[Zamorskii]

Hello.

My wife's 2012 328i with 65k miles puffs out quite a bit of smoke when I first start it cold. I recently had to replace a thermostat and did see some oil buildup in the intake manifold so I am assuming it gets there through turbo side. Is this basically a sign of soon to come turbo rebuild or is there anything else I can look at to maybe correct the situation? The car itself runs and drives just fine, no noticeable engine power loss.

The video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnxb2RqW3A

[Billfitz]

There's more than one source for oil making it's way into the cylinders. Could be the turbos, could be valve stem seals. It's not rings, they wouldn't account for oil accumulating when the engine is shut down, and the smoke would be there all the time.

[torkles]

could be turbo seals or valve stem seals like dude above me said.

is there a pcv system on this car that could be causing some oil to accumulate?

[rak299]

I vote for valve stem seals. In that case, I might also expect smoke if going down a prolonged decline with your foot off the gas. (high engine vacuum)

[Sniper101]

Turbo seals

[eluded]

I hope it's cheap fix

[Dave340]

You maybe covered under warranty. I had a 2012 328i with N20 engine and received a Limited Warranty letter regarding, "Engine Oil Feed Line to the turbocharger." The warranty was extended for 10yrs/120K miles. I was the original owner and received this letter after I sold the vehicle, so if you are the second owner you may not have received such a letter. There is also discussions about this issue here are two I found.

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...oke+cold+start

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...ht=white+smoke

[Zamorskii]

Originally Posted by Dave328

You maybe covered under warranty. I had a 2012 328i with N20 engine and received a Limited Warranty letter regarding, "Engine Oil Feed Line to the turbocharger." The warranty was extended for 10yrs/120K miles. I was the original owner and received this letter after I sold the vehicle, so if you are the second owner you may not have received such a letter. There is also discussions about this issue here are two I found.

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...oke+cold+start

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...ht=white+smoke

I'm not the original owner, but I did transfer the car under my name with the BMW NA. I believe I recall seeing something about the turbo line. May look into that with my SA.