[GEOS07335i]

Anyone know what causes heavy smoke out the exhaust at low rpm when engine is cold? It's not blue or oily it's not white but gray almost misty. Like when it's cold out when you first start the car but it's dense. No oil in radiator.

I had this happen to me twice now. Anyone have similar experience? I've heard bad turbo seals or bad fuel injectors? Just curious if anyone else has experienced this and what was the root cause.

[Antetokounmpo]

Grey is usually oil. Very likely bad turbo seals

[domain007]

Do you have any missfires? I had white exhaust till i got new injectors but i had clear missfires at coldstart

[GEOS07335i]

No misfires and it does not happen every time.

What about failing PCV Valve or Vanos solenoids? Your the second person that said injectors. I'm waiting for new PCV Valve and Vanos Solenoids and will change my oil. I will also pull my plugs and see if there wet indicating leaking fuel injectors. But I swapped them out about two weeks ago for colder plugs and I dont recall them being wet.

[MysticRob]

You've had so many threads with so many problems it's hard to keep track of whether you still have those ebay injectors installed or not.
If you're confused about what type of smoke it is just get back there and inhale it a few times instead of guessing and asking everyone else to guess. It can't be too many things, you know?

Leaky injectors will obviously smell of gas if you're back there huffing it in, and it'll be totally different than if the car is burning oil, which oddly enough will smell like burning oil. If you're burning off coolant it won't smell like either of those. Once you know what it's actually burning you can then begin to diagnose where it's coming from and how to remedy.

[feuer]

Originally Posted by MysticRob

You've had so many threads with so many problems it's hard to keep track

Yes, and unfortunately we will keep seeing more and more threads like this. Instead of purchasing 10y old n54 with over 100k and concentrating on getting it running properly first, new owners that purchase the car on the cheap race to 500hp via cheap parts. Its rather silly but hey, not our cars, not our decision. This particular n54 received Ebay "refurbished" injectors and the difference in money vs purchasing legit OEM injectors went for IC, DP, CP, tune and ect. It didn't run properly from the very begging and on top is being tuned now. So problems are to be expected.

[Sgop335]

couldn't have said better. wrong priorities and goals esp. with little experience.

Not to mention so many questions from the op and so many members provide answers, don't think have seen a thanks from the op. Entitlement? Millennial?

[MysticRob]

Originally Posted by feuer

Yes, and unfortunately we will keep seeing more and more threads like this. Instead of purchasing 10y old n54 with over 100k and concentrating on getting it running properly first, new owners that purchase the car on the cheap race to 500hp via cheap parts. Its rather silly but hey, not our cars, not our decision. This particular n54 received Ebay "refurbished" injectors and the difference in money vs purchasing legit OEM injectors went for IC, DP, CP, tune and ect. It didn't run properly from the very begging and on top is being tuned now. So problems are to be expected.

Oh yeah, I remember that now. Threw a bunch of ARM stuff at it as I recall.
OP, you're not running cats anymore, so I'm guessing this issue didn't occur till after all your mods, right?
Your smoke is likely just a natural byproduct of removing the catalysts, since I'm thinking you had to have looked at the turbos and would've seen any leaks when removing the old catted downpipes right?

[feuer]

Originally Posted by MysticRob

Oh yeah, I remember that now. Threw a bunch of ARM stuff at it as I recall.
OP, you're not running cats anymore, so I'm guessing this issue didn't occur till after all your mods, right?
Your smoke is likely just a natural byproduct of removing the catalysts, since I'm thinking you had to have looked at the turbos and would've seen any leaks when removing the old catted downpipes right?

I read in one of the threads that there is oil on the DP already. I assume whatever was going on was just masked by the catalysts. Could be turbo seals, PCV, valve stems and etc...

[MysticRob]

Originally Posted by feuer

I read in one of the threads that there is oil on the DP already. I assume whatever was going on was just masked by the catalysts. Could be turbo seals, PCV, valve stems and etc...

Ah, I see that thread now.

OP, I'd suggest you just stick to one thread with all your questions and problems so as to avoid confusing the rest of us with multiple threads. We're trying to help but with you scattering relevant info among the forum like bread crumbs it's a difficult task.

