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BMW 3-Series and 4-Series Forum (F30 / F32) | F30POST > Technical Forums > N20, N26, B46, B48 Turbo Engine / Drivetrain / Exhaust Modifications > N20 Blown Turbo - Blowing White Smoke - Video
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      10-16-2014, 04:41 PM   #23
Yellowflash
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I pushed mine 328ix two weeks ago very hard on famous German Autobahn. Four people in the car with full trunk, and going wot up to speed limiter of 255 Km/h for 5+ minutes... Engine temperature didn't go over 105-110 degree not for a moment, while the car was constantly around 5.5k rpms.

Car was acceleration very easily up to speed limiter, and the only mod that I have installed is Racechip piggy back, which runs on very low boos, I think just +4 PSI over regular.

I'm not sure how you guys are driving or taking care of your cars, but I always follow these two sacred rules:

1.Always waiting for engine to reach operating temperature of 100 degrees before going over 3k RPM.
2.If the car is pushed very hard for more than 5 minutes, I always leave it on ideal for another 5 minutes before turning the engine off.

Lately, I was very skeptical after reading latest few post regard N20 issues, but now after having a chance to push my baby very hard It won back the confidence that I lost, so I will probably stick with it a little longer than I initially planned.

Or I might rob the bank in the meantime and get a M4.
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      10-22-2014, 05:54 PM   #24
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I have a '13 X3 with N20 engine and it started doing this two weeks ago. Very low miles so I was surprised.

There are no codes, no shaking, no loss of power. Just a lot of smoke at start up.

The dealer has had it for a week and has submitted claim to BMW NA saying the valve seals are bad.

Was your turbo replaced and did that resolve your issues?
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      11-17-2014, 01:26 AM   #25
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Common problem?

I have a friend who works in the workshop at a dealership in South Africa. He say's they've been replacing many turbos at around 50,000KM.

He says the turbo cooling is driven mechanically, so cooling stops when auto-start-stop kicks in. Turbo doesn't cool down propper and starts leaking - thus the puff of white smoke.

My 320i is on 44,000KM now. No puffs of smoke yet. I'm split between disabling auto-start-stop at the end of a drive and letting the engine idle for 2 mins or just driving it as normal and getting a replacement turbo. Heaven forbid the turbo fails when my maintenance and warranty have run our
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      11-17-2014, 04:01 AM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiefF30 View Post
I have bluish smoke when I start my car up plus a rattling in the engine. Taking it to the dealer tomorrow to see what's the 411 on it.
Ntalekt did replacing the turbo fix ur problem?
Did it blow smoke upon every start up?
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      11-27-2014, 01:21 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unskinnybob View Post
I have a friend who works in the workshop at a dealership in South Africa. He say's they've been replacing many turbos at around 50,000KM.

He says the turbo cooling is driven mechanically, so cooling stops when auto-start-stop kicks in. Turbo doesn't cool down propper and starts leaking - thus the puff of white smoke.

My 320i is on 44,000KM now. No puffs of smoke yet. I'm split between disabling auto-start-stop at the end of a drive and letting the engine idle for 2 mins or just driving it as normal and getting a replacement turbo. Heaven forbid the turbo fails when my maintenance and warranty have run our

How did your friend ever pass his exams ?
Like most modern BMW engines the N20 has a electric coolant pump that can run with the engine off and cool the turbos
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      11-27-2014, 04:41 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E90Fleet View Post
How did your friend ever pass his exams ?
Like most modern BMW engines the N20 has a electric coolant pump that can run with the engine off and cool the turbos
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      12-19-2014, 07:53 PM   #29
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My buddy in the local BMWCCA just had his turbo in his X3 replaced for the exact same reason. Let's hope this doesn't spread too far.
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      01-03-2015, 10:12 AM   #30
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the oil seal on these turbos is a bad design. The oil leaks into the turbo housing and pools; upon start up, this oil gets burned off. I believe my tech told me BMW is working on a fix. Just another reason to not buy the first generation of a BMW engine (anyone remember the fuel pump issues on the N54?
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      03-23-2015, 12:09 AM   #31
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My 2012 F30 328i/N20 blows smoke on a cold start. And the longer it has been left the more smoke there is. After a 2 week break there was a huge cloud behind the car. I took it to the dealer and they said they cleaned out the carbon and said to leave for us long as possible and film it. They did suspect a blown turbo.
I left it for 36 hours and took the attached video. It is better after the clean.
I am now leaving at the dealer for a week or more for them to test.
I cant see how this could be normal.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10263...OTHgaiLqeWCwAE
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      03-23-2015, 10:43 AM   #32
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What's the current mileage of the car?
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      03-23-2015, 10:49 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by B5rider View Post
the oil seal on these turbos is a bad design. The oil leaks into the turbo housing and pools; upon start up, this oil gets burned off. I believe my tech told me BMW is working on a fix. Just another reason to not buy the first generation of a BMW engine (anyone remember the fuel pump issues on the N54?
You do realize the N20 has been in use for many years prior to the F30? It was used on the X1s and X3s so this is not a first gen engine.
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      03-23-2015, 11:26 AM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by B5rider View Post
the oil seal on these turbos is a bad design. The oil leaks into the turbo housing and pools; upon start up, this oil gets burned off. I believe my tech told me BMW is working on a fix. Just another reason to not buy the first generation of a BMW engine (anyone remember the fuel pump issues on the N54?
IIRC fuel pump issue with n54 was caused majorly by ethanol mixed gas.
Happened to my 335 back in the day and dealer suggested i use Shell 91 Vpower (all other 91 octane gas in Canada contains ethanol) which contains no ethanol and my hpfp functioned perfectly fine ever since.
Got rid of the car at 90k kms and never went in for the recall as i didnt see a need to.

