Smokey 320 d

[brewster]

My wifes 320d touring has developed a James Bond style smoke screen when sitting idle for a while. When you drive off after sitting in traffic you get a blue smoke, but this clears after driving for a while. Is this a common thing that can be easily rectified?

[bigmanteebs]

Blue smoke = Bad. Whats the year and mileage?

[brewster]

2004 90,000 miles

[OllieWinchester]

Is it whistling any more than usual? Sounds like it could be the start of turbo failure, especially if its the original and it does a lot of short journeys.

[StuB]

I think threre's an oil feed which most leak slightly or it could just be pre-heaters knackered and it's pushing a lot of soot out.

Had this on my 320d for a quite a while now (more than a year). It's quite a smoke screen at start up but clears when warmed on mine.

[neiljohnson]

First thing to check is the oil breather filter in the panel on the cam cover, if this gets blocked it means bad news for your engine and can force oil past the turbo seals and in extreme conditions can cause engine failure. If you are ok with the spanners its a 10 min job to change the filter which is about £18 from the dealer.

[brewster]

Will try the filter and check the hoses too. Cheers

[crolandc]

Brewster, my car did the exact same as yours and it is indeed the filter that needs changing, the filter you need is the new type crankshaft/turbo breather which is about 35 quid from main agents.
You will have to take air filter off to get at it so not a 2minute job as you have to take the plastic cross pieces off (pollen filter housing)before you can remove air filter HTHs.

[brewster]

Thats this weekends job then! Cheers