4.8is Blue Oil cloud/smoke fix!

4.8isX5 · #1 04-11-2013, 03:43 PM

Ok i know a few of the members on here were having the following issue,

No smoke when engine and oil is cold, no smoke upon start-up,

When engine/oil are hot and car idles for a longer period of time ( i guess everyones on here probably varies ) and then you accelerate away it would leave a plume of smoke, smoke curtain, smoke cloud whatever you want to call it.

So heres the backstory to my fix:

Was running castrol edge full syn 5w-30, car would smoke after idleing, dont remember exactly but about 45sec and anymore and the cloud/amount would be bigger.

Next someone is running 5w-20 mobil1 and they said that fixed it, which alot of people were saying it wont cause of a lighter oil and i agreed but i thought maybe passages or something were clogged up, i have witnessed his x5 in person (48mnstr) and it was idleing for a while and he gassed it, a tiny amt of smoke barely noticeable so i guess it worked for him..

Now for me it basically caused it to smoke quicker after a shorter idle, and more, so like 20-30 sec when engine/oil was hot and accelerate away, smoke and alot of it.

That was 3-30-13 till today.

So as a last chance fix cause i was planning on having seals done sometime soon, i was like might as well spend another $50 on 2 5qt jugs and change it.

Went out and got 2 jugs of the heavier and high mileage synthetic version of Mobil1 which has better seal conditioners, also being heavier, i picked up 10w-40.

Heres the one to get:

Changed it out from 5w-20 to 10w-40, drove around till my engine and oil were hot,

Then i pulled into a parking lot, sat there in D with foot on the brake to mimick traffic idleing, set my timer on the iphone and sat there for 1min 45sec,

Pulled away and no smoke! I did not try any longer yet as i just changed it, but a min and 45 sec and no smoking versus 30 sec or less and a cloud is a big difference, i also felt the engine feels more "raw power" and smoother.

If you have this issue, this definetly is something to try before seals, so far it is working for me and i will update as i get more mileage on this oil and didference traffic situations.

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pezho405 · #2 04-11-2013, 11:59 PM

Thank you so much for testing this out!! I will definitley try this. Btw what would happened if i were to use 0-40? (we just have alot of it at the shop)

4.8isX5 · #3 04-12-2013, 12:03 AM

Well i contemplated 0-40 and 10-40 at the store, 0 vs 10 is thin thin at start up, but its summertime coming so i dont see a need for 0 at all..

And also the 0-40 was normal mobil1 full syn, 10-40 is the full syn high mileage version it has different additives in it that helps seals and stuff supposedly, also look on the back of each one and mobil has their own graph with the differences and this one scores better in the preventing oil consumption and something else category

So in terms of the facts i would surely say 10-40 is the better option, i cant vouch for anything if you use 0-40 as i havent.

Gurjit · #4 04-12-2013, 04:30 AM

u should use liqua moly 5-40w

do not use a 0 or 10,
u need the 5w at cold/start to get in all the tiny orifices, but not so thin 0w that the oil film is too thin, and not so thick 10w that will not reach the tiny clearances at some places in the engine

4.8isX5 · #5 04-12-2013, 04:46 AM

To be honest i dont see a problem or big difference between 5 and 10, in the winter yes, but around where i live we are going to be seeing minimum 50 degree weather this week and higher next week.. Also kept in garage so always 5-10 degrees warmer in there.

At 15 degrees in the winter i agree 5 or 10 would matter but not in these temps.

Gurjit · #6 04-12-2013, 04:57 AM

yeah where i live its around 10C/50F normally
i wouldn't use 0w, just my opinion,
bmw recommends 5w for cold so i would just use that, 5/30w or 5/40w

i do not know of the internal clearances of the motor and would rather not mess with the fluid film strength which could or could not damage the vanos/valve-train/cams most importantly

i have not heard the best things from using mobile1 on bmws so i wouldn't, and i just switched from castrol 5-30w to liqua-moly 5-40w, my engine is much quitter and smoother idle and less smoke

Ricky Bobby · #7 04-12-2013, 08:30 AM

Great to hear you found an oil that does the trick! Even though you may not have ridiculously high mileage just with age, using the High Mileage M1 is probably a good choice!

Always was a fan of Mobil 1 oils, and I agree with the above that the 0w for cold starts might be too little for our engines, right now I run Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 with great results, less consumption and no smoking on my M54. I also have not had CCV problems to date.

Wintertime you might want to drop down to 5w-40 but I think the 40w is definitely the right way to go for the smoking issue. Next oil change I was also looking at the 5w-40 Mobil 1 (says Turbo Diesel trucks on it), maybe I'll look into the higher mileage M1 stuff too!