[Shyzah]

Car - 2009 335i n54
Dumping white/gray smoke out one of the exhausts only. Before it was just for 5-10 minutes when things got warm after a cold start or warm start after sitting for a bit but now it's constant.

There is oil all in the bank 1 (front turbo) downpipe. However, the oil comes from before the turbo. (btw, my turbos are vargas OEM turbos with 20k miles)

I took the turbos off and found that all bank 1 exhaust ports were shiny as if they had been burning oil, whereas all bank 2 cylinders were nice and dry.

I've done a lot of diagnosing and still have no solid answer.

What I've done: Valve cover (metal one now), valve cover gasket (twice), compression test (170psi all around), checked turbos for shaft play (they're both the same), checked pcv flapper, replaced pcv valve three times (now running RB valve).

I have to put oil in the car every 1k ish miles.

Could the problem be valve stem seals? They all look the same.
Also, could there be some sort of plugged pcv system? The gasket originally was torn from the inside part of the valve cover.

Could the pcv system be clogged in the metal valve cover?
I just don't get how only the first three cylinders would be puffing smoke if it was a PCV issue.

This is what all three bank 1 cylinder exhaust ports look like:
n54 oily exhaust by Shyzah, on Flickr
This is what all three bank 2 cylinder exhaust ports look like:
n54 oily exhaust by Shyzah, on Flickr
This is how the front turbo exhaust manifold looks (dark & shiny):
n54 oily exhaust by Shyzah, on Flickr
This is how rear turbo exhaust manifold looks (not that dark and dry):
n54 oily exhaust by Shyzah, on Flickr

[drymite]

How many miles on the engine.. are you running full catless
exhaust ?
Im also trying to figure out a intermittent smoking issue on my 2007 335i ... im at around 15k miles on my turbos(rebuilt by me with OE spec CHRA. but i have been avoiding dropping the subframe and looking at my valves.

My engine is 293000km i was reading many post about Rbs external PCV system that seems to solve lots of smoking issues on higher milage vehicles

[Shyzah]

120k miles on my engine. I have secondary cats and Remus mufflers.
Do you get smoke on deceleration? Mines seems to be only idle/acceleration

Originally Posted by drymite

How many miles on the engine.. are you running full catless
exhaust ?
Im also trying to figure out a intermittent smoking issue on my 2007 335i ... im at around 15k miles on my turbos(rebuilt by me with OE spec CHRA. but i have been avoiding dropping the subframe and looking at my valves.

My engine is 293000km i was reading many post about Rbs external PCV system that seems to solve lots of smoking issues on higher milage vehicles

[drymite]

It doesn't not smoke on decel... only at idle and boosting for the first 5 mins of driving then all is fine but im also adding the same amount of oil roughly but i have a leak at my rear main seal.

We do both share that same. Exhaust setup more or less i have Catless Dps but i still got my secondarys and mufflers.

[Shyzah]

Interesting, I've got the same symptoms, they just got so bad overtime to where I stopped driving the car. Let me know if you figure it out. Someone suggested that my turbo is leaking so much that the smoke is oilying up the exhaust ports because of back pressure but I really don't see any obvious signs of fresh oil seeping past the turbo.

Originally Posted by drymite

It doesn't not smoke on decel... only at idle and boosting for the first 5 mins of driving then all is fine but im also adding the same amount of oil roughly but i have a leak at my rear main seal.

We do both share that same. Exhaust setup more or less i have Catless Dps but i still got my secondarys and mufflers.

[drymite]

With my experience with blown turbos it would smoke consistently and in idle -park if you hold the revs at 1100 rpm for 30 seconds you would puff heavy smoke covering the whole car. At least thats how it was when my stock turbos blew.... for me currently after the car gets to around 120F oil temp i dont get anysmoke even if i hold the rpms at 1100 in park which is why im leaning towards the rb pcv upgrade isnt enough and that i may need a external pcv. I will update you with what I figure out

[Shyzah]

Does your car currently smoke out of one exhaust pipe or both? Im assuming that your exhaust pipes don't connect after the turbos.

Originally Posted by drymite

With my experience with blown turbos it would smoke consistently and in idle -park if you hold the revs at 1100 rpm for 30 seconds you would puff heavy smoke covering the whole car. At least thats how it was when my stock turbos blew.... for me currently after the car gets to around 120F oil temp i dont get anysmoke even if i hold the rpms at 1100 in park which is why im leaning towards the rb pcv upgrade isnt enough and that i may need a external pcv. I will update you with what I figure out

[drymite]

They connect. I mainly get smoke from the left side