530d smoking
12-08-2010, 12:50 PM
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Hi
I'm new to this site and until now have used main dealers for repairs and servicing. I bought the car 2.5 years ago 29000 miles it has now done 114000 miles (yes a lot of miles in that time).
My 2005 530d is smoking out of the exhaust after a short pause in traffic. The smoke carries on for a few miles of normal driving then goes away. the smoke is light grey and smells of oil. I have topped up the oil with 5w30 as directed by Halfords. The oil level is just over the minimum point on the dip stick after putting in 1 ltr of oil.
I do not want to take it to a garage until I have an idea what is wrong with it. you know how it is I don't want to get fleeced for parts when all it needs is an oil change or something simple.
any ideas?
Thanks terry
I'm new to this site and until now have used main dealers for repairs and servicing. I bought the car 2.5 years ago 29000 miles it has now done 114000 miles (yes a lot of miles in that time).
My 2005 530d is smoking out of the exhaust after a short pause in traffic. The smoke carries on for a few miles of normal driving then goes away. the smoke is light grey and smells of oil. I have topped up the oil with 5w30 as directed by Halfords. The oil level is just over the minimum point on the dip stick after putting in 1 ltr of oil.
I do not want to take it to a garage until I have an idea what is wrong with it. you know how it is I don't want to get fleeced for parts when all it needs is an oil change or something simple.
any ideas?
Thanks terry
12-08-2010, 11:56 PM
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My Ride: E60 530d Remapped 292BHP
sounds like a blown turbo, Is there any loss of power, does the turbo howl any louder.
I have a 530d 2004. it's got 80k and remapped to 270bhp. I rag it everywhere. The only smoke i get is black which is fine in my case due to the map.
Mine doesn't use alot of oil maybe 200ml between services (25k - 30k).
Recon'd turbo are not to expensive around £600- £800 + fitting. BMW will want to take every penny you have to do it. I don't think that there is any programming needed (someone speak up if there is please). so a good garage could do it for you.
Double check you oil usage, i only use 200ml to 30k, you might want to check with BMW for the acceptable usage level.
One last thing that may help, If you tend to drive lazy (low rev's) this can choke up the engine/DPF, every now and then give it a pasting, find some country lanes you know well and really work the engine. there's no point in sitting on a motorway you need to work the engine.
Hope this help
I have a 530d 2004. it's got 80k and remapped to 270bhp. I rag it everywhere. The only smoke i get is black which is fine in my case due to the map.
Mine doesn't use alot of oil maybe 200ml between services (25k - 30k).
Recon'd turbo are not to expensive around £600- £800 + fitting. BMW will want to take every penny you have to do it. I don't think that there is any programming needed (someone speak up if there is please). so a good garage could do it for you.
Double check you oil usage, i only use 200ml to 30k, you might want to check with BMW for the acceptable usage level.
One last thing that may help, If you tend to drive lazy (low rev's) this can choke up the engine/DPF, every now and then give it a pasting, find some country lanes you know well and really work the engine. there's no point in sitting on a motorway you need to work the engine.
Hope this help
12-09-2010, 02:12 AM
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Hi, Thanks for the advice. What oil do you use and am I using the right one?
sounds like a blown turbo, Is there any loss of power, does the turbo howl any louder.
I have a 530d 2004. it's got 80k and remapped to 270bhp. I rag it everywhere. The only smoke i get is black which is fine in my case due to the map.
Mine doesn't use alot of oil maybe 200ml between services (25k - 30k).
Recon'd turbo are not to expensive around £600- £800 + fitting. BMW will want to take every penny you have to do it. I don't think that there is any programming needed (someone speak up if there is please). so a good garage could do it for you.
Double check you oil usage, i only use 200ml to 30k, you might want to check with BMW for the acceptable usage level.
One last thing that may help, If you tend to drive lazy (low rev's) this can choke up the engine/DPF, every now and then give it a pasting, find some country lanes you know well and really work the engine. there's no point in sitting on a motorway you need to work the engine.
Hope this help
I have a 530d 2004. it's got 80k and remapped to 270bhp. I rag it everywhere. The only smoke i get is black which is fine in my case due to the map.
Mine doesn't use alot of oil maybe 200ml between services (25k - 30k).
Recon'd turbo are not to expensive around £600- £800 + fitting. BMW will want to take every penny you have to do it. I don't think that there is any programming needed (someone speak up if there is please). so a good garage could do it for you.
Double check you oil usage, i only use 200ml to 30k, you might want to check with BMW for the acceptable usage level.
One last thing that may help, If you tend to drive lazy (low rev's) this can choke up the engine/DPF, every now and then give it a pasting, find some country lanes you know well and really work the engine. there's no point in sitting on a motorway you need to work the engine.
Hope this help
12-09-2010, 02:22 AM
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Hi again. There is no loss of power and the car makes no more noise than before. However two days ago the engine would not kick down when you put your foot down. It just slowly accelorated as if you were in a to higher gear and the revs were not there. this lasted my for one journey then the next time i got in it it was fine. Also the heater started chucking out cold air even though it had been on max for about 30 minutes. This car has always been serviced and neve missed a beat so this is all a bit wierd to me. I used to race caterhams and I needed a cruiser for motorway miles but didn't just want a big fat diesel so opted for the 530d as it handled well and had a bit of poke when needed, so as you can imagine it does get some stick from time to time.
