Occasional white smoke with rough cold idle

[Tonyfeb14]

Update: The white smoke now is significant. I cant drive the car without leaving a cloud behind me so its parked for now. I checked the Crankcase Ventilation Valve (vacuum test from the oil cap) and it must be the CCV after all and not the valve seals. I was curious getting misfires on every cylinder which would make something common to all cylinders more likely than a few Valve Stem Seals starting to deteriorate.

Full vacuum felt with my gloved hand, and this is only supposed to read 4-6" water with a manometer per the manual. I didn't need a manometer to feel the vacuum at the filler cap. It was pretty strong pull. So.. ordering a CCV and gasket.

Next question, I am hoping I can replace the CCV on the back of the intake manifold without removing the intake manifold? I had the intake off last year when I replaced the galley pan (another common N62 issue leaking coolant) and put some nice Felpro intake manifold gaskets on when I re-assembled. I am hoping to just replace the CCV without removing the manifold again if I can avoid it and the extra labor.

Open to comments. Waiting for parts.

[Purplefade]

No CCV that I know of on the back of the intake (??), one located front of bank 1 and the other front of bank 2 - one on valve cover and the other directly in the CCV pipe, passenger side LHD.


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[Tonyfeb14]

On the 2003 X5 4.4 it’s on the intake manifold. I ordered one. Seems there are several CCV designs.

[Purplefade]

Totally missed that, mine is the N62

Probably still makes sense to check for that light coating of oil in the intake if you’re still seeing smoke.


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[Perrier]

You're in Colorado and it's November. Good luck because it will get worse in cold humid air. Choose a nice warm day and take it for a drive where the engine oil gets as hot as possible for a sustained period, like 2 hours, and melts the gummed up oil.

The CCV rarely "breaks", it (and its hoses) get clogged with this oil sludge. Try to put a bottle of olive oil in the fridge and see what happens to the oil. Then put the bottle back on the counter and see the stuff disappear.

If the sludge in your CCV is not 100% sealing off the unit, it will heat up and dissolve on this 2 hour run. And you have just fixed the problem.

[stiubhartach]

White smoke is usually the CCV system blowing oil into the intake manifold. Sometimes it’s the valve stem seals, but that’s expensive so should be looked at last.

Here’s a write up on fixing my problem.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...lem-fixed.html

[johnnyzcar]

I have been dealing with these issues for about 1 year now. Started with cold rough idle and sometimes white smoke on startup. I also had the alternator bracket leak that you will have if not already. I have replaced cams and eccentric shafts immediate levers to spark plugs to DME and coils. Used parts not new, new would cost 2 3 times what the car is worth.

The valve stem seals go bad in these motors, all of them, meaning v8s.
The job to replace them takes a while and I could prob do it in a weekend in my garage. I have had the heads apart in mine probably 5 times now and I am pretty proficient in it, not to my choice though.

It's cheaper to buy a replacement motor however if you try to get one for our age car it will have the same issues. I looked into getting the newer 4.8 which is doable but there could be some issues with harness and if the motor is out of a car you need to swap the oil pump and oil pan etc.

I removed the cats on mine and tricked to post O2 sensors with a defouler. It runs better but still has same issues.

I am at the point of cutting my losses and selling the car as I don't like throwing money away. I have learned a lot though.

Members feel free to chime in but sometimes the turth hurts. I see these V8s in BMW cars all the time and guess what, they are all smoking white smoke out of the tail pipes. It's a shame that an old chevy would last longer than what is supposed to be an upscale, highly technical engineered machine. Then again the did loose the war for this very reason.

[crystalworks]

Tonyfeb14, have you smoke tested the engine?

Originally Posted by johnnyzcar

I have been dealing with these issues for about 1 year now. Started with cold rough idle and sometimes white smoke on startup. I also had the alternator bracket leak that you will have if not already. I have replaced cams and eccentric shafts immediate levers to spark plugs to DME and coils. Used parts not new, new would cost 2 3 times what the car is worth...

Yep, all N62's will have valve stem seal failure. Alternator gasket will fail (all oil seals fail eventually no matter the cylinder count). Almost all M62's will have timing chain guide failure. The issues with the V8's are well documented, as are the ones with the i6's.

Seen many (definitely not as many as the i6's) of the V8's go over 200k miles. Like any BMW it's all about who owned it before you and how they treated it. I feel for you on your experience, I would have bought another 4.4i and swapped what I wanted before pulling the heads. I certainly applaud your dedication to it, but it seems to have left a sour taste. Comparing an old Chevy to a 20 year old BMW is like comparing a bi-plane to an F15.

[johnnyzcar]

LOL yeah I am definitely not the most happy BMW owner and that comparison was me being sarcastic LOL. I have a 1990 300zx TT sitting in my garage and the original seals on it are fine. I also have a 2003 350z with no failures like the BMW. I have never had cars that wear out the valve train components. Don't misunderstand, the X5 is probably the nicest car I have owned and the attention to detail was great. I just think its over engineered. The rubber failing is troublesome and i wonder why their rubber hardens like a rock yet other companies, at least in my experience dont have that issue.

I didn't remove the heads I just replaced the cams and tappets and all the gears etc with a lower mileage unit. The compression and leak down test were fine. I just want the smooth running engine back and the check engine light to go off. Just my OCD I guess.

Tonight I pulled the bumper the replace the ballast on one of the headlights. Not bad but probably not for a person with no knowledge of mechanics.
It's frustrating to not know exactly what part needs to be replaced.

[crystalworks]

I hear you. But my mom has an Infiniti fx35 with plenty of oil leaks. Oil pan, valve covers were done recently so those don't leak anymore, but they did, rear main is leaking. Rubber wears out. Her cats are shot too throwing cel, but still drives fine.

No disagreement on BMW's tendency to over engineer. Makes jobs that would be easy on most cars difficult, or at least more time consuming (like your ballast replacement). Working on my mom's fx is like playing with Legos, though it also required bumper removal for headlights, compared to working on my cars. But I (and my wife) love the way BMWs drive more than other makes. So I deal with being in the garage for a weekend every month or so.

It certainly is frustrating at times, especially in a case like yours where the actual diagnosis of the problem is elusive. Fingers crossed that you figure it out soon.