Rough idle and smoke

NATHANIELDAVIDJAMES

MEMBER
2005 BMW 545I
4.4L
V8
AUTOMATIC
155,000 MILES

I am having a rough idle issue and I am getting all cylinder misfire. I also have white smoke coming from the passenger side of the engine towards the back when I open the hood of the car maybe a foot away from the front of the engine on the passenger side.

1 Reply

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
48,363 POSTS

This sounds like a classic head gasket. Where you see the white smoke pull the spark plugs out to see if one of them is wet with coolant. Also, you can pressurize the cooling system with all of the plugs out then turn it over to see if any coolant comes out.

Here are three guides that can help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-misfires-or-runs-rough

Please run down these guides and report back.

Cheers, Ken