White smoke on start up...

Hello,

I have a 2004 X3 with 87,000 miles on it...

Today I started it up and quite a bit of smoke blew out of the exhaust I turned the car off and looked and smelled around and found nothing ... I just had the oil separator hose/valve replaced, oil change, and the transfer case fluid flushed... I am getting ready to replace my expansion tank and upper radiator hose as well as a coolant flush....

Could any of this have a role in this smoke I just got this stuff fixed last week...

Any help is appreciated

Also I have no ses light showing up and my low coolant comes on when driving for a little bit ...oh and the ATF looks pretty low

Originally Posted by Kevingovro

.... and my low coolant comes on when driving for a little bit ...oh and the ATF looks pretty low

How do you know the ATF looks pretty low? No easy way to judge this that I know of.

Hopefully you haven't been driving too long on low coolant, and the white smoke is remaining junk from the oil separator issue.

Even with the oil change, I doubt all water in the engine gets purged right away.

Oh I just took the ATF cap off and it looks low

Originally Posted by Kevingovro

Oh I just took the ATF cap off and it looks low

That's the power steering reservoir!

Uses ATF but only up until model year '07 or '08 I think, then specific PS fluid.

Oh so what do I put in it or do I need to worry about it

If the fluid is up to the notch at the lower part of the dipstick when cold, no need to add anything.

If it's not, check for a leak, and top off with any good brand name Dexron III.

Probably worthwhile changing the fluid every few years.

Was it smoking before? How many miles? A leakdown and cylinder compression test would be recommended to eliminate head gasket or other internal issues.

It's never done it before

This morning I had another white smoke on start up... Any ideas?

I changed the coolant, expansion tank, upper radiator hose,ect last week car has been running great

This is the second time I have seem white smoke on start up since taking it to the deal and having the oil seperator valve replaced and transfer case fluid changed...

Why did you have the the oil separator replaced in the first place? White smoke can be a sign of oil separator, so I 'd take it back to the same place and have them double check their work.
As said before, it also could be the head gasket, have you noticed the coolant disappearing? is that the reason you changed the expansion tank and the radiator hose? Again, from here you'll need a leak down and compression test to be able to diagnose.

The old one had a large crack and was falling apart had it done at the dealer