A little smoke on first acceleration in the mornings...

[repenttokyo]

I second the valve guides being the problem.

[525iZA]

Yes, my 525i doesn't smoke at all when he's started up in the morning, but when you first accelerate some smoke can be seen. (I.e. just turned into the street from driveway).

This clears up nearly instantly though.

Is this cause for concern?

[Dave M]

Yes, my 525i doesn't smoke at all when he's started up in the morning, but when you first accelerate some smoke can be seen. (I.e. just turned into the street from driveway).

This clears up nearly instantly though.

Is this cause for concern?

MMmmmm, perhaps.......

But seriously, you could be burning off oil from a leaky valve guide/seal (or two). Might be a good excuse to do a compression and/or leak down test.

Any other symptoms?? Missing oil/coolant?? Hesitation?? Blue smoke?? Have you smelled the stuff (in case its fuel)??

Dave

[Morgenster]

Yes, my 525i doesn't smoke at all when he's started up in the morning, but when you first accelerate some smoke can be seen. (I.e. just turned into the street from driveway).

This clears up nearly instantly though.

Is this cause for concern?

If white smoke upon driving away it could just be condesnation in the tailpipe evaporating. This can take a while before it disappears on wet days.

[525iZA]

MMmmmm, perhaps.......

But seriously, you could be burning off oil from a leaky valve guide/seal (or two). Might be a good excuse to do a compression and/or leak down test.

Any other symptoms?? Missing oil/coolant?? Hesitation?? Blue smoke?? Have you smelled the stuff (in case its fuel)??

Dave

Would the burning off oil thing be bad?

I'm still monitoring the coolant. Not sure if the car's loosing some. No hesitation, no blue smoke at any other stage apart from acceleration after start up in the morning. After other start ups it's fine. Full bore acceleration also no smoke.

What happens when missing coolant causes smoke??

[whiskychaser]

Would the burning off oil thing be bad?

I'm still monitoring the coolant. Not sure if the car's loosing some. No hesitation, no blue smoke at any other stage apart from acceleration after start up in the morning. After other start ups it's fine. Full bore acceleration also no smoke.

What happens when missing coolant causes smoke??

Burning a bit of oil on start up isnt good but its not terminal either. It just means something is worn and letting too much oil into the cylinders. Normally this is valve guides/valve guide seals or the piston rings/bores are worn. Coolant loss + white smoke can = head gasket gone. Compression/leakdown tests will help you confirm if its the pistons/rings or the valves are leaking. It wont identify worn valve guides but will eliminate the other causes

[e34.535i.sport]

If white smoke upon driving away it could just be condesnation in the tailpipe evaporating. This can take a while before it disappears on wet days.

+1 I get this on cold mornings, not too worried about it now as it doesn't use any fluids, so its all good. Wouldn't white smoke be coolant not oil?

[525iZA]

Burning a bit of oil on start up isnt good but its not terminal either. It just means something is worn and letting too much oil into the cylinders. Normally this is valve guides/valve guide seals or the piston rings/bores are worn. Coolant loss + white smoke can = head gasket gone. Compression/leakdown tests will help you confirm if its the pistons/rings or the valves are leaking. It wont identify worn valve guides but will eliminate the other causes

What other symptoms would blown head gasket have?

[whiskychaser]

What other symptoms would blown head gasket have?

Classic symptoms are water in oil or vice versa. Symptoms:
Temp needle goes into red whenever you run the engine
Creamy deposits under the valve cover or in the sump (take off the oil filler cap and dip the oil to see though the latter isnt foolproof)
Loss of coolant-a lot. It either goes out of the exhaust as steam or into the lubrication system as steam-hence the creamy stuff.
Coolant has a strange smell or is black-garages use a sniffer to check if there is too much exhaust gas in it and therefore gasket gone etc

[Dave M]

Would the burning off oil thing be bad?

I'm still monitoring the coolant. Not sure if the car's loosing some. No hesitation, no blue smoke at any other stage apart from acceleration after start up in the morning. After other start ups it's fine. Full bore acceleration also no smoke.

What happens when missing coolant causes smoke??

If you're confident its blue smoke, then its oil. As it doesn't occur to any significant degree outside of a cold morning start/acceleration, Ii wouldn't lose too much sleep over it. However, this would definitly peak my interest and result in the compression and or leak down test i mentioned. This will:

1) Identify the problem cylinder(s)
2) Help determine whether its upper end (valve) or lower end (piston ring) related

Best of luck,

Dave