Blue Smoke when cold

I've got a 1983 bmw 533i that I just bought for $1,400. The car is in good condition but when I start it cold I get some blue smoke. I talked to a mechanic at my school and he says it probably has something to do with the valves. Can someone please tell me what it needs and what the cost of the fix will be? Thanks

Also, If i pull out the dipstick when its running the idle drops down a bit, then when I put it back in the idle raises again. Is that related to the valves?

The smoke means you need a head rebuild or another head because your seals are going and it is burning oil. As to the dip stick, you are loosing vacuum when you take it out, so it should run badly. Sorry to have to say that. How many miles?


Andy

Originally Posted by south26

The smoke means you need a head rebuild or another head because your seals are going and it is burning oil. As to the dip stick, you are loosing vacuum when you take it out, so it should run badly. Sorry to have to say that. How many miles?


Andy

like 165k or something. The car reads 273k except the engine was replaced recently with one that has 160 and it was barley driven after that. Damn, I might have to buy your extra head off of you. I'm gonna get a few more people to check it out to make sure it was the head then ill get back to you. also, let me know when my package ships!

Ya get the head checked it should not be blowing blue smoke with only that amount of miles on it. Are you sure about the amount of miles that were on the engine? These engines should be good for at least 300,000 miles.


Andy

Originally Posted by south26

Ya get the head checked it should not be blowing blue smoke with only that amount of miles on it. Are you sure about the amount of miles that were on the engine? These engines should be good for at least 300,000 miles.


Andy

Yeah I have the odometer from the car that the engine came with. And the engine runs perfect and starts right up and has tons of power just right after it starts it blows the thin blue whitish smoke for like 20-30 seconds. It doesn't even smell the least bit like burnt oil it actually smells more like coolant.... has that sweet smell to it. Its hard to describe it smells like an old muscle cars exhaust. and also if I look closely at the exhaust i can see liquid that looks like gas or water dripping out a bit. One more thing if i rev it way up then just let off i can get an occasional flame out of the exhaust for some reason... I gotta get this fixed though!

Some of the smaller e28/e30 motors suffered premature valve guide wear,none of mine did,but it's not usual for the 3.3 and 3.5 motors as they are very strong.
Make sure you are running an oil thats suits the age of the motor,modern oils can be too thin for these motors as they are an old design.
If it's not too bad I would'nt worry too much it's when the car smokes continually you have to do something.
All cars get condensation in the exhaust on cold start-up,but if you think it's coolant keep an eye on the level in your coolant tank,if it drops you have a problem.

Probably means that you have worn or hardened valve guide seals. The only problem is that doing it requires head disassembly and or that you will need the Bentley repair manual.