Black Smoke.. Need Help!!!

[BIMMER19]

Hi,

I Have A 2.0i M50 Engine In My Bmw And On The Way To Work This Morning I Noticed A Litle Bit Of Black Smoke From My Exhaust... Wen I Got To Work I Had A Quik Look At The Block But It Looks Clean With No Oil Leaks That I Can See. Obviously I Havent Crosed Out The Possibility Of The Head Gasket Gone But Need Help On Other Things That Could Cause This..

Sum1 Please Help Me Coz I Need To Get It Sorted Asap

[dannyb]

running too rich?

[darkhorse737]

when was last tune-up? plugs, air filter, change oil?

I suggest you check the color of the burn on your plugs, and do a compression check.

Black plugs, good compression = burning rich(i.e. not enough air)
Black plugs, low compression = rings or valve problems

Brown or grey colored plugs.... you are fine!

...then consider also, black smoke in the morning may jst have been caused by ur cold start valve doing or "overdoing" it's job ;-)

[darkhorse737]

Possibility Of The Head Gasket Gone But Need Help On Other Things That Could Cause This..

Head gasket gone bad - you would have WHITE smoke just like steam :-)

[Bimmer M.D.]

A 2.0 with an M50 engine? What year is it, and what model, specifically?

[BIMMER19]

its a '93 but the bad fing is that when i changed the air filter it was runnning better and there was no more black smoke so i guess dat was making my car run rich.. but when i went to chnge the spark plugs i put the socket ion the plug and pulled it back out before i undun the spark plug and it was covered in oil i checked the rest of them and there was oil around 2 of them .... does any 1 know how this happened?? bare in mind it was on the top half of the plug that is not in the cylinders

[darkhorse737]

Originally Posted by BIMMER19

its a '93 but the bad fing is that when i changed the air filter it was runnning better and there was no more black smoke so i guess dat was making my car run rich.. but when i went to chnge the spark plugs i put the socket ion the plug and pulled it back out before i undun the spark plug and it was covered in oil i checked the rest of them and there was oil around 2 of them .... does any 1 know how this happened?? bare in mind it was on the top half of the plug that is not in the cylinders

cylinder head cover gasket leaking at the spak plug o-ring seal if the top half of your spark plug is covered in oil. :-)

[BIMMER19]

yer thanks took the rocker cover off and the spark plug gaskets.. the 'o' gaskets were broken, changed them and no more oil cheap and easy fix