525 Td Se

[smooth]

hello
i have a 1997 525 td se E39. I've noticed that when I tend to accelerate at high revs I can see a gush of smoke coming out the rear. When the car is at a stable speed there aint a problem. Please advice. Is this normal for diesel.? Pls advice.

[sp0rky]

I believe for a diesel, this is pretty normal....


It really depends on the extent of the smoke though...

Diesels burn a lot more than just fuel unlike a gasoline engine.

[schilke]

Yeah, unfortunately, this is normal. Have you owned it from the beginning?

The reason I ask, is all engines smoke under acceleration because they weren't properly cared for. Proper fluid changes, maintenance, adjustment, etc...

Mainly the smoke is caused by incomplete combustion and leaky exhaust valves.

There isn't a 1990's chrylser product running around my neighborhood that dosent let out a big smelly puff of blue smoke when pulling away from a red light.

Buy your self a good diesel compatible fuel injector cleaner or de-carbonizer and see if that helps.

[billB]

Sporky/Schilke

It seems that the above remarks on the diesel engine come mainly from the fact that diesel engines (in the past) did attack our eyes with a huge amount of black smoke coupled with a smelly offending odor to our olfactory cranial nerve. This is NOT true with modern diesel engine any more. No less 1997 BMW diesel!!
Diesel engines are very similar (if not better) to the gas engines in terms of horsepower and fine tuning. In fact they are stronger in their torque and of course their fuel economy. Have you driven a BMW 530D lately? MB Diesel? Audi diesel? I Trust you will fall in love with ALL of them and choose them over their Gasoline engine sisters.
Let us take a quick look:

In Europe the 530d can do 0-100Km in 7.3 seconds, and max out at 243km/h. Armed with these numbers; any BMW Gasoline engine with 3.0 will definitely stumble over and salute the diesel in respect.
The compression ratio? Just about double the gasoline engine and hence higher MPG than gas. Impressed? No? Then look at this
A. Our sixth gear is an overdrive in our Gas 5-Series, while on the diesel- Full speed is the byproduct of the TOP GEAR because of its lower (but stronger) revs.
B. As Schilke said the old/historical knock of a diesel was caused by the sudden impact of fuel hitting compressed air in the cylinder (remember no spark plugs) In the new BMW diesel and thanks to the electronic PILOT INJECTION giving more combustion and thus less knocking plus effeciency.

P.s Europeans pay double/triple what we pay for Gas in the US and a I bit you if the gallon of gas hits the $5-$7 mark here you will be witnessing a massive migration from Gas to diesel ever recorded in the history of the US. Is this far fetched?
Regards
Billb

[BeelZibub]

Ever heard of "OIL BURNERS" - That's our chosen name for the deisel car - why??? cos they burn a lot of oil and throw half of it out the back in a nice big cloud of smoke. Bill is right BMW (and most modern diesel engines) don't have as much of a problem with this BUT schilke is also right they require high levels of service and particularly oil changes must be carried out regularly.

The problem with diesels is everybody is of the opinion you can't harm them, therefore everybody thrashes the nuts off them everywhere they go - believe me this then DOES damage them, often resulting in them burning MORE oil and giving out more of the 007 type black screening smoke. If you are just getting a little puff of smoke as you pop her down a gear and smash the throttle through the floor (as most diesel drivers do) I wouldn't worry, it's just a sign of her age. If their is a LITTLE more oil slipping past the rings this can often be made better by using HOLTS "STOP SMOKE" which you can buy from halfords and just increases the viscosity of the oil to stop seapage.

I would recommend a good service too including the injectors themselves - HERE'S A LINE FOR BMWBABY - I used to work in a lab type environment as a "Bosch Diesel Diagnostic Technician", testing, repairing and refitting diesel injectors and pumps - The state of some injectors was unreal - instead of spraying an atomised mist of fuel into the cylinder they squirted it in like a tap, this results in lots of unburnt fuel being thrown out of the back end (plus loss of power etc.)
and nice big clouds of smoke!

PS Bill I took a 530d touring (or wagon as you would call it - crazy americans :lol: ) for a very short run the other day and it ran as sweet as pie! Usually with a diesel you put your foot on the throttle and eventually the car thinks about it then slowly raises the revs - the BMW WOW this engine revved as freely as my 2.5ltr petrol and convinced me that if I ever buy another e39 it will def. be a 530d- without doubt (1.2 sec quicker 0-60 + 12 mpg more plus a simple chip upgrade can give these things "45" more horsepower - why wouldn't I want one?).

PPS you really DON'T know how good you have it over there do you - the last time I calculated it the price of fuel here in the UK was "6" timies the price in the US!!!!!!!!!

[billB]

BEELZ
AS ALWAYS pleasure hearing from you
billb