Whitish smoke

[BMW GL]

Good day all.
I am new to this forum. (I think i placed my first thread/question in wrong forum) My 1996/12 E39 540i (Vin last 7 digits: BW71172) just started smoking. Big white billows on pull away and little while driving. It was suggested that either the ccv valve is shot or if it is a coolant smoke, the head gasket. This was about two weeks ago.
The car is mostly driven on weekends for short distances.
Car stood for 6 days. No coolant loss. No oil loss. Started yesterday with no smoke from exhaust. Idling changes when either dipstick or oil filler cap removed. No oil in water and visa versa. Only detected slight fuel smell from exhaust. Did see little greyish smoke with bonnet open from rear of engine and oil burning smell. (Could be rocker cover gaskets leaking?) I checked the suction on the dipstick tube and oil filler cap. A lot of suction on both.
Now totally confused. Should it not be smoking constantly if either the ccv valve is shot or head gasket blown?

 

[VivP]

Good day all.
I am new to this forum. (I think i placed my first thread/question in wrong forum) My 1996/12 E39 540i (Vin last 7 digits: BW71172) just started smoking. Big white billows on pull away and little while driving. It was suggested that either the ccv valve is shot or if it is a coolant smoke, the head gasket. This was about two weeks ago.
The car is mostly driven on weekends for short distances.
Car stood for 6 days. No coolant loss. No oil loss. Started yesterday with no smoke from exhaust. Idling changes when either dipstick or oil filler cap removed. No oil in water and visa versa. Only detected slight fuel smell from exhaust. Did see little greyish smoke with bonnet open from rear of engine and oil burning smell. (Could be rocker cover gaskets leaking?) I checked the suction on the dipstick tube and oil filler cap. A lot of suction on both.
Now totally confused. Should it not be smoking constantly if either the ccv valve is shot or head gasket blown?

Do a little test - when approaching a stop (traffic light, or stop street), approach in two different ways. First, approach the stop normally. Look in the rear view when you pull away. Smoke? Secondly, approach in neutral (you have an automatic, so unfortunately you cannot engage the clutch) from the time you back off the accelerator. When you pull away, smoke? From my experience (with a 540 manual), I found much more smoke on pull away if I approached the stop in gear. When I approached in neutral or clutch engaged, the smoke was apparently non existent. That the case, well, in my case, it was the CCV.

But I would suggest you have it checked out by a reputable Bee Emm dude ASAP. Leave it long enough, you could end up with a VERY costly repair job, or even engine replacement.
Cheers!