it is BMWs fault for lack of research (im assuming the gas they use during testing does not contain ethanol) but in the end they corrected it by replacing the fuel pump
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      04-07-2015, 12:19 AM   #35
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My car has done about 30000kms.

BTW. BMW are replacing the turbo
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      09-01-2015, 12:09 PM   #36
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Ive had this issue for about 3 weeks now. Taking the car to BMW next week.
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      09-02-2015, 03:22 PM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zexy View Post
Ive had this issue for about 3 weeks now. Taking the car to BMW next week.
Is the turbo problem a common issue for N20 engine ?
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      09-02-2015, 07:06 PM   #38
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Hope my stage 2 jb4 doesnt have that happen at 260 whp

Is there a way to map/tune the stage 2 jb4 to the stage 1 tuner level to run lower boost?

i know its programmable to different mappings, so maybe down tune it during the weeks i wont be playing with it so that doesnt happen???

good luck and thanks for posting
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      09-03-2015, 01:01 PM   #39
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Not sure if "Turbo Lady" is known around these parts but she has been very popular around the Audi guys since the B5 days...



Perhaps she has moved into a new neighborhood and welcoming herself.
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      09-03-2015, 01:06 PM   #40
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*cringe* I had an 02 S4...sold it after 2 years because of all the horror stories!
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      06-14-2017, 05:04 PM   #41
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I have a 2012 F30, and I noticed the same cold start smoking issue around 45K miles and under warranty. At first, the smoke was only noticeable after it was sitting for about a week. After I started noticing the smoke after it was sitting for a day or 2, I finally brought it in at around 48K miles for this issue, and after a Puma case, the dealer was instructed by BMW NA to replace the old feed pipe. After pipe was replaced, the smoking was gone... or so I thought.

Around 52K miles, I again started noticing the smoke after the car had been sitting for 3-5 days (my wife works from home, so both cars aren't driven daily). I brought it back to the dealer since the issue had returned even though the warranty was up. The dealer stated that they could not reproduce the issue even after the car had been sitting up to 3 days (which I do not believe). You almost have to have someone else start the car, because the smoking is usually immediate and you might miss it if you don't look immediately after start-up.

Anyway, I'm at around 60K miles now and the smoke is now there after sitting overnight. I brought it to another BMW dealer who was able to reproduce the smoke, and they deduced that the bearings inside the turbo was bad, leading to a mixture of oil and antifreeze to seep in. I did purchase an extended warranty with Warranty Solutions through the previous BMW dealer, and luckily, they authorized the turbo replacement. I did have to come out of pocket $100 for the deductible as well as ~$200 in hoses and clamps that were not covered. I paid about $2,700 for the 4 star coverage from Warranty Solutions, and in hindsight, it was well worth it, as the turbo replacement would have been easily a $4K repair out of pocket. On a side note, the dealer also discovered a cracked gasket in the engine compartment causing some oil leakage, which Warranty Solutions covered as well.

It is my opinion that the turbo should have been replaced to begin with by BMW under warranty in addition to the drainage pipe. I was lucky to have purchased an extended warranty that covered the turbo after warranty, and good luck to those out there that are not so lucky.
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      06-14-2017, 05:11 PM   #42
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nice plate
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      06-14-2017, 05:39 PM   #43
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Please leave the turbo timer idling back where it belongs... in the 90s. Modern day turbocharged cars have self regulated cooling systems even after the engine is off. Geez my old WRX had it back in the early 2000.

I'd attribute this to product defect. Glad it's sorted by BMW warranty.
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      06-15-2017, 11:13 AM   #44
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how many miles do you have on the car ? you shouldnt have any issue with how you drive your car .. my guess prolly defective turbo
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