E92 N54 possible headgasket?

General.Massacre

Corporal
May 14, 2018
231
65
0
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2009 E92 335i DCT
Hi all.
Ive done some research, but i cant find exactly what im asking.

Most here will know that ive had smoking issues on my car, and i closed the old thread as resolved from it being turbos.
However... ...
I have noticed that the car still does smoke, now when i say smoke, i really cant differentiate between white or grey. and the "smoke" only happens when im pushing the car harder than normal daily driving, if i drive my normal daily routine, then i get no smoke.
I do have the car completely back to stock form, including OEM Downpipes, so i assume the Cats are doing their job.
on a hard drive, i see some droplets inside the exhaust tips.

This brings me to my reason for this thread, i went on advice from a friend to have the ?headgasket tested with that blue chemical test on the coolant tank.
took a bit, but just before the fan came on, the liquid changed to Yellow.
Prior tot he Chemical test, they did a pressure test, and the system held pressure. no leaks.
they said the HG leak could be very slight, perhaps from the Cylinder to the water channel on one of the cylinders, or between 2 of them.
I am not losing water at a rapid rate, i may have to top up maybe once a month or slightly longer.
There is no mayo/milkshake in my coolant tank or oil cap.

My question to the pro's, is could the "smoke" in fact be steam, and the leak be so small that only when pushing the car harder than normal draw some coolant through the HG leak?

Ive read threads where a guy a had a leak, he backed off the head studs a little, left it for a while, then torqued them back down and never leaked again.

Ive also read threads on overboosting, as ages ago when i first started pushing the car, my car was overboosting to 28psi when my system was only requesting 20psi. i eventually fixed that issue, but could the damage have been done during this time.

I know any responses here would be speculation, and we would only really know once pulling the head. but i have been through 3 sets of turbos, and the car still smokes, so if it is the HG, perhaps its been my issue all along, and ive been assuming turbos all this time,

So i thought id rack your brains, as im just thinking on ways a small HG leak could draw coolant into teh combustion system, however slight it may be.

I do not get smoke/steam on start up.
i do not get misfire while driving, i do however feel a VERY slight stumble when idling, but its so so so slight.
No codes.

Thanks in advance gentleman.

Justin
South Africa
 

doublespaces

Administrator
Oct 18, 2016
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AZ
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2009 E93 335i
This is on an N54? If you're losing water at all, then I'd say it could be steam but you may have a combination of issues? Did you ever figure this out?
 

General.Massacre

Corporal
May 14, 2018
231
65
0
Ride
2009 E92 335i DCT
This is on an N54? If you're losing water at all, then I'd say it could be steam but you may have a combination of issues? Did you ever figure this out?
Hi DS.
no not solved yet.
busy saving up for the headgasket job.
Car is not losing coolant really. And no milkshake in the oil cap or coolant bottle.
At first I thought I have worn piston rings. But I have no sign of oil on my spark plugs.
no sign of fuel on spark plugs either.
So no idea why I get smoke after a hard drive and it’s not bad. I just see a puff out the back after I been driving hard then look in the mirror and see some smoke. But I do believe the stock Downpipes is catching the majority.
So not sure if I should just get the HG done for maintenance and inspect when it’s off. But don’t want to waste money either.
im very unsure right now.
 

General.Massacre

Corporal
May 14, 2018
231
65
0
Ride
2009 E92 335i DCT
I'm wondering if this could be related to issues with the PCV system?

Filippo
Hi Filippo

I thought the same, and the following was done:
New Valve Cover + Gasket (Includes new OEM PCV)
New Crank Case Vent Valve (Flapper pipe next to PCV)
New BMS/RB PCV and Billet PCV Cap.

none of the above made any change from what i saw.

I do not have a OCC, ive been advised a few times that its always good to have, so perhaps its time i got one to see if it makes a difference.
 

zomski101

Private
Dec 28, 2019
47
8
0
Ride
335i
I had similar smoke out the back when coming to a hard stop and then accelerating, saw a puff of whitish smoke. Also when the rpms dropped to 550 rpm on the tach I felt small random stubbles, like misfires. Turns out timing was slightly off, but I also replaced injectors at that time. If you have bought the injectors from fcpeuro id replace them first.
 

General.Massacre

Corporal
May 14, 2018
231
65
0
Ride
2009 E92 335i DCT
That makes a good point Zomski.
Ive been considering to do the Injector test to check for leaks.
I do get a slight stumbling at idle, and have read that leaky/clogged injectors could be an attribute.