[DG330]

Hi,

I have blue smoke on start up. Dependant on how long the car is left the bigger the smoke.

Car is 320i N20 184bhp and 99k miles.

Have not seen any smoke on WOT during rev or driving, just first thing in the morning after a 12 hours off.

Heard it could be the oil feed pipe?

Are valve seals an issue?

Any other areas to check, car has just had the timing chain carried out by bmw.

Thanks

[Billfitz]

It's definitely oil, where from is the question. However, I don't believe in coincidence. It may be related to the timing chain. They might have left something amiss when they changed it.

[sspade]

What year is the car?

The oil feed/return lines can be prone to leaking on early models. There was a recall/bulletin to address the issue.

Id check there for sure.

Also, have you checked the oil catch tray over the exhaust manifold? Its on the passenger side of engine... directly inline with valve cover gasket.

Is that tray showing any signs of oil seepage?

[DG330]

Originally Posted by sspade

What year is the car?

The oil feed/return lines can be prone to leaking on early models. There was a recall/bulletin to address the issue.

Id check there for sure.

Also, have you checked the oil catch tray over the exhaust manifold? Its on the passenger side of engine... directly inline with valve cover gasket.

Is that tray showing any signs of oil seepage?

Hi,

Yeah I've seen a lot on the oil feed issue, strange how's it's only showed up now though at 99k miles.

Car is late 2012, but in the UK, I don't think they ever did a recall on the oil feed here. Is there a BMW case number for it? Can check in with my contact at dealer.

Checked the VCG, was replaced by bmw in January on the timing chain work.

Any other common issues that cause blue smoke?

Thanks for the replies, hope it it's not too expensive.

[DG330]

Checked the pipes today and the crank pressure pipe is dry, but the turbo had some oil on the lip and quite a bit in the big intake pipe.

Turbo felt tight with tiny amount of play side to side, no up or down.

Hoping it's not valve seals and just this feed pipe.

[DG330]

Does anyone know if the oil leaks on the compressor or turbine side of the turbo?

I've not started my car since yesterday evening and it's been sitting for 18 hours of so. Will pull the pipes again to see if there a puddle of oil in the turbo.

[DG330]

Is this normal?

The charge pipe from the turbo has quite a bit of oil on it.

[DG330]

Cold start


And once fully warm

[Eniak]

Hi,

I also have 320i from 2012. Fun fact: it looks the same as yours.

I used to have the same problem - blue smoke during morning startup. The oil feed line was the issue, as mentioned before in this thread. The mechanics checked the turbo and some other places and couldn't really find the obvious cause. I decided to take a leap of faith with it and asked for the replacement of this particular part.

No blue smoke since then.

[DG330]

Originally Posted by Eniak

Hi,

I also have 320i from 2012. Fun fact: it looks the same as yours.

I used to have the same problem - blue smoke during morning startup. The oil feed line was the issue, as mentioned before in this thread. The mechanics checked the turbo and some other places and couldn't really find the obvious cause. I decided to take a leap of faith with it and asked for the replacement of this particular part.

No blue smoke since then.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Are you in the UK or America? How many miles was it until it smoked?

I asked my dealer and they know nothing of this issue! But then the UK was diesel diesel diesel, until the VW scandal. So probably didn't see enough issues in the UK

I've just bought the gasket kit and going to order the feed line from bmw then I'll fit and hope for the best. Just hope it's not the turbo as I don't fancy doing the job twice.

Strangely my car didn't smoke much at start up today after 24 hours sitting. It was when I gave it a few throttle blips it came out then stopped. However I'm seeing lots of oil around the turbo so pretty sure it's that.

Also, I'll be doing a compression test (for good measure) I'll post results, but would be good to know what expect. Guessing it should be about 145-150+ at 10:1

[Eniak]

Originally Posted by DG330

Thanks for the reply. Are you in the UK or America? How many miles was it until it smoked?

I'm in Poland. The car is from Germany. Smoke problems started around 170k kilometers mark.

[DG330]

Originally Posted by Eniak

I'm in Poland. The car is from Germany. Smoke problems started around 170k kilometers mark.

Thanks, sound about the same as me, I'm at 160k km or 99k miles.

Thanks for the replies, I'll get it swapped out and hopefully the turbo core itself will be fine 🤞🏻

[DG330]

Originally Posted by Eniak

Hi,

I also have 320i from 2012. Fun fact: it looks the same as yours.

I used to have the same problem - blue smoke during morning startup. The oil feed line was the issue, as mentioned before in this thread. The mechanics checked the turbo and some other places and couldn't really find the obvious cause. I decided to take a leap of faith with it and asked for the replacement of this particular part.

No blue smoke since then.

Hi,

Did they advise what part they bought when they changed this?

Spoke to bmw about part 11428678840 and they advised it's not listed for the N20, but American tuner sites have it as the right part.

Any help on tracking the right part numbe would be great

Thanks

[Eniak]

DG330



I believe you should be looking at 11428626652 (no. 1 on the picture - oil pipe inlet) plus 07119907330 (no. 2 on the picture - two new O-rings).

