Clouds of white smoke behind me

[PeteE30Tourer]

Recently, i've noticed loads of white smoke behind me when the car is running from cold. It's really bad when i accelerate away to the point that i cant see out the rear window almost, but clears up totally once the engine is warmed up. I cant really tell if it's moisture or actually smoke, but i'm guessing it's the former, but why?

I cant see that either my coolant or oil levels have decreased significantly, though I've noticed my fuel economy has gone down by about 10% in the past month, but i cant say performance has been affected at all.

I did notice a bit of mayonaise on the oil filler cap a while back, but that was only after the car had been left standing for a week, so i assume that was just condensation.

Any ideas what's going on?

[Jesus325iTouring]

Pete,my Tourer has done this for the past two years,i was under the impression it's condensation from inside the exhaust,hence why it disappears once the car is warm.
It's just more noticable in the cold weather.

[billgatese30]

white smoke/steam when the car is cold is a populat trait of the e30, with th 6 cylinder engine in particular. don't worry about it if its only happeneing when cold. it's only if happeneing when hot or if the smoke is blue or brown/black.

don't worry too much about it.

sure some one else will back me up on this though if your still not sure about it

[TouringMatt]

This is a good thread about it - mine does it too!

http://www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?na ... pic&t=3427

Matt

[Simon13]

it's been bloody freezing so the choke will have been on longer in the mornings evening etc. And as you know 325's like a drink

[Jesus325iTouring]

it's been bloody freezing so the choke will have been on longer in the mornings evening etc. And as you know 325's like a drink

Too right,try towing a 15 foot trailer loaded up to max weight (1.2 ton) I swear i can see the fuel guage dropping!

[Jhonno]

my 316i does it, its nothing to worry about

[Brianmoooore]

My 325 runs on LPG. - Can't see who's behind me for a couple of miles on cold mornings!

[SVBMW]

Mine did that so I checked the thermostat.

Found that it had been bodged by the previous owner by knocking the centre out so the engine was never getting up to temperature . I think he wanted to tow with it, but didn't in the end

Horrible thoughts of hidden head gasket problems came to nothing when I fitted the new stat and problem disapeared.

Might be worth a look

tris

[PeteE30Tourer]

Thanks guys - my worries have been put to rest.

However, i did notice that my water level was very low this morning and needed topping up. I think that might just be a hose leak somewhere though as i've had similar troubles before.

The weather has got a bit warmer at long last, so i'll see if my fuel consumption picks up now. I've been monitoring it very closely on every tankful since i've had the car and it's always been a very repeatable 22 to 23mpg, but it's dropped to 20mpg on the last tankful, 21 before that.

[gorgeee]

my touring does it but i thought it just seems more of a problem because on the touring you can see right to the very back of the car where as in the 2 doors cars you cant really see the smoke as much cause the boots in the way

[Sooty]

I did notice a bit of mayonaise on the oil filler cap a while back, but that was only after the car had been left standing for a week, so i assume that was just condensation.

However, i did notice that my water level was very low this morning and needed topping up. I think that might just be a hose leak somewhere though as i've had similar troubles before.

If your car is a 6 pot (2.0 or 2.5) then these are the classic signs of a cracked cylinder head.
The only way to confirm it is take off the head and get it pressure checked but you could try monitoring your coolant level / consumption for a while & see how much you get through.