You have a habit of tangentially mentioning a problem without having done any troubleshooting, leaving everyone else to guess, which honestly gets you no closer to resolving the issues. Creating a new thread asking about which "OEM like turbo options" there are doesn't get you any closer to diagnosis and resolution of why you even asked that question.

If you have oil ON the DP, ascertain where it's coming from (externally dripping onto it from somewhere? Internally leaking out of it from somewhere? etc...) and go from there.

[GEOS07335i]

Originally Posted by MysticRob

You've had so many threads with so many problems it's hard to keep track of whether you still have those ebay injectors installed or not.
If you're confused about what type of smoke it is just get back there and inhale it a few times instead of guessing and asking everyone else to guess. It can't be too many things, you know?

Leaky injectors will obviously smell of gas if you're back there huffing it in, and it'll be totally different than if the car is burning oil, which oddly enough will smell like burning oil. If you're burning off coolant it won't smell like either of those. Once you know what it's actually burning you can then begin to diagnose where it's coming from and how to remedy.

lol yes my car has been a nightmare. I've had lots off issues. I fix one thing and something else pops up. I still do have ebay injectors and do need to get rid of them. I'll do the sniffer test and get a more accurate description of the smoke and I will pull my plugs again and see if there wet and smell of gas.

Smoke issues: Have happened three times now and only thing I can tell is I noticed this after installing my all of the DP's, CP, FMIC, DCI all installed around the same time but I would assume if any of that is related it would show up with DP's.

Current issues all stem from doing a VCG once I installed the VCG I have three vanos related codes. Only thing I can think of is I didnt put something back together properly. The VCG was old but if it was leaking it was very minor.

I ordered 2 new vanos solenoids, a new RB PCV Valve, fresh oil and filter. Hopefully this will resolve the 3 new errors below. Should I reset any of the adaptations after this? Witch ones should be rest?

2A7A - Camshaft position controller, exhaust, cold start
2A7C - Varialbe camshaft timing control, intake cold start
2A87 Exhaust VANOS, mechanism

This weekend I plan on doing the above and will check out a few of the plugs and see if there wet.

[Rob@RBTurbo]

Definitely fix up all of the small stuff first as it can also adversely affect things, but once all done you will likely find you still have some old oil pushing turbos. The good news is that once you get to that point of turbo replacement, if needed, you should have everything else addressed and not throw new turbos into the same pre-existing bum environment.

Rob

[MysticRob]

Originally Posted by GEOS07335i

lol yes my car has been a nightmare. I've had lots off issues. I fix one thing and something else pops up. I still do have ebay injectors and do need to get rid of them. I'll do the sniffer test and get a more accurate description of the smoke and I will pull my plugs again and see if there wet and smell of gas.

Smoke issues: Have happened three times now and only thing I can tell is I noticed this after installing my all of the DP's, CP, FMIC, DCI all installed around the same time but I would assume if any of that is related it would show up with DP's.

Current issues all stem from doing a VCG once I installed the VCG I have three vanos related codes. Only thing I can think of is I didnt put something back together properly. The VCG was old but if it was leaking it was very minor.

I ordered 2 new vanos solenoids, a new RB PCV Valve, fresh oil and filter. Hopefully this will resolve the 3 new errors below. Should I reset any of the adaptations after this? Witch ones should be rest?

2A7A - Camshaft position controller, exhaust, cold start
2A7C - Varialbe camshaft timing control, intake cold start
2A87 Exhaust VANOS, mechanism

This weekend I plan on doing the above and will check out a few of the plugs and see if there wet.

Ah man, that sucks to read. Hopefully your VANOS issues are resolved with replacement of units and oil/filter, but if not then I'd look at the cam ledges.

I proactively (aka it hadn't throw any codes) brake-cleaned my solenoids when I purchased the car, but a couple thousand miles later it puked the exhaust VANOS code anyway. I replaced that one with a new-OEM unit, price-matched from dealership of course, and 5k miles later haven't had any problems. I didn't reset any adaptations, just cleared the code after replacement.

Past that, it sounds like you're on the right track with the RB PCV and rechecking your work. Smell that exhaust though before you throw more parts at it. Could still be those fleabay injectors, especially if you whiff gas fumes.