I know they also replaced the 11427577017 (no. 5 on the picture - gasket for the oil pipe outlet) so I'm adding that to the mix to be fully transparent.

[DG330]

Part number is 11428678840

Will fit in a couple of weeks when covid permits

[DG330]

So bmw are incredibly annoying!!!! The towing eyes supplied in the F30 do not fit the N20 engine for lifting or support beams.

Got all the way to removing the engine mount and couldn't support the engine. Will have another go when I get the right attachment.

[DG330]

Update - few points:

Nearly done - coolant pipes are a pain to pop out, takes a lot of wiggling.

I drained the coolant from the turbo pipes rather than radiator and pump.

Didn't drain oil and only lost maybe 100ml in total.

Oil return pipe was left in the engine and used a bung to block the hole to stop the oil draining when removing the turbo and the pipe going below the sump level.

Changing one manifold sealing ring as 3 in good condition still.

[DG330]

This is how the turbine looked when dismantling.

Oily - hoping I won't have to do the job again as the shaft is still firm with very little movement.

[DG330]

Update - car is no longer smoking. FIXED


Fixed with the upgraded pipe that has the check valve.

For anyone considering the work, if you're handy with a ratchet and have a good set of ramps that allow access down to the Cat you'll be fine.

I bought a turbo gasket kit which came with a new drain pipe, v clamps etc, but only used the graphite sealing rings, cat gasket, o rings and drain pipe gasket.

Graphite gasket rings are easy to change, I used a flat head screw driver and worked my way round one slowly lifting it until it came off. Then pushed a new seal on with equal pressure side by side until flush.

The car was up at an angle so I left the oil in, I drained the coolant originally from the coolant feed/return pipes, then did a full drain using the water pump and radiator hose. It would have been less messy to use the radiator and pump hose - so do this. Filling is easy, just pour mixed 50/50 bmw coolant in though expansion tank and then open bleed screws one by one as per bmw Newtis.Info.

As mine is the 320i I have the vacuum actuator, I removed this as per the manual, but the clotter pin is a pain to put back in, make sure you can see the hole on the wastegate arm then use force to push it up. I used pliers to pull it off and down. One bolt on the actuator chewed, but managed to hammer a larger torx into it, then replace with a standard 10mm bolt.

I had the pleasure of the steering column next to the turbo, I left this in place as there was still enough access with the right sockets and tools.

You will need two people for bringing the turbo in and out and for putting the cat back.

Turbo needs the coolant pipes moved over the compressor housing and back over on fitting.

Cat needs someone to align the cat to the turbo OJ fitting while the v clamp goes on and the cat bracket is tightened up.

This is probably most useful to the non US market as they were lucky enough to have recalls. Good luck

[davethefish]

Thanks for this post,
my car a 320i 2012 has been smoking on start up since just before lockdown started and haven't been able to get the car in to have it fixed.
it's got progressively worse but hasn't been used much working from home.

it's now booked in with my dealer for the end of the month,
but there seems to some resistance to what i think the issue is...
guess i'll have to wait and see what they say...
as it only seems to be mentioned on U.S. forums...

[DG330]

Originally Posted by davethefish

Thanks for this post,
my car a 320i 2012 has been smoking on start up since just before lockdown started and haven't been able to get the car in to have it fixed.
it's got progressively worse but hasn't been used much working from home.

it's now booked in with my dealer for the end of the month,
but there seems to some resistance to what i think the issue is...
guess i'll have to wait and see what they say...
as it only seems to be mentioned on U.S. forums...

Sorry for the late reply.

It's defo going to be that pipe. It's £20 odd in the UK. Bmw tried to say it was valve seals - big money and would have been a waste.

If you're handy with some tools it's not too bad of a job. Think I explained it all above, if not happy to do it.

BMW in the UK won't confirm that the turbo pipe with the valve is for our car, but it fit mine and resolved it.

One thing to check is that it's not valve seals. I ran the car up to temp through a drive, then while driving down hill decelerated for a while, then put my foot down. Then when back, left the car on idle for 10 mins then put my foot down. No smoke, so valve seals were fine.

[davethefish]

Originally Posted by DG330

Sorry for the late reply.

It's defo going to be that pipe. It's £20 odd in the UK. Bmw tried to say it was valve seals - big money and would have been a waste.

If you're handy with some tools it's not too bad of a job. Think I explained it all above, if not happy to do it.

BMW in the UK won't confirm that the turbo pipe with the valve is for our car, but it fit mine and resolved it.

One thing to check is that it's not valve seals. I ran the car up to temp through a drive, then while driving down hill decelerated for a while, then put my foot down. Then when back, left the car on idle for 10 mins then put my foot down. No smoke, so valve seals were fine.

the car has been in since saturday,
after diagnosis they agreed to change the oil feed pipe, and check the turbo.

they rang yesterday morning to say the exhaust had some water in the back box, and said it could be steam coming out not smoke.
i disagreed and then we agreed to continue with the original repair.