FormerC32Owner

I was wondering if it's normal for white smoke to come billowing out of the exhaust when you floor the E550? There's no burning smell or anything like that afterwards. So I don't know if it's smoke, or a big cloud of steam.

I mean - I like dusting the guy behind me, but that big of a production is a little concerning.

Have any of you E550 owners notice that happening?

sgaar

Mileage?

emilner

Usually white smoke means a blown head gasket, but I have seen it from my car as well. It is mostly unburnt gas and carbon deposits that are forced out of the exhaust. I would not be too worried unless you see it when you are just idling....

Barry45RPM

"I had that condition in my 2004 E500*". It was never diagnosed. If I drove for an hour, stopped at a rest stop for 20 minutes & left the rest stop & reentered the insterstate at just the right brisk acceleration & engine speed, I would dump such vast amounts of white smoke behind me that no car ever emerged from it. It would literally stop traffic until I was so far down the road I was out of site.

I never found any cross contamination between any fluids or lubricants.


* I had every possible problem on that car.

cavanok

Has anyone been able to figure this out? Anytime I go full acceleration I get a ton of white smoke. It is annoying the hell out of me, as I love to accelerate onto the freeway and am used to my old E55! Plus it makes the car look like a piece of crap. I have a 2007 E550 with 10,000 Miles, although it has always done it...

IndiumGreyE63

I originally posted this concern, under my old member name. As you can see, I traded the '07 E550 in for an '08 E63. I never did figure out why the car did that. As I had said, no burning smell, or bad exhaust fumes associated with the production.

The E63 does not have this issue at full throttle.

Barry45RPM

I had it on my '04... the smoke was so bad, that certain times I was able to lay such a cloud of white smoke, that no car would ever come out of it by the time I had travelled up the road so far I didn't continue to look in the rearview mirror.

My 07 E 550 does it very little, but because I don't want to see it, I ease off the throttle.

cavanok

No problem with your current E550? At first I thought it was some kind of condensation issue in the exhaust, but as I now approach a year of ownership, it's a little disconcerting that it still does it every time I go with full acceleration. Why did I pay the extra $$ for the 550 if I can't use it! The car goes in for service soon, I will let you know if I figure anything out.

-C

Barry45RPM

Its gotta be condensation in the exhaust. No fluids are mixing. Use the car... No one is gonna find out what it is at this stage of the game & they're pretty damn good cars!

emilner

I still have it 30 minutes into a drive, so I don't think it is condensation. It can be rather annoying...

JRAMGV8

One time I floored my E350 on 1st and 2nd gear @ 6000rpm using the shift paddles and notice the smoke behind me. Freaked me out because I thought I went over the red line excessively and been worried that I might of ruined the engine but nothing so far. I tried it again flooring it without using the paddle shifter and no smoke.

001kz

could this be related to lower temp? most of u guys from east coast.

never had that problem with my car here in southern CA.

in winter time, back in my home country when it is -20 C, almost all of the cars on the road produce that white smoke (well i wouldn't call them clouds though)

MB Fanatic

water in the exhaust stream. Goes away after a while. The S550 in our house does it as does my E63.

Tymah123

Isn't the byproduct of the gas engine water? You see it every time someone accelerates in front of you and water comes out from the tail pipe. So if you're flooring it then you're making more of that water and it does't have time to condense and form a little stream due to higher pressure. Therefore white steam would come out. Just my reasoning behind it I guess...

Barry45RPM

This white smoke we are talking about is not a little water vapor with a 10 inch tail coming out the tail pipes... we're talking a tremendous cloud of white smoke left behind us upon hard acceleration... any time of the year.

Tymah123

That sounds bad. It'd definetly ruin my drive. And the dealer doesn't know what it is... big surpise.

Vik888

I own an 08 E550. No smoke what so ever and I regularly do some 0-60 sprints and drive the car hard.

The amount of smoke you guys are talking about, I'd go get it checked out.

emilner

It usually happens over 60, when you have been in it for a little while. I usually see it 1-2 seconds into second gear, just look out your rearview mirror as you pass 80...

Barry45RPM

For me in the '04 it was after driving for an hour or so, then a rest stop for 20 minutes followed by a hard acceleration on the on ramp to the expressway.

The '07 only has small whisps of occaisional white smoke on hard acceleration. I'm willing to bet the brand of gas, the region its blended for, the ambient temperature all have something to do with it.

My '04 was checked for the smoke condition many times by the dealer. No fluid cross contaminations, no loss of fluids, no solution. But that car's gone.

E500Newbee

well, instead of thinking the white smoke is bad. Thinking as it good for your engine. It like your car released unhealthy breath of bad air. Imagine this though, if all that smoke doesn't come out and being trapped in your engine. How much would that condensation would ruining your engine even more. As long as the smoke is not black, than I would not be too worry about it. If you are worry, take it to the dealer and let them take a look at it. IMO

lkchris

'07 of course is the new M273 engine and the '04 the old M113.

M112/M113 are notorious for "goop" on the oil filler cap, too, meaning to me they've got plenty of humidity trapped in them somehow.

jerome8283

I own a 07 E50 sport and I'm in NY LI. This morning when starting my car I had a buff of white smoke come from the tail pipes. It was very noticeable. I'm concerned. I have owned the car now for a few months. I never noticed this before and never noticed any problems with smoke during a hard acceleration.

Anyone experience the smoke right after starting their car?

Also, a 29 day service B indication showed on the dash just the other day.

schurmann

Most cat convertors are injected with air to help it work, maybe there is some way water is collecting in one of the airpump hoses, and it is getting injected into the cat by the air pump.

Check out the hoses to and from the air pump for cracks that might gather water?

lkchris

Check level of engine coolant.

There's a difference between smoke and steam, too, and I bet you can tell the difference.

spclagent7

I'm glad this thread came up again.

Was driving from L.A. to Vegas about a month ago. Exactly as others stated above. Was going above 80 up the hill past Victorville... In the fast lane, I look in the rearview, and a bunch of white smoke came billowing out.

Barry45RPM described it perfectly.

I've since taken another drive from L.A. to Vegas... No issues with my car. Getting to 65k on the odometer now.