Cheers
Terry
Cheers
Terry
12-09-2010, 02:57 AM
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My Ride: E60 530d Remapped 292BHP
Oil wise as long as it " long life 04 BMW Spec" it's fine, not sure what thickness is needed. I don't top up the oil that often and can't remember what's on the bottle.
Regarding the heaters, have you check in the idrive under climate, you can set the temp there too, if it's set to cold it will override whatever you set the dial too. mine does take a good 5-10 mins to warm up in a morning.
When i was looking a few year back for a new car. had gone from a 172 cilo and the boy racer day to an e46 compact 320d when it was mapped it was just as quick as the cilo. so decided that diesel was the way forward and got the 530d 3 yrs ago. remapped it in the first month to 270bhp and love every minute of it. not sure if you enjoy drifting but they do go well. not sure if you know, hold down the dsc button for around 8 - 10 second and then the another traction light will come on and this disable all the traction for proper sideways fun. press the dsc button again to return to normal.
Caterhams, i had 2 tigers and 2 dax great fun to drive for half hour, then i just want to get out of them. never raced them, did do karting for a few year when i was younger.
Sometimes my will stick in gear rather than dropping down, if you need it to drop just knock it into sport and back again, should help. also there is a was to reset you throttle pedal as it adjusts itself to the way you are currently driving. can't remember how to do it, it will be on the forum somewhere.
Regarding the heaters, have you check in the idrive under climate, you can set the temp there too, if it's set to cold it will override whatever you set the dial too. mine does take a good 5-10 mins to warm up in a morning.
When i was looking a few year back for a new car. had gone from a 172 cilo and the boy racer day to an e46 compact 320d when it was mapped it was just as quick as the cilo. so decided that diesel was the way forward and got the 530d 3 yrs ago. remapped it in the first month to 270bhp and love every minute of it. not sure if you enjoy drifting but they do go well. not sure if you know, hold down the dsc button for around 8 - 10 second and then the another traction light will come on and this disable all the traction for proper sideways fun. press the dsc button again to return to normal.
Caterhams, i had 2 tigers and 2 dax great fun to drive for half hour, then i just want to get out of them. never raced them, did do karting for a few year when i was younger.
Sometimes my will stick in gear rather than dropping down, if you need it to drop just knock it into sport and back again, should help. also there is a was to reset you throttle pedal as it adjusts itself to the way you are currently driving. can't remember how to do it, it will be on the forum somewhere.
12-09-2010, 04:59 AM
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Don't panic
It's only your cranckcase oil breather filter. I removed this myself after having your exact symptoms 100,000 miles. Call any BMW dealer, ask for parts and give them your car year and model and they will give you the relevant cranckcase oil breather filter housing - ?55.
The smoke you see is from oil entering the turbo. It should only enter as vapour. My new breather had no filter in it (as an updated part)
Oil 5w 30 is perfect
I recommend Castrol Edge for Performance diesels.
Take a look at when I was troubleshooting:
https://5series.net/forums/topic/106...inimum__st__15
It's only your cranckcase oil breather filter. I removed this myself after having your exact symptoms 100,000 miles. Call any BMW dealer, ask for parts and give them your car year and model and they will give you the relevant cranckcase oil breather filter housing - ?55.
The smoke you see is from oil entering the turbo. It should only enter as vapour. My new breather had no filter in it (as an updated part)
Oil 5w 30 is perfect
I recommend Castrol Edge for Performance diesels.
Take a look at when I was troubleshooting:
https://5series.net/forums/topic/106...inimum__st__15
12-09-2010, 05:29 AM
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My Ride: E60 530d Remapped 292BHP
Don't panic
It's only your cranckcase oil breather filter. I removed this myself after having your exact symptoms 100,000 miles. Call any BMW dealer, ask for parts and give them your car year and model and they will give you the relevant cranckcase oil breather filter housing - ?55.
The smoke you see is from oil entering the turbo. It should only enter as vapour. My new breather had no filter in it (as an updated part)
Oil 5w 30 is perfect
I recommend Castrol Edge for Performance diesels.
Take a look at when I was troubleshooting:
http://forums.5serie...minimum__st__15
It's only your cranckcase oil breather filter. I removed this myself after having your exact symptoms 100,000 miles. Call any BMW dealer, ask for parts and give them your car year and model and they will give you the relevant cranckcase oil breather filter housing - ?55.
The smoke you see is from oil entering the turbo. It should only enter as vapour. My new breather had no filter in it (as an updated part)
Oil 5w 30 is perfect
I recommend Castrol Edge for Performance diesels.
Take a look at when I was troubleshooting:
http://forums.5serie...minimum__st__15
, I completely forgot about the breather and I've changed my too.As YeeeHaa said the crankcase breather. It's a cheap place to start.
12-09-2010, 06:04 AM
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My Ride: Bmw 530d 2004
Good advice above. 
However, if the symptoms continue (especially the loss of power) after checking your breather, I suggest you'd get your error memory read and see if there's anything related to DPF (diesel particle filter). It could be clogged.
Some info about the DPF problems here: https://5series.net/forums/topic/947...e-for-the-dpf/
- Antti -
However, if the symptoms continue (especially the loss of power) after checking your breather, I suggest you'd get your error memory read and see if there's anything related to DPF (diesel particle filter). It could be clogged.
Some info about the DPF problems here: https://5series.net/forums/topic/947...e-for-the-dpf/
- Antti -
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