3.0d facelift smoke on acceleration. bad sign?

[RenoHuskerDu]

Hi guys I'm usually on the e70 list but I'm shopping for an e53 right now in Germany. I just test drove a pretty nice e53 facelift that smokes quite a bit, black smoke on acceleration only. It has a DPF so I thought it wouldn't smoke. Should I be careful with this car?

[Denis O]

e53, with a DPF. Not likely although German spec may be different.

Most likely the breather. Just change to the vortex type and smoke goes away.

[fenj66]

mine has had breather changed to new style one. it still bellows black smoke if i floor it.
but i think it just soot build up in the exhaust getting blown out on full revs as afterwards it doesn't do it again for a few days.

[chelsea]

what colour smoke??

smoke on kick down (black/blue) can also be oil in the intercooler, after three odd days of commuting when I put my foot down I get a pretty good puff of smoke but thats it then for another few days and it doesn't do it again for a while. Mine has got the new type breather (facelift) and thought the puff of smoke was the DPF clearing itself??
It can also and probably will be that the car has got either a piggyback tuning chip fitted or it's been re-mapped, more fuel pressure causes them to smoke a bit on kickdown.

[X5Sport]

Our E46 with that engine does the same when used for low speed commuting and then floored. After that it's fine for another couple of days or so.  It's on a vortex breather and the turbo is fine too.  It's just soot being blown out.  No wonder the EGRs clog!

[chelsea]

Nice one X5 sport !

Exactly same as mine, I havent blanked the egr off yet....is it worth doing??? mines 130k up now and running ok etc.
I havent bothered blocking egr because these don't have the dreaded butterfly valves to clog up.

[RenoHuskerDu]

Thanks everyone. I drove another one later today that looked much better and smoked less.  But it also had driveline growl and needed the front end rebuilt, so I went my merry way.

Still looking for that elusive 524 ADAPTIVE HEADLIGHTS option, have only seen two since I started looking. It seems to be as rare as hens teeth.

Reno

[RenoHuskerDu]

I drove quite a few and they all seem to smoke a bit when you first put your foot into the turbo and row thru first/second gears. Higher gears, no visible smoke. And as another member noted above, it seems worse at first then smokes less the next times you xlr8. 

The one I bought smoked less than the one I first posted  about. It has 65k less miles on the clock too.

Closure.

[jaynana]

Its a standard feature - floor it and leave everyone else behind, and for good measure leave them in a cloud of smoke! 

Other Pre-DPF cars might be similar tbh, guess if producing the same torque when floored.

[TimX5]

[quote="jaynana"]
Its a standard feature - floor it and leave everyone else behind, and for good measure leave them in a cloud of smoke! 

Other Pre-DPF cars might be similar tbh, guess if producing the same torque when floored.
[/quote]

My mates discovery 3 is exactly the same and that's a 2006 model

[Insight G40]

if i drive mine sedately for a bit and then floor it, i get a smoke cloud, exactly the same as I did in my Passat.

If it only happens for a short time and after sedate driving then is likely just a buildup of carbon in the exhaust being burnt off.

[chelsea]

take a look at the egr valve, it may need a clean ?

[X5-D-Sport]

The smoke on acceleration is normal to varying degrees.

Black smoke  = surplus unburned fuel - ie carbon
White smoke = diesel vapour - failed injector / pump
Blue smoke  = engine oil burned... due to worn engine - or failed/clogged oil separator / egr failed.

additionally, if the smoke occurs specifically after gentle use then a good blasting on the throttle, but subsequent blastings have no smoke... the answer is simply dirty injectors..
The injectors are not clean & result in jets of fuel into the engine.. as opposed to jets of diesel vapour into the engine, then general running will produce lots of carbon.
The carbon gets trapped in the Catalytic Converter matrix, and is cleared by a good hard dose of revvs & throttle.

If you only get a bit of black smoke that is always present when you have your foot to the floor, then this is simply showing a healthy dose of fuel to the engine when you give it some "urge".

The occasion black smoke issue can be cured by a does of injector cleaner added to your fuel... usually added when you have less than 1/4 tank...
Use this fuel up with the additive to close to empty as you dare, then top off with fuel as usual....
This will "usually" cure the smoke issue... unless your injectors are knackered - which is less likely.

I got an EGR Bypass unit & also fitted the updated Centrifugal Oil Separator that lives on top of the engine at the back... this may well also be causing the smoke issue if the engine internal gasses are not separated properly by an old style separator. My car is a 2004 Facelift & still had the old style separator, & swapping it stopped a lot of smoke - and it could also save an engine from going into a runaway destruction mode if too much oil enters combustion.

Hope this helps.
Regards to all

[RenoHuskerDu]

Thanks for that very thorough response.  It all makes sense and meshes with what I know about diesels. I don't remember seeing you on the E70 side, where I usually am.

I may be going a little OT, but now that I own an E53 and an E70, I am astounded at the advances that BMW made in pollution control and engine management.  My E53 is a 2005, and my E70 a 2011. In six years, the M57 to N57 improvement is amazing.

I start up the E70 inside my garage every time I drive it.  I cannot smell the exhaust.  At all.  Ever.  It's incredible how effective the DPF and other pollution controls are.  I've never been able to smell the exhaust, at any time.  My E70 has just about as many mile on it as my E53 does. 

The E53, otoh, does make a puff of grey/white smoke on cold start, and afterwards the exhaust has a distinctive smell. My kids notice it too.  If I let it idle for a while in the yard, one of my kids will remark that they can smell it. It's not acrid or visible, but it's not pleasant either.  The German title says that it has a DPF, and the car has the green windshield sticker that is only awarded to DPF cars, but the smoke and smell are there.

[Insight G40]

Interesting that German E53's have a DPF, but UK models, as far as I know do not, mine is a late one, first registered September 2006 and does not have one, although the Germans do take their environmental protection far more seriously than the UK, which I'm assuming is the reason German models had it fitted back then.