I have a 2007 335 with 90,000 miles. I have no smoke on cold start. When I park the car after driving it and start pulling out of a parking lot, a ton of smoke. I have noticed if I have the car idling and I hold the revs between 1k-2k rpm the cars shoots plumes of smoke. It smells like oil but even with the smoke it doesn't lose that much oil. Maybe a quart or two over 5k miles. I just changed the valve cover and valve cover gasket. Is it turbo seals? I have RB turbos that are about 15k miles old. Is it possible that the seals are bad already? I have read a few other posts but none are quite the same as mine.
My 335 is smoking. Help!
- Thread starter pk_lv
- Start date
Rob@RBTurbo
Lieutenant
We've offered many iterations of turbos since 2010. Not sure who this person is or if they wish to make that information public, but if not an email to us with their information would help us determine what RB's they have equipped (from when, with what, etc). Email [email protected]
Regarding smoke, yes, could be numerous things. Some causes, some effects. Injectors, pcv systems, engines, VSS, low engine vacuum, and for sure turbos could be the culprit for smoking too. Just have to make sure that if there were any causes to the effects that they are also addressed WITH the effects... or the effects could be the same again.
Thanks,
Rob
The gentleman who purchased the RB's was Mark Marcinak.@Rob@RBTurbo I bought the car from him. I know I am in need of new injectors as well but the car clearly smells like burning oil and the smoke smells like burning oil. I will check the coolant level to be sure I am not losing any of that. I believe that I am running a stock PCV as well so that could be the issue. I will try to ask the previous owner more info on the RB's and what he ordered. I will post a video tomorrow. I am also getting an O2 sensor after cat code now all of a sudden. I do have downpipes. Not sure if it is related at all or not.
Rob@RBTurbo
Lieutenant
Found the purchaser and the order was for non-optioned Classic RB's from June 2015 so likely always has been on stock inlets (unless some were equipped thereafter??). These units would've been in-house VSR balanced to some very nice sub .2g levels to around 175,000rpm.
If they need refurbishment you will definitely want to add on the High Flow inlets (consider them mandatory for all upgraded turbos) and High Flow oil drains (highly recommended). You'll also want to ensure you've done the larger vacuum reference modification for the BOV and also confirm it is properly adjusted, assuming one is equipped. And also of course run high quality oils, possibly even race oils, pending on the intensity of your usage patterns.
Our recommendation is to initially try the easy stuff first such as the PCV valve (or move to the external PCV kit), vent hose, valve cover gasket, and inspect the valve cover closely for cracks while removed (or replace entirely). Flaky DI Fuel Injectors also can cause smoking while also breaking down oils quickly, while potentially washing out rings and/or contaminating oil (which wreaks havoc on everything especially the turbos).
All of this stuff are some things to keep in mind, some of the causes to effects as stated above. Ultimately if you want to cut to the chase you can check the turbos shaft play (primarily axially)- this requires dropping the downpipes- but do not disregard the potential causes regardless. Sometimes it's the simple things that are overlooked that cause the same results.
Any other questions feel free to shoot us an email, we are not difficult to reach in that way.
Thanks,
Rob
I just changed the valve cover gasket and valve cover hoping it was causing the issue. I did have oil in and around the plugs so that problem is now solved. The car is still on stock inlets you are correct. I will try the PCV valve first and then move from there. Thank you for the help.
Sometimes when they are smoking very badly for awhile like you had.. say the case was a bad valve cover (cracks internal faults) they build up to much oil in the exhaust they smoke for a really long time after!!
So I bought the RB PCV valve and just changed it yesterday. Today my car is now smoking worse than ever before. It now smokes at all rpm's and it is basically not driveable. Thick white smoke that smells like burning oil. I will try to post a video tonight. Any ideas?
I had pretty much exact same symptoms on 2 sets back to back. It is good to eliminate all the possibilities but your problem is most likely the turbos. My best advice to you is - learn how to swap turbos in and out yourself because the labor on everything involved with these problems is what can really suck if youre paying a shop to do the work. These circa 2014/15 RB's just seem to have had some serious issues with smoking but it does appear Rob has put in work researching and coming up with solutions over the last few years. His customer service is pretty good and I'm sure he would try and help you out.
Yank those suckers out and inspect them / send them in for inspection. That's a pretty cheap and effective step in troubleshooting this if you do the work yourself.
So... finally got around to inspecting the car (still blowing smoke):
Oil drain lines - not bent or kinked, clean on the outside so I think they’re not leaking, as well as good clearance (>.5") from everything around it.
Inspected valve cover, no visible cracks
Valve cover gasket appears in good shape: no oil externally (changed <15k miles ago).
Flapper valve does not fully close when blowing in it, as stated before, will be doing my due diligence with installing an overdue RB external PCV kit coming and running a Dual Catch Can setup.
Downpipe connected to rear turbo smokes considerably more than the other one, there's smoke coming out of the oil cap when removed.
Hoping the PCV kit solves this tbh but any other input/ideas highly appreciated
-Dude w probs
This is my original post with pretty good advice from experienced guys don't wanna double post: https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/huge-clouds-of-smoke-after-turbo-swap.6276/page-2?view=date
Oil drain lines - not bent or kinked, clean on the outside so I think they’re not leaking, as well as good clearance (>.5") from everything around it.
Inspected valve cover, no visible cracks
Valve cover gasket appears in good shape: no oil externally (changed <15k miles ago).
Flapper valve does not fully close when blowing in it, as stated before, will be doing my due diligence with installing an overdue RB external PCV kit coming and running a Dual Catch Can setup.
Downpipe connected to rear turbo smokes considerably more than the other one, there's smoke coming out of the oil cap when removed.
Hoping the PCV kit solves this tbh but any other input/ideas highly appreciated
-Dude w probs
This is my original post with pretty good advice from experienced guys don't wanna double post: https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/huge-clouds-of-smoke-after-turbo-swap.6276/page-2?view=date
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