[GEOS07335i]

Originally Posted by feuer

I read in one of the threads that there is oil on the DP already. I assume whatever was going on was just masked by the catalysts. Could be turbo seals, PCV, valve stems and etc...

Right I saw a bit of oil on the DP's after install. I did not see oil coming from the turbos when I initially took off the old ones and put the catless ones on. So the oil on the DP's was post install.

Originally Posted by MysticRob

Ah man, that sucks to read. Hopefully your VANOS issues are resolved with replacement of units and oil/filter, but if not then I'd look at the cam ledges.

I proactively (aka it hadn't throw any codes) brake-cleaned my solenoids when I purchased the car, but a couple thousand miles later it puked the exhaust VANOS code anyway. I replaced that one with a new-OEM unit, price-matched from dealership of course, and 5k miles later haven't had any problems. I didn't reset any adaptations, just cleared the code after replacement.

Past that, it sounds like you're on the right track with the RB PCV and rechecking your work. Smell that exhaust though before you throw more parts at it. Could still be those fleabay injectors, especially if you whiff gas fumes.

That's the plan. I never saw those codes prior to the VCG replacement. So that's all new crap I have to deal with. I have a feeling I kicked in some dirt from the ledges of the head while wrestling the VC off and that worked it's way into the vanos solenoid. The VCG job is a real PITA. I did not enjoy it at all. I would not recommend the fleabay injectors to anyone looking for a cheap way out and it may have bitten me in the arse. I went through three of them lol.

Along with RB's PCV I also replaced the breather hose with the flap valve. Hoping if I did have a PCV issue it will now be resolved. I'm trying not to neglect any of the maintenance issues. I think I got most of it covered now.

I'll try and tackle these one at a time now.

[GEOS07335i]

Originally Posted by feuer

Yes, and unfortunately we will keep seeing more and more threads like this. Instead of purchasing 10y old n54 with over 100k and concentrating on getting it running properly first, new owners that purchase the car on the cheap race to 500hp via cheap parts. Its rather silly but hey, not our cars, not our decision. This particular n54 received Ebay "refurbished" injectors and the difference in money vs purchasing legit OEM injectors went for IC, DP, CP, tune and ect. It didn't run properly from the very begging and on top is being tuned now. So problems are to be expected.

Originally Posted by Sgop335

couldn't have said better. wrong priorities and goals esp. with little experience.

Not to mention so many questions from the op and so many members provide answers, don't think have seen a thanks from the op. Entitlement? Millennial?

First and formost THANK YOU ALL! I do really appreciate all of your help. And my priorities are not in the wrong place if you read half of the threads I've posted I've mentioned all of the maintenance stuff that I've done prior to installing the goodies. Walnut blast, new plugs, coils, injectors, flushed fluids etc... Most of this new stuff is after doing more maintenance stuff like VCG.

[GEOS07335i]

Quick update. I just got done installing 2 new vanos solenoids, fresh oil change, and RB's PCV Valve. Last week I did the VCG and very soon after I got the screen shot below of the error codes. Crank positioning sensor and 2 vanos codes and a limp code. I also wiped the codes and reset the adaptions. They did not come back after a good 30 minute drive.

RB's PCV valve looks pretty cool.

As I was working on the car I wanted to see if I could see any oil dripping down on the exhaust (didnt see anything new but did see where some oil had obviously contacted the DP's at least on the outside.

I pulled my plugs they did not look wet. Although plug 2 looked like it was running rich plug 6 looked a little dark. The other plugs looked new they all have less than 100 miles on them NGK's gapped at .020. Looking at the pick plug one is on top six on the bottom.
Question: Let me know what you think about the two plugs that are obviously something going on there. Is this indicative of a bad fuel injector? Gaping issue?

I dont smell oil in the cabin so that's a good sign. Vanos errors are gone. Cam errors are gone. Will have to continue to diagnose the smoke. Although It may now be resolved. I typically will see it in the morning. Soon after I start the car.

I just dont understand why I was getting 2A7A camshaft position errors and 2A7C timing control errors. Definitely making some good positive progress.

