nola530

So, about two weeks ago the weather turned real cold down here in nola, below freezing at night for a few weeks. This is very unusual for here. Anyway, my car starts to run funny soon after the weather warmed up a bit (it was 80 here yesterday!), mainly white smoke on start up only and a rough idle. There were no errors on the idrive so I assumed it could be the gas and thus filled up with a different gas. This did not fix the problem but made it worse, idrive error increased emissions. I then brought her straight to the dealership and am awaiting their diagnosis. I did find sib120108(intake maifold issue) on here and I hope if this is the problem bmw will fix for me. The sib mentions the cold being a cause for the rough idle and smoke. My concern now is, should I get rid of the car? I really love driving her but, this is my first car, last five vehicles were all trucks or suvs and none of them had even a fraction of the issues I have with this car. Granted, most of the problems have been real small; ex. sun roof issue, dash clip, lights starting to dull......These problems did not bother me, in fact I enjoyed working on her to fix them, but if this new issue is major and causes me to spend a chunk of money I just dont know what I want to do. What bothers me is not the increased costs to owning a bmw out of warrenty, I fully expect to spend more on maintance, but I expected to drive this car for a long time with out the intake manifold or something else major going out. With these major problems, I just assume get a toyota truck that I can work on myself and give up on my beloved bmw. I am very torn on this issue and am looking to the forum members for their opinions.

chowbox

Tough call, white smoke is BAD!

Your car probably realizes that Farve is on the way to town. So hopefully monday everything will be sorted out with your car

you'll truly miss a e60 if you get a toyota truck

pjinca

Considering there IS a SIB for the specific issue you mention, then there should be little to no out-of-pocket cost to you to repair a known issue. I know it seems serious and you are probably panicking a little right now (I would be) but the issue will probably get resolved since the service bulletin is similar to a recall where even out of warranty cars get repaired at little to no cost to the owner because it is a know BMW issue. Your best course of action right now? Relax, wait for the dealer to respond, then enjoy the Saints earning their first SB appearance on Sunday (hopefully sending Favre into retirement - FINALLY!!!!)

-Mike-

I would take it one step at a time. It may be something very simple/low cost. It may be a little worse and set you back some. But what good would getting rid of it so quickly do? If you get another used car, you are practically taking the same risk. So before you go and do something in the heat of the moment, wait to see what they say! By your sig, you've done some nice mods....don't throw all that hard earned money away just yet.

kscarrol

Sorrry to hear about the car nola! Good luck with the repairs, is the car at Peake?

I was in the UK during the real cold weather but my wife was instructed to start and drive the car while I was gone to avoid any battery issues. When I returned home she told me that one morning (one of the really cold ones!) that she went to start the car but it was a very rough idle and that it was blowing out smoke. The yellow engine light between the spedo and tach also came on so needless to say she shut down the car and never re-started. I quickly started the car and got the expected high battery drain message and the yellow engine light. The idle sounded fine to me and I attributed it to her being used to the rather quiet idle of her X5 versus my V8! A couple of days of normal driving and the battery warning and engine light have gone away...

nola530

thanks for the advice. I think I'm just gonna take a deep breath and wait and see. Driving that car is so much fun, but if its in the shop always not as much fun, unless the loaner is another 5er(happened just once). As far as the saints, I have already taken off monday, WHEN we win, this city is gonna be crazy........ Jay glaizer rode with drew brees after an away game once. A lot of fans gather on the road leaving the private airport they land at, Glaizer said he has never seen anything like it, one mile of road lined with fans at 11pm on a sunday after a road game. just imagine this weekend. The win on sunday will be insane!!!!! but i guess i dont have to tell you!

nola530

yup, car is at peake. The only other option is brian harris in baton rouge. As much as I dislike peake they have been getting better each time I go, so lets hope that trend continues.

the problem you had sounds just like mine, execept yours stopped, mine kept getting worse.


THANK YOU everybody for your opinions. thank you thank you thank you!

nola530

UPDATE:
just talked to the service writer and he said the first thing they need to fix is the cyclone valve. After that is fixed, they will hook up to the computer again and try to find out why its smoking on start up. Tab so far: 750.00.