E36 White smoke

[dirty36 0]

Okay so my E36 325i has a sh*t load of white smoke on start up and stays there until I have revved it hard while the engine is warm. Here's a few videos to show what it looks like on startup/warm and then what it look like after a drive. The smoke comes back once I've left the car off for awhile. Anyone know what's going on?

 

Cheers.

After drive idle.mp4

After drive.mp4

Idle with white smoke.mp4

Edited July 25, 2016 by dirty36

[gjm 3258]

Oil typically causes black or blue smoke, so this is probably a water (coolant) related issue. Are you losing coolant? Has the engine overheated at all? Where does the temperature needle normally sit?

Looks like moisture is being burned off. Check cylinder compression or preferably get a leakdown test done... Could be head gasket related, or (hopefully not) a tiny crack in the cylinder head.

[dirty36 0]

35 minutes ago, gjm said:

Oil typically causes black or blue smoke, so this is probably a water (coolant) related issue. Are you losing coolant? Has the engine overheated at all? Where does the temperature needle normally sit?

Looks like moisture is being burned off. Check cylinder compression or preferably get a leakdown test done... Could be head gasket related, or (hopefully not) a tiny crack in the cylinder head.

It's only just started so will have to keep an eye in the coolant level and if I'm loosing coolant i'll get a compression test. The car has never overheated and coolant sits at norm temp 90-100 degrees. One thing to note is that I haven't driven the car much in the last month or two and the smoke completely disappeared after a decent drive. There's just so much on startup which is a bit of a worry. 

[gjm 3258]

Check the coolant level regularly and ensure it's not overfilled.

It could be accumulated condensation in the exhaust as a result of sitting for a while in cold weather.

[handgrenade 189]

My car produces a lot of white smoke on start up (especially when cold) compared to my other cars (though given I don't drive it every day and it is not fully garaged (no door on my garage ..) so it could be condensation) 

I had a compression test done a few days ago and the numbers were grouped well with 7% variance max between cylinders and up in 195psi range so the engine seems healthy, no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil. I did lose some coolant the other day from a degraded radiator pipe (the flimsy plastic ones), but that has been sorted and coolant levels are steady. 

Maybe just a BMW/E36 thing?

[Allanw 1071]

 

Does the smoke waft down the street for ages, or does it disperse into nothing fairly quickly?

If it disperses, it's probably water in the exhaust, like graeme says. It can take a REALLY long drive to get it all out sometimes... though a complete thrashing sometimes gets it pouring out! If you've been starting it for very short runs, the condensation can accumulate quickly.

If it can be seen clearly wafting along the road, it's probably smoke, and that's probably bad!

Also, like graeme says - oil smoke is normally coloured - brake fluid can burn very white... so just for the sake of safety, check the level - It's very unlikely, but I've heard cases it making through a master cylinder, and a failed vac booster and being burned in the engine.

It looks like it disperses in the vid, but you might live somewhere windy :-P

 

[handgrenade 189]

37 minutes ago, 3pedals said:

Pretty basic to diagnose : Smoke hangs about, moisture dissipates, as the "produced cloud" dissipates then it is:       moisture  --  and it is not an E36 or M50 thing.

Cast iron blocks and alloy head combos can develop seepage past the head gasket when cold due to the different thermal expansion  of the two metals.

Had this with the Saab  ( Alloy head /iron block) - a  re-torque  when cold   and torque check  when warm plus a bit of controlled thermal cycling then a cold re-torque to finish cured the Saab.

Alloy block and head combos (M52 and later) warm up at the same rate and tend not to develop seepage unless cooked.

 

suggesting to retorque the head studs to spec? not a bad idea. 

Still if the thermal expansion differential between the alloy head and iron block is causing seeping of coolant into the combustion chamber, then you would notice a drop in coolant level right?