X6m blowing smoke on boost

[pdxpeter]

Got a 2011 X6m with the S63, catless DPs and a tune. She burns a bit of oil, 1qt every 2k miles or so. No puffs on startup usually and I only really notice the exhaust tips getting dirty and a light oil burn smell from the exhaust.

I can't see any smoke at idle or normal driving. Even on boost I dont see anything in the rear view. However, a motorcyclist (on a BMW no less) caught up with me and let me know I had shot out a decent plume when I got on it.

From what I understand the S63 doesn't generally have valve seal issues and would more likely be the turbo seals. She runs perfectly otherwise.

Curious what others with this motor have run into and what my options might be. I dont really want to sink upgrade money into the aging car. Does anyone know if rebuilt turbo cartridges are available?

[laselvasurf]

Originally Posted by pdxpeter

Got a 2011 X6m with the S63, catless DPs and a tune. She burns a bit of oil, 1qt every 2k miles or so. No puffs on startup usually and I only really notice the exhaust tips getting dirty and a light oil burn smell from the exhaust.

I can't see any smoke at idle or normal driving. Even on boost I dont see anything in the rear view. However, a motorcyclist (on a BMW no less) caught up with me and let me know I had shot out a decent plume when I got on it.

From what I understand the S63 doesn't generally have valve seal issues and would more likely be the turbo seals. She runs perfectly otherwise.

Curious what others with this motor have run into and what my options might be. I dont really want to sink upgrade money into the aging car. Does anyone know if rebuilt turbo cartridges are available?

How many miles are on the motor?

From what I've seen valve seal issues are a relatively common problem with the S63s. Are you seeing any lighter colored smoke when you accelerate after the vehicle has idled for a minute or two?

As for turbo rebuilds, I just had mine rebuilt by Turbo Lab of America for $650/each. I have yet to put them back in as my engine is also getting rebuilt by Ghassan after a rod bearing failure.

[pdxpeter]

Originally Posted by laselvasurf

How many miles are on the motor?

From what I've seen valve seal issues are a relatively common problem with the S63s. Are you seeing any lighter colored smoke when you accelerate after the vehicle has idled for a minute or two?

As for turbo rebuilds, I just had mine rebuilt by Turbo Lab of America for $650/each. I have yet to put them back in as my engine is also getting rebuilt by Ghassan after a rod bearing failure.

112,000 miles. I dont see any smoke at all at idle. I can smell the oil being burned but dont really see anything coming out of the tail pipe. Even the build up on the tail pipes isn't bad, just noticeable. Not enough to even stick to the bumper.

$650 is pretty good. About how long did it take them?

[laselvasurf]

Originally Posted by pdxpeter

112,000 miles. I dont see any smoke at all at idle. I can smell the oil being burned but dont really see anything coming out of the tail pipe. Even the build up on the tail pipes isn't bad, just noticeable. Not enough to even stick to the bumper.

$650 is pretty good. About how long did it take them?

Have you checked the turbo vent tubes on the top of the motor?

I'm still waiting to get the turbos back, they've had them for a week and told me the turn around time would be 2 weeks.

[heatmizr]

Peter, I can't tell from your post if you are doing the valve stem seal idle test correctly. Its not during idle that you would ever see smoke, its after idling for a good 4-5 mins, then stomp on it. The oil accumulates during idle and then gets burned under accel.
Just checking.
Look for other post on here somewhere by Sophisticated Redneck, I think he also advised someone to check their turbo return lines to see if they are clogged (check for yourself, I don't know that I understand it 100%).

[Dave00]

Originally Posted by laselvasurf

How many miles are on the motor?

From what I've seen valve seal issues are a relatively common problem with the S63s. Are you seeing any lighter colored smoke when you accelerate after the vehicle has idled for a minute or two?

As for turbo rebuilds, I just had mine rebuilt by Turbo Lab of America for $650/each. I have yet to put them back in as my engine is also getting rebuilt by Ghassan after a rod bearing failure.

S63 - shouldn't the 2011 have the N63 motor? Also, wasn't the valve seal issues mostly related to the N63 and not the S63 as that was resolved in the next gen motor. OP - There was a lawsuit for the N63 and you should be able to get the valve seals replaced under this class action settlement at a dealer, but since you are over 100K, I believe there is a prorated mileage for the repair.

