'04 E53 - Puff of blue smoke on startup 3.0d - diesel

[JoshGM]

Totally ABNORMAL to expect a NORMAL diesel engine not to smoke on cold start!!

[rb0135]

I'm getting the same, sometimes worse than other timeswhen the engine is cold. I noticed that when I get the smoke, the engine seems to run rough, but only for about 20-30 secs. I feel that it is just the ECU giving a rich mixture. It does smell diesel, not Oil or Sweet (antifreeze) smell.

I have read that a clogged/dirty air filter wont help with the cold starts, so I am going to change the air filter in the next few weeks, as mine has done nearly 90000km on the original.

[powers1]

Originally Posted by rb0135

I'm getting the same, sometimes worse than other timeswhen the engine is cold. I noticed that when I get the smoke, the engine seems to run rough, but only for about 20-30 secs. I feel that it is just the ECU giving a rich mixture. It does smell diesel, not Oil or Sweet (antifreeze) smell.

I have read that a clogged/dirty air filter wont help with the cold starts, so I am going to change the air filter in the next few weeks, as mine has done nearly 90000km on the original.

Clogged air filter will just give you black smoke thru rev range and a performance drop.

White smoke smelling of Diesel,is generally related to:-
-Glow plugs.First thing and easiest to check.Try waiting 25 secs before cranking engine.If you find that by this mehod it smokes less on start-up,then you may have a bad plug(s)
-Leaking injector(s).As the car is stationery overnight for example,a leaking injector will leak diesel to chamber and in the morning when you start it up,engine wont be able to burn it and will expel it out of the exhaust.

These are the most common faults on ANY car .May also be sensor related,such as fuel pressure ..but you would have a EML on!
Good luck

[rb0135]

Originally Posted by powers1

Clogged air filter will just give you black smoke thru rev range and a performance drop.

White smoke smelling of Diesel,is generally related to:-
-Glow plugs.First thing and easiest to check.Try waiting 25 secs before cranking engine.If you find that by this mehod it smokes less on start-up,then you may have a bad plug(s)
-Leaking injector(s).As the car is stationery overnight for example,a leaking injector will leak diesel to chamber and in the morning when you start it up,engine wont be able to burn it and will expel it out of the exhaust.

These are the most common faults on ANY car .May also be sensor related,such as fuel pressure ..but you would have a EML on!
Good luck

Thanks for the info. Checked for error codes, none present and no warning lights on.

I ran a few tests and these are the results.

1) I tested by waiting about 5 seconds after the glow plug warming light went out and started the car. No smoke at all.
2) I tested starting the car just before the glow plug warming light went out (still on) and got smoke.

Both tests ran when engine cold, roughly 10 degrees Celcius. When engine warm, didnt get any smoke.

So, for me, it probably turns out to be impatience in starting the car. Since the tests (probably about 10 times), I have always waited 5 secs or so after the glow plug warming light goes out before starting the car, and I havent had the smoke issue, nor the rough running as mentioned after I start it.

[m5james]

I like how it takes one simple turn and the car will crank over until it finally starts vs most cars where we have to hold the key in the turn position till it fires. It seems that BMW would have done something for diesel owners where you could climb into the car, turn the key once and it'd automatically fire up on it's own once the glowplug light went out to prevent people from starting the motor prematurely.

[bigwave2255]

on my late 2005 3.0d i have not seen a glow plug light come on at all, didnt even know i had one , though our temp rarely gets as low as 10 degrees c, it is a little stinky on start up first thing in the morning (diesel smell) but goes away within a second or two of moving (oh its done 75000 km)

Ewen

[rb0135]

Originally Posted by bigwave2255

on my late 2005 3.0d i have not seen a glow plug light come on at all, didnt even know i had one , though our temp rarely gets as low as 10 degrees c, it is a little stinky on start up first thing in the morning (diesel smell) but goes away within a second or two of moving (oh its done 75000 km)

Ewen

Well, I am presuming the little yellow light on the fuel gauge is the Glow Plug light. Am i wrong???? The reason i thought that was the Glow Plug light is if I try to start the engine straight away, it wont start. Waiting for the light to go out (after a few seconds) then cranking the engine starts it first time everytime.

geez, am i being mislead?

Where I live, it barely gets below 7-10C in the mornings as well...

[bigwave2255]

on my car the little yellow light indicates low fuel

Ewen

[rb0135]

Originally Posted by bigwave2255

on my car the little yellow light indicates low fuel

Ewen

Just checked the manual. It says "hold the ignition key in position 2 until the indicator light goes out".. The question is, which indicator light as that I cant find which one it is talking about. It goes on to say "in extremely low temperature conditions, the starter motor may have to run for upto 40 seconds"

The only time I can start the engine without any trouble (eg straight away) is if I take the yellow light on the fuel guage as the indicator light..

Depending on the cluster, next to the engine symbol (bottom left), there should be a DDE (Diesel Digial Electronics) symbol, but i dont have that. The manual states that will indicate when the Glow Plugs are warming. However, right near that (to the right), is a light, mine never comes on. Is this the Glow Plug warming light. The manual says nothing about it.

[X5Sport]

Which level of cluster do you have? On mine (High Level with OBM) there is no warning light but the display says 'Pre-Heating' for a few seconds when the air temp is low enough. Once that message disappears I turn the key.

I've never had to crank it for more than a second or so as she usually starts first touch. Only when the battery is low does she need more effort, but that's to turn the engine over.

If the air temp is above the pre-heating limit then I wait for all the amber warnings to go out leaving the normal reds (Generator, Parking Brake etc) and then crank - about the length of time to put the seatbelt on.