while on idle it could be vapour buildup in the exhaust. You could also remove the boost pipes and intercooler and give it a nice clean as there will most likely be a lot of oil buildup in it. Have you cleaned and deleted the egr yet? I still say do the above before replacing the turbo :coolShake:

 

[Maanster]

Hi Nikhil.

I cleaned the EGR but not sure what you mean by delete ?
EGR piston does not move easily though... is this normal ?

The smoke seems to be rich,, burning the eyes....at times
i will do the boost pipes and intercooler as safety precaution..

 

[Nikhil]

So disconnecting the vacuum hose to the Egr and plugging it. Does your car still have the cats in place?

 

[Maanster]

I did that with EGR.... no obvious reaction.
Im not sure about the cats. ... how do i identify them ?

 

[Woodies]

Just replaced both turbos on my 335 over the past 6 months. Car would smoke once warmed up after a few minutes in traffic etc . No smoke when driving and after giving it a good open drive it wouldn't smoke until being stuck in traffic for 5 minutes or so, then smoke again. Both times it was the turbo seals. Not a diesel but similar symptoms. Try all the cheapest possibilities first though


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[Nikhil]

I did that with EGR.... no obvious reaction.
Im not sure about the cats. ... how do i identify them ?

Bud are you in Gp? If yes once the clutch is sorted bring the car past me let me take a look at it.:coolShake:

 

[Gordvisr]

hope you get sorted, on a diffrent note....... very healthy but smoking ???