XSeries-forum

X5 3.0d 2005 Exclusive

Recently got my first X5 and loving it, when driving normally very little smoke is visible in my rear view mirror but if i "give it some welly"
eg full throttle acceration then the cars behind are left in a cloud of smoke, not dense but very visible. Should I be looking to change breather valve and air filter to inprove this ?
Thanks foolks for reading

Hi, and Welcome...

The answer to your questions is probably a resounding yes! What does the smoke smell of? Oil or Diesel?

Tell us bit more about you car, and have you checked the oil level just in case it's been overfilled by a lot!

Things to look at are:
Oil Level
Oil condition
Last Service Date and type (Oil, Insp1, Insp2 etc)
Any leaks apparent?
Oil consumption
Coolant Level and consumption.
Vacuum hoses around the turbo etc.

How's the power level? These motors are no slouches off the line after all!

Not sure if a 2005 will have the vortex breather. My 2004 didn't and did exactly what you describe. Changed to the vortex breather and I no longer smoked out anyone I was overtaking.

my 55 already had the vortex however since changing mine i havent noticed the plumes of smoke that i used to have!

[quote=""shadrack""]my 55 already had the vortex however since changing mine i havent noticed the plumes of smoke that i used to have![/quote]


by Vortex do you mean the replacement breather thats been talked about before (the non foam one)

yeh the newer version the same as the new one i got from bmw, at the time i bought the complete thing with the housing as i didnt want to strip it all down to find i needed it!

[quote=""shadrack""]yeh the newer version the same as the new one i got from bmw, at the time i bought the complete thing with the housing as i didnt want to strip it all down to find i needed it![/quote]


well I've got an air filter waiting for a sunny day....being a 54plate facelift I think I'll buy the whole caboodle to avoid surprises

PS mine does tha SMOKE thing on first BOOT (when warmed up) never again seen that day though

Mine smokes if I floor it - less so since I changed the a/filter and de-gunged the egr - many other e53d's I have seen on the road where they are clearly giving it welly smoke too so I for one am not concerned

agree with last post

Probably a very silly question . But what is a vortex breather and where abouts on the engine is it .

It's the device used to ensure that the crankcase pressure remains within limits. As the gas contains oil vapour, the vortex spins out the oil (dyson type work) and drains it back to the sump. If it blocks, pressure rises and bad things happen

It's found here (held in by Red bolts). Yellow bolts hold the injector rail wiring tray and also need removing for access.



Air Filter (removed here) is located in the hollow below it in this image. You need to remove the engine acoustic covers to get at it all. There are how to's for the work on the forum. viewtopic.php?f=22&t=689

With Air filter cover in place. Front of car/ engine is to the right.