Webasto = smelly white smoke?

[RenoHuskerDu]

Hello everyone.

I live in France but grew up in the US. I'm a software marketing guy. My first BMW was a 1967 1602, and I've had a lot of good ones since. I once had an E32 750iSport when we lived near Paris, before all the speed enforcement started. Fun! Now I drive an E70 40d LCI with almost every option on it that was offered in 2011. We bought it off lease 5 months ago. It came from far northern Germany. My wife does not drive it. That's another story.

Since the weather turned cold, I get some white smoke from the tailpipes shortly after startup. It lasts for about 3-4 minutes. I have also noticed a distinct odor of diesel fuel before the smoke starts. The smoke smells like paraffin. This concerned me as N57 injectors can develop leaks, so I scheduled a service appt at my unfriendly local French dealer. There was no hope of getting me in for 2 weeks, but if I cross the border into Deutschland they can check it Monday morning.

But tonight something interesting happened. I decided to run the Webasto while shopping. Lo and behold, that same white smoke started coming out of the tailpipes (so much that some alarmist frog called the firemen). It seems that my Webasto has an automatic start feature that makes it fire up on cold weather start without me pushing the button on the remote. Perhaps the Webasto has been making the smoke, and I have no other problem than an adjustment of its burner.

Apparently the Webasto is a rare option on the E70 because the N57 warms up faster than the M57 did, and it costs $1500. I'm hoping that one of you has experienced a similar issue.

Does anybody know how to configure the Webasto so it won't come on unless I use the remote.

Reno, France
X5 40d
(ignore the WV remote in this pic)

[blue dragon]

Not sure, but the US spec cars do not have a webasto

[RenoHuskerDu]

Originally Posted by blue dragon

Not sure, but the US spec cars do not have a webasto

While lurking I saw it mentioned in a thread. It may have been very rare. Canuckistan is in the frosty north?

[Diesel X5]

I know several people that have the Webosto and the Espar heaters and some of them blow a lot of white smoke on start up but eventually it subsides.
From what i understand that they have timers that they can set for say one or two hrs before they start their diesels in the morning to warm things up.I tried to get one in Calgary AB last winter but BMW said they only have them for gasoline engines. As i would have thought they were only for diesel engines.Now i think the timer is an option for the Webasto which is lots of $$ but they do come with an on/off switch,so it sounds like yours maybe in the on position.I hope you can find out from the dealer with just a phone call. I would be interested in knowing. Good Luck

[mitch808]

Before today, i have never heard that word or seen it written in my life. Webasto. It has a nice ring to it. ^o^

[RenoHuskerDu]

I'm at the dealership right now in Germany getting it checked out. The place is clean, everyone is friendly, free coffee and wifi. Just what you'd expect. France is really a waste land for customer service.

[P1]

Originally Posted by RenoHuskerDu

I'm at the dealership right now in Germany getting it checked out. The place is clean, everyone is friendly, free coffee and wifi. Just what you'd expect. France is really a waste land for customer service.

Same can be said for Belgian dealers mate... My cousin is actually afraid of going into the dealerships because "you shouldn't be in there unless you're there to buy something". Awful.

[RenoHuskerDu]

I found bad news this morning. I looked under the car while it was smoking and saw the cause: raw diesel on the exhaust heat shields. The Webasto is somehow dumping fuel onto the exhaust system. There are traces of diesel on the back of the car.

Had I known I would have left them the car yesterday. Now I have to get it back to them soon. It seems like a fire risk to me.

The problem only occurs on cold start, after sitting several hours in the 30s Fahrenheit.