west

So...

The past few months I've noticed that my car seems to emit more "smoke" out of the exhaust pipes than most of the other cars/trucks while idling at a stop light. This has me a little concerned. I thought this probably has to do with the cooler temperature outside, displacement of the engine, lack of catalytic converters, slightly richer-than-usual (opposite of lean) operating environment, blah blah blah. I never really thought there might be a serious problem until this evening when my girlfriend said she noticed the car was sending quite a bit of "smoke" out from the exhaust pipes when she sits at a stop light. Now I think it might be time to get a second opinion..

Aside from driving it in the rain for the past week, I take really good care of my car and it has never had any serious issues. The engine was warm when the video below was taken and the temperature readout on the cluster said 46F. My girlfriend hit the gas a few times, and you can see the "smoke" shoot out when she does so. Also, you can see the "smoke" bellowing out of the exhaust at the end of the video when she lets it idle.

Some general feedback would be great, but I do have a few specific questions:

- If you tune an engine to run richer, will you get more "smoke" coming out of the exhaust pipe than when it ran non-rich/OEM?
- If you remove the catalytic converters, will you get more "smoke" than the same car with catalytic converters?
- How cold does it have to be outside for "smoke" to appear from the exhaust pipes? The video below was taken at 46 degrees Fahrenheit..does it look like the "smoke" in the video is due to colder temperatures?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjQx5dN83eI&feature=youtu.be

Isaiah_Charles

Looks normal to me, but im no expert

l1tech

That looks like nothing more than condensation...basically steam coming out of the exhaust due to it being cold outside.

If you tune an engine to run rich it shouldn't smoke unless you went overboard and then it would be black smoke and the engine would run horrible. Catalytic converters do not have any affect on whether the engine smokes or not

Dimik

White smoke is normal when first starting your car and even while driving, especially if its cold. Excessive white smoke can mean your burning up anti freeze. Check the anti freeze to see if its leaking from the top or sides. If there is no leaks then it may be your head gasket so take it to your mechanic to look at it.

Answers to your questions:

IDK
Possibly because of air flow
and you just notice the smoke more in the winter more, still comes out when its warm out

From what i noticed with my e60 550i there is more smoke coming out than any other car i have ever had. So it could possibly be normal. Doesn't hurt to check tho

MORI3L

My car smokes as well...was wondering the same thing...perhaps the fumes comming out of our exhausts is hotter than most cars therefore causing condensation?

west

I hope so. Thanks for chiming in.

Cool. OK, that is what I was wondering. So you're basically saying that catalytic converters (and/or a rich tune) don't change the composition of gasses leaving the engine such that the car would condense more than the same car with catalytic converters (and/or a rich tune). Similar to how water changes it's boiling and freezing point when adding salt, it's possible to draw a rough analogy to the smoking exhaust if you consider the exhaust gasses as the 'water', the condensation as the "boiling point or freezing point", and the salt as whatever get's removed or added by a catalytic converter (and/or a rich tune). Similar to the salt, was wondering if the cat's or rich tune would change the properties of the gas to emit more "smoke". Sounds like you're saying it doesn't make a difference. Thanks for your comments.

Thanks for your feedback. Do you believe the video exhibits 'excessive white smoke' to your definition? Finding somebody else in the neighborhood with a 550i and do some comparisons probably makes sense.

Yeah, sounds like we both don't know the answer. I dunno.

ETNav382

I'm stopping by Seattle in about an hour or so. I'm going to be around 4th ave. We can meet up for a quick comparison if you want.

west

I'll PM you to see if it's possible you're able to meet up later. I let the gf drive the car to her work today so I won't have it back for another couple/few hours.

Dimik

no i donnt think its excessive.. If it smoked more while idling then i would say you may have a problem. I think the 5 series/M5 just generate more smoke

nell

Looks normal to me. I saw a car yesterday spitting water out like a leaking faucet. If you put a bucket behind the pipes, could have filled up a cup at a traffic signal. Likely the car hasn't run for some time.