Here is a datalog. Looks much better than previous post. Boost target is with in 1 PSI for the most part it was over 2 in the past. Timing corrections look minimal but still have questions about cyl2 and cyl6 although I never see any timing corrections on cyl2 or cyl6
https://datazap.me/u/geosbmw/3rd-5th...14-24-28-29-30

[MysticRob]

Yep, cylinders 2 and 6 have some issues compared to the others.
Not sure why you'd ask about a plug gap issue since you can check and correct that yourself, and you should already know whether the gaps are the same across all the plugs, right?
Obviously something is different in the 2 cylinders related to those 2 plugs. I hate to even ask for the umpteenth time, but are you SURE it isn't the injectors on those 2 cylinders? Coils on those 2? Compression test? Can't be too many things affecting only 2 and 6 right?

[GEOS07335i]

Originally Posted by feuer

Yes, and unfortunately we will keep seeing more and more threads like this. Instead of purchasing 10y old n54 with over 100k and concentrating on getting it running properly first, new owners that purchase the car on the cheap race to 500hp via cheap parts. Its rather silly but hey, not our cars, not our decision. This particular n54 received Ebay "refurbished" injectors and the difference in money vs purchasing legit OEM injectors went for IC, DP, CP, tune and ect. It didn't run properly from the very begging and on top is being tuned now. So problems are to be expected.

What would be great is there was an updated Maintenance thread. This is a fairly old platform now and what was recommended 10 years ago has now been superseded by other parts. For example Coils first Bosch, then Delphi, now it's eldors? Oil used to be Mobile 1 0-40w but now it looks like there are better options. Amzoil a few others. Plugs same thing. It would be great if there was a STICKY or thread that says if your BMW has 100K or greater you need to do the following first before even considering going FBO. Have a list of common maintenance items like: PCV Valve, O2's, plugs, coils, Fuel Injectors, vanos solenoids, VCG, OFHG, etc.. then list the recommended replacement items. It would make it much easier for anyone getting in on the platform. So much information has changed it's hard to keep track of what was good 10 years ago is not as good as some options that are available today.

Originally Posted by MysticRob

Yep, cylinders 2 and 6 have some issues compared to the others.
Not sure why you'd ask about a plug gap issue since you can check and correct that yourself, and you should already know whether the gaps are the same across all the plugs, right?
Obviously something is different in the 2 cylinders related to those 2 plugs. I hate to even ask for the umpteenth time, but are you SURE it isn't the injectors on those 2 cylinders? Coils on those 2? Compression test? Can't be too many things affecting only 2 and 6 right?

I asked about the gap because I've seen recommendations all across the board from .018 to .022. I mentioned that I have mine gaped at .020 in eliciting a response from someone that knows what the proper gap should be.

I have no idea if it's the injectors on cyl 2 and 6 are bad, it certainly appears something is going on. Plugs are not wet see pic (just pulled them straight out of the car). I dont get rough idle at start. I dont get missfire. I dont get fowl fuel smell, no sooty crap coming out the tail pipe. HOWEVER They are INDEX 9 so there you have it. It must mean there bad then. For umpteenth time how the hell am I supposed to know if there bad or not? I think I just described ways in witch there not bad but obviously something is going on. Any other ideas on what I could check. I have INPA and ISTA P could I use these tools to run some sort of diagnostic on the cylinders? Also this is a question from a noob so dont get your panties in a bunch but do we have to point the finger at the injectors? Could it be something else? Just a question. I am in the process of hunting down some INDEX12's to put this to rest. But for now I want to get cyl 6 and 2 ironed out. Compression test was fine. I did it about a month ago.

This morning I woke up after the car had rested about 10 hours. If I had an injector issue and it was leaking it would have idled a little rough on cold start. This did not happen. Also on cold start pulling up to the stop sign in the past it would give me all that smoke. Again this did not happen. So these are all good things. In other words so far as I can tell the smoking issue with the car was NOT related to injectors but might have been related to PCV issues? I did change to RB PCV Valve, and new crankcase breather hose and new VCG.

I posted my datalogs yesterday on the MHD thread. Anything stand out? If anything the car is running great. It's targeting boost much better now that it has in the past. NOTE I have 1.7g of E85 on a full tank. It looks like this might have been a bit much and someone mentioned it was leaning out on the upper end.
https://datazap.me/u/geosbmw/3rd-5th...14-24-28-29-30



Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to look at my crap and I mean that literally.

