Engine Ruined

Yes. No. Maybe. Is that oil or sooty condensation? Are there other symptoms?

well i havent driven it since november, only started it up to keep the battery from dying since i dont have a tender. last time i started it up was a few weeks ago. i figured either the engine was ruined or it was sooty condensation from last time as it was pretty cold then too.

Originally Posted by chris328

well i havent driven it since november, only started it up to keep the battery from dying since i dont have a tender. last time i started it up was a few weeks ago. i figured either the engine was ruined or it was sooty condensation from last time as it was pretty cold then too.

It was 60 degrees a few days last month. What were you waiting for?

doubt its ruined, its not good to let cars set that long, I would definately be using gas stabilizer,
you need to let it run long enough to get the exhaust hot enough to evaporate all the moisture in the exhaust system.

thats normal, dont worry, unless you hear a lot of clanking from the engine bay

Hondo

As Hondo said, you need to run your engine regularly. At least once a week. Probably 2-3 times if it is freezing weather (as it has been in New ENgland). You gotta let that exhaust dry out or it will rust and you will be buying a new one. Also, you want to drive your car frontwards and backwards until the rust comes off the brakes.

Touch the stuff, does it look/smell like oil. If it's not oil then no worries. If it is oil, then get it checked out.

Perfect time to run that engine is to come up to the Climb to the Clouds event in NH this summer. We will have a post up in the next few days hopefully. It's our fifth annual and a fun fun time.

It is worse to run the car for a short time in winter than not at all. You need to get the oil hot enough to drive out any condensation. This can be done by driving it around or by letting it idle for a long time. My BMW tech buddy said he runs his for 45 minutes if he isn't going to drive it and just let it idle.

There might be another reason though...if you played some of your techno music in the car, maybe the car's ears are bleeding??

Originally Posted by ///M-ratedE90

There might be another reason though...if you played some of your techno music in the car, maybe the car's ears are bleeding??

Doubtful: It's German and therefore has a built-in predilection for techno. Rumor has it BMW AG sometimes tries to deny warranty coverage for audio component failures, citing the low techno content of American music as the cause.

Originally Posted by Zeichen311

Doubtful: It's German and therefore has a built-in predilection for techno. Rumor has it BMW AG sometimes tries to deny warranty coverage for audio component failures, citing the low techno content of American music as the cause.

Haha, Chris and I should prepare a special Techno mix for C2CV! . I quickly discovered the limitations of the standard audio system in the 328, thanks to German techno.

Back on topic, I thought I was bad with my weekly driving habit of 80 miles but this tops them all. Drive the car more often!

German Techno...Lady Gag...same crap, different language

Based on the splash pattern, it looks like water from combustion and condensation. Absolutely nothing to worry about.

Originally Posted by jburke4689

Based on the splash pattern, it looks like water from combustion and condensation. Absolutely nothing to worry about.

I agree with this diagnosis. Looks like normal water that is condensing at the tail pipe.

Also it is not unusual for a tiny bit of oil to get into the combustion chamber when a car sits for a while and this may produce a small amount of greyish smoke on start up, especially on older engines that have larger tolerances from wear on internal parts. Again this is "normal".

It would be a good idea to start the car and let it run, for around 30 minutes, every week or so if you're not driving it.

I had a 1996 Toyota Camry that would produce a bit of bluish smoke on start up even though it had only 30,000 miles on it. One or more of the fuel injectors was leaking a tiny bit of gas and it would burn off at start up. Eventually the car stopped doing this on its own after I began driving it more frequently.

The car had been my mother's and she almost never drove it. As I said, once I started driving it regularly the problem went away.

Cars are designed to be driven, not to sit for extended periods of time.