Woody-5

I have an 07 525xi that will spit a bit of steam/ smoke out of the grille after it's warmed up.
There's no odor, it doesn't seem to be overheating. It's coming out of the passenger side grille only. When I open the hood the engine compartment is Not steaming, seems to be directly from the grill.
Could it be just condensation as the temps have been right around the freezing mark? A couple mornings it has been rainy/ wet pavement but this morning it was dry and it still steamed a bit.
Strange that it's just that one side.
Also, when I drive it home the last two afternoons it didn't steam at all when I arrived home
Thoughts?

ETNav382

Condensation like you said. If it never did it in warmer, dryer weather you should be fine.

Freshh530i

I've been getting the same thing. It's been driving me crazy, because i'm thinking my engine is beginning to overheat or something.

andymax

Have it checked at an indy ASAP!! I noticed a tiny bit of steam from passenger side a couple times. Only smelled the faintest bit of antifreeze. Next day got towed off the turnpike due to complete failure and only option was dealer...it was a water pump...1600 smackers after three day rental car (happened wednesday before thanksgiving), pump, thermostat and flush.

CXJ

not what I wanted to read first thing in the morning!

Woody-5

Small amount of steam Friday morning after driving to work.

Nothing Friday afternoon (and it was raining hard)

Nothing today and it was sunny and dry.

Seems to be extremely intermittent

No odor and I can't spot anything leaking (garage floor is bone dry when it's been parked all night)

ETNav382

It's not really based on rain. I've noticed mine do it on really damp cold days. Rain in general, not so much.

Freshh530i

Yea i'm noticing it now on days that its not raining. Idk if its just because of the extremely cold weather or what. It's just steaming from the radiator. I just had my water pump done, my coolant flushed, and i'm not getting any notifications from my idrive. Is there something else I should be looking for?

seanjordan20

I had the same issue and it was driving me crazy. I just took a stab at it and replaced the water pump and fluid and it stopped. Replacing the pump yourself is fairly easy no more than 90 mins to get the job done. I saved $1100 doing it myself. Well worth it. If you havent replaced your water pump and you have the old style its best to replace as soon as possible because the perpeller is bound to crack on it. Be happy if you've gotten 100K out of it if you are there.

Woody-5

UPDATE:

Didn't see the steam/ smoke much over the winter when it was cold. I had to top off the coolant a few times
We had a few warmer days where it rained recently and I would see it after driving to work.
I mentioned it to the shop when it was going in for service earlier this week. They pressure tested the coolant system and my radiator is bad