[MysticRob]

Originally Posted by GEOS07335i

...I asked about the gap because I've seen recommendations all across the board from .018 to .022. I mentioned that I have mine gaped at .020 in eliciting a response from someone that knows what the proper gap should be.

I have no idea if it's the injectors on cyl 2 and 6 are bad, it certainly appears something is going on. Plugs are not wet see pic (just pulled them straight out of the car). I dont get rough idle at start. I dont get missfire. I dont get fowl fuel smell, no sooty crap coming out the tail pipe. HOWEVER They are INDEX 9 so there you have it. It must mean there bad then. For umpteenth time how the hell am I supposed to know if there bad or not?

My point with the gap was if they're all gapped the same but those two plugs look completely different than the other four then there's obviously something amiss there. An injector may leak enough to cause fouling but maybe not enough to cause "noticeable" misfires.

Same thing with all the other variables that cause fouling. Bad rings, bad coils, bad plugs, bad compression, gasket leaks, etc, in those 2 cylinders can all cause fouling problems. Swap things around or replace them methodically and see what changes occur. It's up to you to use best judgement to troubleshoot the most likely causes step by step and eliminate those possibilities. Logic prevails, not wild stabs in the dark on internet forums.

Originally Posted by GEOS07335i

What would be great is there was an updated Maintenance thread. This is a fairly old platform now and what was recommended 10 years ago has now been superseded by other parts. For example Coils first Bosch, then Delphi, now it's eldors? Oil used to be Mobile 1 0-40w but now it looks like there are better options. Amzoil a few others. Plugs same thing. It would be great if there was a STICKY or thread that says if your BMW has 100K or greater you need to do the following first before even considering going FBO. Have a list of common maintenance items like: PCV Valve, O2's, plugs, coils, Fuel Injectors, vanos solenoids, VCG, OFHG, etc.. then list the recommended replacement items.

No offense, but what would be great is if people realized cheaping out on parts and maintenance only add more variables to an already complication equation. There is no secret to making any vehicle run right, it's simply educating oneself to the likely issues, causes, and symptoms of problems. There are tons of threads, and an excellent sticky at the top of this very forum, that discusses those very things:

**First Time Tuners** Start Here** Official Misfire Thread| Updated!
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=631829

I bought mine with 134k miles on it after doing a compression check to ensure the engine didn't have any issues. I had absolutely no idea what the maintenance history was, just knew I was going to mod it. I read all threads, including the one above, on all the most likely issues, and replaced anything likely to cause the most likely issues, including -12 injectors, new Eldor coils, new plugs, walnut blasting, oil/filter change, and other maintenance items before I modded it. How many issues have I had? None whatsoever. How many threads have I created about problems incurred since purchase? Same answer. YMMV...

[feuer]

Originally Posted by MysticRob

Yep, cylinders 2 and 6 have some issues compared to the others.
Not sure why you'd ask about a plug gap issue since you can check and correct that yourself, and you should already know whether the gaps are the same across all the plugs, right?
Obviously something is different in the 2 cylinders related to those 2 plugs. I hate to even ask for the umpteenth time, but are you SURE it isn't the injectors on those 2 cylinders? Coils on those 2? Compression test? Can't be too many things affecting only 2 and 6 right?

On n54 I have found just recently that MAP on intake can cause power surges at steady cruise speeds and foul the spark plugs this way too. One or two spark plugs would get black and boost will oscillate on hwy cruise. We looked into coils, spark plugs, boost solenoids, wastegate actuators, vacuum lines, throttle body and at the end turn out to be MAP.

[feuer]

Originally Posted by GEOS07335i

What would be great is there was an updated Maintenance thread. This is a fairly old platform now and what was recommended 10 years ago has now been superseded by other parts. For example Coils first Bosch, then Delphi, now it's eldors? Oil used to be Mobile 1 0-40w but now it looks like there are better options. Amzoil a few others. Plugs same thing. It would be great if there was a STICKY or thread that says if your BMW has 100K or greater you need to do the following first before even considering going FBO. Have a list of common maintenance items like: PCV Valve, O2's, plugs, coils, Fuel Injectors, vanos solenoids, VCG, OFHG, etc.. then list the recommended replacement items. It would make it much easier for anyone getting in on the platform. So much information has changed it's hard to keep track of what was good 10 years ago is not as good as some options that are available today.