Here's a link:

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-...on-settlement/

[Dave00]

I correct myself as the S63 motor did come in the M and the N63's were solely in the 50i. However, the S63 doesn't have the same valve seal issues as that was definitely the N63. Check your turbo lines as they can get gunked up and cause excessive oil consumption.

[pearlpower]

As posted above, let it sit 5 minutes then give some gas, if it were the valve stem seals, you will know. Sounds to me that your oil return lines are clogged.

[TwinSnailz]

It’s not uncommon for vehicle to dump fuel during pedal to the metal environment. Rich fuel will create some black smoke. A bystander will see smoke as just smoke. A person that knows about engine can distinguish different color smoke. Oil burnt smoke will create a longer lasting smoke that you can be able to see behind your mirrors as they are brighter(bluish)than rich fuel(darker soot)smoke.

Like others have said , do the idle test for your valve seals.
S63 runs much cooler than n63. Oil temperature hovers around less than 210 vs 250 range in the n63.

[pdxpeter]

Originally Posted by TwinSnailz

It’s not uncommon for vehicle to dump fuel during pedal to the metal environment. Rich fuel will create some black smoke. A bystander will see smoke as just smoke. A person that knows about engine can distinguish different color smoke. Oil burnt smoke will create a longer lasting smoke that you can be able to see behind your mirrors as they are brighter(bluish)than rich fuel(darker soot)smoke.

Like others have said , do the idle test for your valve seals.
S63 runs much cooler than n63. Oil temperature hovers around less than 210 vs 250 range in the n63.

Thats what I thought. Ive seen lighter blueish smoke on startup once and that was after an abrupt stop. It was just a puff too.

Ill try to get to the idle test later today.

Hopefully its just the return line being a punk. That would be nice

[Sophisticated Redneck]

As others mentioned could be oil return lines getting clogged but another failure point is the two way check valves that blocks boost from hitting the crankcase. If these fail, your crankcase will become pressurized and can cause smoking under prolonged periods of boost. Easiest way to check is to buyan extra oil cap, pickup a boost/vac gauge, drill a small hole in th cap and run the line/sender to it. Then drive it and see what it does..or just replace all the ccv lines that contain the check valves and see if it makes a difference

[pdxpeter]

Originally Posted by Sophisticated Redneck

As others mentioned could be oil return lines getting clogged but another failure point is the two way check valves that blocks boost from hitting the crankcase. If these fail, your crankcase will become pressurized and can cause smoking under prolonged periods of boost. Easiest way to check is to buyan extra oil cap, pickup a boost/vac gauge, drill a small hole in th cap and run the line/sender to it. Then drive it and see what it does..or just replace all the ccv lines that contain the check valves and see if it makes a difference

Fortunately I just replaced all the CCV lines. Wasn't planning on it but they fell apart when I replaced the plugs.

Did the valve seal test. Idled for a couple minutes and goosed it from a standstill. Nice light blue plume hovered where I was once parked. Nothing else tho and it didn't last any longer than the moment.

What is the behavior for a clogged oil line?

[yco]

did he say what color was the smoke?
since you dont have cats some smoke should be normal as long as its not white..

[Sophisticated Redneck]

Originally Posted by pdxpeter

Fortunately I just replaced all the CCV lines. Wasn't planning on it but they fell apart when I replaced the plugs.

Did the valve seal test. Idled for a couple minutes and goosed it from a standstill. Nice light blue plume hovered where I was once parked. Nothing else tho and it didn't last any longer than the moment.

What is the behavior for a clogged oil line?

