n54 occasional blue smoke

[iEatSand]

Had a few issues with this car, started to notice some blue smoke today. Story goes...

Got in the car today around 11 in the morning to finish up some xmas shopping. Oil light low came on dash at around 12, I stopped and put about 2 quarts in, no funnel so i spilled quite a bit between the spark plugs/cylinders from the first quart, oops.

I drove and it was doing great no hiccups etc, up until around 230pm I started to notice blue smoke coming out of the exhaust. It wasn't an extreme amount, moreso happened during stop and go traffic, aswell as going up a hill.

The smoke only comes out when I stay at certain RPM's for X amount of time. When I'm taking off from a stop, there's about a 30% chance that it throws some blue smoke, when I'm going up a hill, there's about a 50-60% chance it throws blue smoke. There is no smoking at idle or at WOT.

I did do a valve-cover gasket job and I broke the PCV/crankcase breather hose. I taped it up but think it still could be causing a vacuum leak. I ordered a new part and plan on throwing it on when it gets here.

I'm wondering if I messed up the VGC install, or the PCV is the issue? My other thought was it only started happening after driving from topping the oil. It sounds absolutely mental, but is there a possibility that the spilled oil could've got somewhere and is causing the blue smoke?

Really hoping it isn't my valve guides/turbo/heads...

[Petro135]

2 qt's of oil is alot to put in. My buddy has a 335i and was blowing occasional blue smoke. Later he told me he overfilled the oil. Once he changed his oil and put the right amount in, it stopped. But I've not seen it first hand

[iEatSand]

Originally Posted by Petro135

2 qt's of oil is alot to put in. My buddy has a 335i and was blowing occasional blue smoke. Later he told me he overfilled the oil. Once he changed his oil and put the right amount in, it stopped. But I've not seen it first hand

Realistically with all that spilled it was moreso about 1.5quarts . Maybe I did overfill it a little and it's burning off? I should do a full oil change and see what it looks like.

I had towels around the oil cap so it didn't poor all over, but there was still a good amount that got around, cleaned it all up when i got home today.

[Petro135]

Love my car, I hate not having a dipstick

[Gangplank]

I believe when the light comes on it's indicating 1qt. low. Did you check the oil level via the on board diagnostic (using the left hand stalk on steering column)?

I'm thinking you overfilled it. I'd change my oil ASAP to an approved BMW LL-01 oil.

[dizzy619]

Originally Posted by Gangplank

I believe when the light comes on it's indicating 1qt. low. Did you check the oil level via the on board diagnostic (using the left hand stalk on steering column)?

I'm thinking you overfilled it. I'd change my oil ASAP to an approved BMW LL-01 oil.

ll-04 ?

[Dme3]

If you don't plan on changing oil every 2 years or 18k miles, the oil doesn't have to be LL-anything.

I switched to Liqui Moly 5w50 Molygen and will change it every 12 months / 6-7k miles / if it overheats on track.

[iEatSand]

I'll do an oil change tomorrow and see if that fixes it. If not I'm in for some diag on the issue.

Hopefully I did just overfill it, however the oil light would occasionally come on after driving it for long periods last week. That day it came on and stayed so I figured it was getting quite low, or maybe the sensor is bad/going bad.

[Gangplank]

Originally Posted by dizzy619

ll-04 ?

LL-01 for the E82.

I had an oil sensor go bad on me. It would read full one day. Quart low the next. Then 1/2, then next time I got in the car full or qt low.

Change it and see if that helps.

[Gangplank]

Originally Posted by Dme3

If you don't plan on changing oil every 2 years or 18k miles, the oil doesn't have to be LL-anything.

I switched to Liqui Moly 5w50 Molygen and will change it every 12 months / 6-7k miles / if it overheats on track.

Run whatever you like but there are reasons why bmw recommends LL-01 oil. I also change mine every 6-7,000 or 12 months, whichever comes first.

[iEatSand]

Went and bought some oil+filter for the car. Going to change it tomorrow. I've probably put 100miles on it since it started smoking and wont drive it anymore.

Odd thing is, the oil light came on again today. i'm thinking it is a faulty oil sensor and will update if the smoking issue has been fixed after the change.

Did I cause any damage to the engine having it overfull?

[iEatSand]

Changed the oil while back. No more smoke blowby. Seems like the oil sensor is acting up so will change it next oil change

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by iEatSand

Changed the oil while back. No more smoke blowby. Seems like the oil sensor is acting up so will change it next oil change

Mine was acting up and now it stopped. I guess it's still just acting up?

[iEatSand]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

Mine was acting up and now it stopped. I guess it's still just acting up?

Not sure, so far no low oil readings since the change which is a good sign lol. Just happy it isnt something major and was just me being a dingdong overfilling the oil

The sensors are cheap so I'll just pop a new one in next time I'm down there. I also deep cleaned the undercarriage from a leaky VGC, uncertain if it was just caked with oil, making me lose my marbles.