I must tell you that has very little with n54 being at 100k miles. What matters is how has been used and maintained. Yours unfortunately seem to be neglected since the issues started showing their ugly head even prior you went FBO. Who says that Eldor is the best? I'm on Bosch coils. In fact only two have been replaced and I probably use this car lot harder then most n54 owners out there. Who says that you have to have gapped colder NKG? I'm on OEM Bosch. Who says Mobil , Castrol and Amsoil are a must. I'm on Rotella T6. Who says you can't use 4gall E85 on full tank 93. I do it on hot track days. No E tune. Zero issues. You have list of maintenance items now but not from before. Also, you went wrong with some of the items like the injectors. You should have done all (like MysticRob has done) of that prior going FBO, especially prior going Stage 2. I already told you about stage2 in the other thread. Stage 2 tune based on mods lol. Biggest marketing trick in the world of tunes. Tune need to match what the n54 can do but not hypothetically and not assuming all components are OK. Turbos not keeping boost and fuel pump not pushing enough? What good of stage 2 is then? Because you installed IC and DP?

[GEOS07335i]

Originally Posted by feuer

I must tell you that has very little with n54 being at 100k miles. What matters is how has been used and maintained. Yours unfortunately seem to be neglected since the issues started showing their ugly head even prior you went FBO. Who says that Eldor is the best? I'm on Bosch coils. In fact only two have been replaced and I probably use this car lot harder then most n54 owners out there. Who says that you have to have gapped colder NKG? I'm on OEM Bosch. Who says Mobil , Castrol and Amsoil are a must. I'm on Rotella T6. Who says you can't use 4gall E85 on full tank 93. I do it on hot track days. No E tune. Zero issues. You have list of maintenance items now but not from before. Also, you went wrong with some of the items like the injectors. You should have done all (like MysticRob has done) of that prior going FBO, especially prior going Stage 2. I already told you about stage2 in the other thread. Stage 2 tune based on mods lol. Biggest marketing trick in the world of tunes. Tune need to match what the n54 can do but not hypothetically and not assuming all components are OK. Turbos not keeping boost and fuel pump not pushing enough? What good of stage 2 is then? Because you installed IC and DP?

Well that's the problem when trying to research and get advice when it's all over the place. One person says this and another person says that. I guess it's up the individual user to decide what direction to go. What's unfortunate is we dont have ture experts like your self making Sticky's on important aspects of maintenance. It's left up to us to read through all the marketing BS that vendors post and other noobs post. This is not an easy platform to master. There are way to many variables that play into diagnosing problems.

Yeah my car with out a doubt was neglected. Just trying to get it back into decent running order has been an enlightening experience. Most if not everything I've done so far has been typical maintenance stuff. Plugs, coils, vanos solenoids, pcv, O2 sensors, fuel injectors, VCG, OFHG. My approach has been to deal with them as they rear their ugly head. Maybe that's the wrong approach. I did do a lot of maintenance when I first got the car.

I have both Bosch and the NGK's I also have the BOSCH OEM coils and running Mobile 1 0-40. My point is there is not one thread that contains a list of maintenance items along with brands part numbers or other details to point noobs in the right direction. At least not from a maintenance perspective. Something like the misfire thread. That is a great thread to help diagnose misfire issues. So you get noobs like me that spend weeks looking through old out dated post of products and recommendations of brands not knowing which direction to take. This is a generalization of course because I did know from the very begging to only get the INDEX 12 injectors and didnt listen. But the reality is the reason my car was running horribly bad had nothing to do with the injectors it was the precat O2 sensors that finally got me to a stable point. Even with the crappy ebay injectors the car is running great at least for now. That's not to say I would recommend ebay injectors to anyone. Knowing what I know now having index 12's would rule out a lot of known issues.

But thanks will just keep fumbling along. I guess for me next on the maintenance list is Index 12's and LPFP.