Z4 3.0 : smoke coming out of the engine bay

Hey guys,

I drove the car yesterday twice after having it sitting in the garage for more than 1 month - including the Central Texas deep freeze - 18*F

Before I drove it, I let the engine warm up in the garage. Once I got to work there was some burning smell coming from the car - being late like always, I figured I'd check it later. Except for once reaching 6K RPMs - I didnt stress the engine too much on this drive.

I drove the car back home - 10 minute drive - same smell - this time I'm opening the bonnet and I see fumes coming out of the engine bay - as you can see in the video below.





This morning - I woke up early - checked the oil level - the gauge was soaked in oil. Cleaned it - and tried it again - same thing.

I turn on the engine - let it warm up - it started doing the same thing with the smoke coming out of the engine bay?

Any idea what this might be? Blown head gasket?

Thank you in advance.

either something is leaking onto the exhaust or maybe a mouse or similar made a home.

Any leaks below the car?

Would not expect it to be as major as head gasket.

I moved the car and there were no leaks on my driveway. It also seems that the oil dipstick shows a good amount of oil in the engine - around the max level w/o being soaked in oil. Not sure why the dipstick was so soaked in the morning before I even turned the engine on.

the coolant level seems to be a little more than minimum but the engine temperature is spot on according to the temp gauge.

I drove the car for 10 minutes to work and once I stopped the engine there was a faint smell of burnt or hot engine from even the outside of the car.

No more smoke though under the hood though. Still not sure what's going on

There have been reports of an egr valve or something similar freezing up and building up pressure in the crankcase. I know it happened to a few X5's. I saw the temperature was 18 degrees. This may be what is happening. I would talk to a service advisor or your indy.

I cant tell you how many times i tried to move your camera with my mouse to get a better angle on the affected area.

Several questions:

is the smoke coming from one side only? what does it smell like? Oil, Water, Steak or Chicken cooking?

From the area you are showing us it could be an oil leak but if you had no other indications before you arked it i would bet more that it was an animal looking to get out of the frigid weather.

good luck to you and please get it checked out by a tech.

Originally Posted by bten

There have been reports of an egr valve or something similar freezing up and building up pressure in the crankcase. I know it happened to a few X5's. I saw the temperature was 18 degrees. This may be what is happening. I would talk to a service advisor or your indy.

If I remember correctly, it was the cyclone oil separator that froze on them.

Originally Posted by blackonredZ4

Hey guys,

I drove the car yesterday twice after having it sitting in the garage for more than 1 month - including the Central Texas deep freeze - 18*F

Before I drove it, I let the engine warm up in the garage. Once I got to work there was some burning smell coming from the car - being late like always, I figured I'd check it later. Except for once reaching 6K RPMs - I didnt stress the engine too much on this drive.

I drove the car back home - 10 minute drive - same smell - this time I'm opening the bonnet and I see fumes coming out of the engine bay - as you can see in the video below.

This morning - I woke up early - checked the oil level - the gauge was soaked in oil. Cleaned it - and tried it again - same thing.

I turn on the engine - let it warm up - it started doing the same thing with the smoke coming out of the engine bay?

Any idea what this might be? Blown head gasket?

Thank you in advance.

M54 Engine?

Originally Posted by k.merkel

If I remember correctly, it was the cyclone oil separator that froze on them.

You are correct, I knew there was a freezing problem, just didn't remember where.

First of all - thank you to those that chimed in.

Here is an update.

The smoke is gone while the burning smell persisted. According to my friend the smell is oil burning smell.

I would like to believe it's just a case of a leaking valve cover gasket. While there were 18 degrees or lower outside, the car had been sitting in the garage.

When the engine was hot we took a mirror and looked at the valve cover gasket and saw some seapage. It's still baffling why there was so much smoke.

Maybe the gasket had contracted and let some more oil seep thru. Or maybe my car is suffering from this cold issue.

Few days in a row I checked the oil level dipstick before starting the engine in the morning and everytime it was soaked in oil - after cleaning and rechecking - it showed normal oil level. I suspected it was b/c of the way my car was sitting on the driveway - leaning towards the back. After I put it in the garage overnight where it was leveled the dipstick was no longer soaked in oil.

Regardless, I'll take the car to the shop today. The engine doesnt overheat and I dont see anything more than seapage.