Diesel Carbon Build up??? Help
 

Hello,

Have a 07 e53 Fully loaded Diesel,
Love the car, does everything asked of it.

Only question is, its my wifes car, so it doesn't get driven quickly or hard at all, when I get in I give it a squirt every now and then and I notice
quite a puff of smoke out the rear if I was to floor the car from 60km/hr mark, only does this on the above, nowhere else, not continually,
I have not even tried to do it 2 times in a row, Only noticed this on a few occasions when I get in the car on different days.

My guess is carbon build up on the injectors,

I don't know if im correct or way off.

I've read quite a few threads on here on petrol additives etc, but there isnt a great deal of concrete talk on the diesel engine regarding this.

I remember using several different carbon cleaners on cars over the years some worked great some not so much, but all have been petrol engines, not a diesel, my best effort was a aerosol spray can that way sprayed into the engine on stop, then started and driven, and sprayed all the buildup out of the exhaust, never seeing it again...

Do we have an option for the diesel and is this what my above problem likely is?

Once again, helpful place, my first stop for any probs with the X.

Cheers:thumbup:

I am no expert, but also have a diesel E53 and I understand that our diesels are fitted with a Diesel Particulate Filter which can clog up if you only ever do short urban trips. Again I don't know a lot about this, but my understanding is that the DPF needs periodic sustained driving at more that 2000 rpm to burn the soot out. You can get the DPF cleaned, and or replaced, but as with all things BMW this is probably not cheap. If your car only does the smoking bit the first time you push it after a period of only urban crawling then I suspect this may be the cause, and it is probably nothing to really worry about.

I know that there are diesel injector cleaner products that you can put through the fuel system, but they say that Diesel injectors are much less prone to clogging than petrol injectors as they run at much higher pressures. I think it is unlikely that your problem is caused by a dirty injector.

You also should opt for low sulphur diesel if you have that option in Oz.

As I understand it, the E53 doesn't have a particulate filter which explains your exhaust cloud.

Mine is a low mile '05 3.0d which returns excellent mileage and runs like a clock and it blows the same cloud of smoke as yours......

If I were you I wouldn't worry!!!!

That seems normal for a diesel . The X5 has an exhaust gas recirculator which can become very fouled with carbon .
I read an interesting thread on another forum discussing adding 2 stroke oil to the diesel at a ratio of 200/1 as a lubricant for the high pressure pump .
Apparently hp pump failure is common since modern diesel has low sulphur content and no longer lubricates the pump .
Extensive testing by engineers at a Stuttgart based company who put a three pointed star on their cars found 2 stroke oil had many benefits including keeping the engine spotless inside after disassembling test engines after many tens of thousands of miles .They also run smoother and quiet .
Just use the cheapest brand of 2 stroke oil . Expensive synthetic stuff is a waste of money and not recommended .

No matter what I do and how hard I stand on it, I still get that.. I wouldn't sweat it. Unless its blue or white smoke.

Hi. I have 2005 e53 3.0d. AFAIK e53 never had particulate filter as somepne mentioned. Mine puffs a black cloud too.Most diesels from that era do. I Think particulate filters werent available till e70 model here in oz..

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I'm very happy to hear everyone having similair problems, thats good news I was worried it could be something more into it than im looking, but it just sounds normal.

thanks guys for your help.

yep same with me, however i will ad that if i get in and drive it for a decent distance it is not as noticeable, whereas if i start it and just move it in the yard like to wash it and i do this a couple of time, the very next time i drive it and give it some throttle it is very smokey, i recon if you don't get it hot and just do short trips its running in a rich state and filling the mufflers with soot

Hi guys, I'm new to the forums but have owned an E53 3.0D for a couple years now.

When I bought the car, it had a new turbo fitted, as it had been smoky for the previous owners.

Recently I had the oil changed at a local agent, (correct oil i checked) and since receiving the car back, it has been smoking heavily.(pack a minute habit lol)

It is white smoke, not grey or black, and occurs once the engine is up to temp. The smoke is very heavy, and stinky, and occurs at all times, whether accellerating, cruising, or just idling.

Anyone got any ideas?

Someone suggested an oil/water separator issue, but I can't see that the diesel has one? What does the O.S do?

Please help, as my dealer is three hours away.......

:dunno:

That sounds suspiciously like one of two things to me.

A blown head gasket can smoke constantly, dependent on where the blow out is, but is not usually too heavy.....

Blown turbo seals generally smoke heavily and pretty much constantly!!!

have checked oil and coolant and neither show any signs of having mixed.

Where can I get hold of an exploded view diagram of the engine?
Or for that matter, the whole car?

Thanks for yr help