3.0d slow/sluggish & Black Smoke??

[3LitreD]

Hello guys,

Problem 1:

It seems like my X3LD is sluggish and takes a few seconds after putting my foot on the pedal before there is any noticable reply! This problem occurs from standstill and also at speed (50mph+). If I try and get more power by depressing the pedal further, I get plumes of black smoke emittting from my exhausts. Needless to say this is very embarrasing as the car doesn't pick up any significant pace and I look like I am trying to send smoke signals or trying to replicate Bond's smoke screen, lol...

I understand that diesel cars emit pariticulates aka black smoke from the exhaust when the fuel pedal is depressed heavily, but the black smoke emitted from my exhausts seems heavy. Seriously I am struggling to overtake even small cars, or they are up my ass trying to overtake me!

The other day a 04' X5 3.0d drove past me up a hill while I was staionary on it, and the sound and movement seemed way more powerful and graceful. Mine seems to sound like a transit van compared to it has about the same grace as well.

After reading a few posts here I got some Redex diesel fuel system cleaner that you add direct into the tank. Used a 2x dose as described in a thread by 'Supersteve' (although he used Lucas) and it seems to have had a marginally positive effect. Like the injectors could potentially have some issues or are very dirty/ clogged?? Or could it be a turbo issue?

Just wanted to know if I was being paranoid and these things are normal for the diesel (01-03) models, even though my X does seems real sluggish. Any help or advice would be great!!! Specifically if there's anything I can do myself to try and diagnose said issue rather than giving the stealers £100+ vat ($250+ for teh majority of you guys) per hour to find out what the problem is.

Problem 2:

Upon start up, on a fairly cold morning my car will emit white smoke from the exhausts for about 10secs. I wait for the pre-heating warning light to go out, then start the X and sure enough white smoke. The engine also seems a little shaky for a few seconds until it warms up.

I read that if the smoke is Blue then it could be a head gasket/ coolant leak issue. Black smoke is supposed to be unburnt diesel and the white smoke is condesation or summit although I may well have those mixed up, some clarification would be cool. Just thought I would add that to see if it ties into the sluggish performance at all...


Cheers!

[Laurence]

Diesels rely on the turbo to force air into the combustion chamber. If there is not enough air in the combustion chamber the diesel/air ratio will be very high resulting in a lot of unburnt fuel and black some from the exhaust - and a great loss of power.

The first thing I would check would be all the hose connections to and from the turbo to the engine.
Also check the air filter if it hasn't been changed - although this would have to be significantly dirty and blocked to cause the prolems that you have.

If all the above is OK, get the turbo checked out (but this is the most expensive part to fix so check everything else first).

As for the second problem, white smoke is usually associated with water ingress into the engine. A head gasket problem can cause blue smoke if the oilway of the gasket is fractured, but most commonly a head gasket failure will cause a leak from the water way as generally there are more water way apperatures in a head gasket to leak.
I have started my diesel many times in cold weather and have not seen any white smoke - so you need to look into this further.

If you are really unlucky, your first and second problem may be related.
A blown headgasket on a turbo charged engine will cause a loss of power and very uneven running.

[3LitreD]

Hi & thanks for the reply mate.

I am not sure where I would find the hose connections from turbo to the engine as I'm noy savvy with the engine area. Do you know of alink that shows the part you speak off? At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot I don't know where the air filter is located either, although I am sure with some investigation both could be found... A link or pic would do the world of justice if possible all the same.

Damn just what I thought... the worst! I really hope that it's not the head as this would be a PITA and cost somewhat I imagine. The car is due an inspection, is this something they would pick up on or something I should point out to them?

Out of curosity do you have any type of warranty?

Thanks for the help!!

[Laurence]

This is the best diagram I can find of the turbo:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...34&hg=11&fg=40

It will at least give you a clue what to look for.

If its due a service its worth mentioning the problem.
There are a lot of diagnostics they can run from the on board systems - they may even point to the exact problem.

Good luck with it and let us know how you get on.