Clogged lines will cause extreme oil consumption..when mine clogged I was burning a quart every 150 miles, oil was dripping out of the diverter valves and if you took off the air ntakes to the turbos, oil was everywhere. Shot turbo seals will produce similar symptoms although not as extreme. When I pulled my lines, they were completely coked up. Whoever had the car before me must have used crap oil. They run right next to your exhaust manifolds so there is zero tolerance for crap oil, also wrap your lines In a heat shield if you replace them (I wrappe my exhaust manifolds too but that's easier to do in a n63 then s63 as your manifolds are quite a bit different

[pdxpeter]

Originally Posted by Sophisticated Redneck

Clogged lines will cause extreme oil consumption..when mine clogged I was burning a quart every 150 miles, oil was dripping out of the diverter valves and if you took off the air ntakes to the turbos, oil was everywhere. Shot turbo seals will produce similar symptoms although not as extreme. When I pulled my lines, they were completely coked up. Whoever had the car before me must have used crap oil. They run right next to your exhaust manifolds so there is zero tolerance for crap oil, also wrap your lines In a heat shield if you replace them (I wrappe my exhaust manifolds too but that's easier to do in a n63 then s63 as your manifolds are quite a bit different

Good to know. Engine is generally pretty clean aside from the old cracked CCV lines dribbling oil in some places. So far its just the light blue puff off the line.
I think at this point Im trying to figure out if its something to worry about or not. Doesn't sound like turbo seals or clogged lines. Its not really burning that much oil.

Another point of mention, only the outer exhaust tip gets noticeably dirty.

[0-60Motorsports]

So if your turbo feed lines are clogged, what do you do? remove them and clean them during an oil change? I will be installing my DP's soon and if need be i wouldnt mind doing this then.

[Sophisticated Redneck]

Originally Posted by 0-60Motorsports

So if your turbo feed lines are clogged, what do you do? remove them and clean them during an oil change? I will be installing my DP's soon and if need be i wouldnt mind doing this then.

I recommend you just replace them. Cleaning them takes hours due to how they are designed and you can never get them 100 percent. They are not to pricey if memory serves, around 80 dollars each.

[0-60Motorsports]

Originally Posted by Sophisticated Redneck

I recommend you just replace them. Cleaning them takes hours due to how they are designed and you can never get them 100 percent. They are not to pricey if memory serves, around 80 dollars each.

i am only at 60 something thousand kms.... I did notice car was blowing some dark smoke on hard acceleration but not too much. I always prefer to preventative maintenance.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_4386

Are we talking about replacing 5, 6 and 7 in the above diagram?

[Sophisticated Redneck]

Originally Posted by 0-60Motorsports

i am only at 60 something thousand kms.... I did notice car was blowing some dark smoke on hard acceleration but not too much. I always prefer to preventative maintenance.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_4386

Are we talking about replacing 5, 6 and 7 in the above diagram?

Yep 5 & 6 are the returns. 7 is your oil feed, normally it's ok as it's farther away from the exhaust so I would only replace If you just want all new parts as preventative.Don't forget the gaskets for the return lines (number 12) and if you do the oil feed line it uses 3 crush washers, get extra as they are so easy to lose.

Since your in Bahrain, your temps are alot like here in Arizona and probably is a good idea to replace them all (I replaced everything too). Not to many places in the world like where we live subjects these twin turbo engines to 118+ temps. The design was border line before but toss in some extreme ambient temps and stop & go traffic and it's enough to wear everything out that much faster and boil the oil in the return lines. I added some extra heat sheilding to mine you might want to do too.

[0-60Motorsports]

Originally Posted by Sophisticated Redneck

Yep 5 & 6 are the returns. 7 is your oil feed, normally it's ok as it's farther away from the exhaust so I would only replace If you just want all new parts as preventative.Don't forget the gaskets for the return lines (number 12) and if you do the oil feed line it uses 3 crush washers, get extra as they are so easy to lose.

Since your in Bahrain, your temps are alot like here in Arizona and probably is a good idea to replace them all not to many places in the world like where we live subjects these twin turbo engines to 118+ temps

That is great info. Thanks. The only thing i see is there are two different parts for 5 and two for 6. shall i get all four?

[Sophisticated Redneck]

Originally Posted by 0-60Motorsports

That is great info. Thanks. The only thing i see is there are two different parts for 5 and two for 6. shall i get all four?

Ya grab all four and since your in there, grab the oil return cover (#13) they connect to. It's not to expensive and will take only minutes to change when you have everything already out and they tend to start leaking around 80-100k

[0-60Motorsports]

Originally Posted by Sophisticated Redneck

Ya grab all four and since your in there, grab the oil return cover (#13) they connect to. It's not to expensive and will take only minutes to change when you have everything already out and they tend to start leaking around 80-100k

Awesome! Sounds good! Thank you.