Posted by Lars Cousineau on November 12, 2000 at 23:45:44:
In Reply to: Re: Smoking on the downhill posted by Troy Rudolph on August 03, 1999 at 13:49:31:
I have five BMW's 1977-1982. Three 5's, one 6, one 7. Miles on them range from 132,000 (1977), to 335,000. four of them smoke, all at different times. Some at start-up, some on down-hill. They all take a quart of oil every 500 miles. None of them foul plugs. They all have good compression. I took the 7 (235K) on a 3700 mile trip recently and got 24 MPG. It smokes on start and intermittently during traffic. None of these cars have ever died on me, or let me down, related to the smoking. I agree, if the smoke is actually white, you had better find out where the coolant leak is getting into your combustion chambers. BUT, going downhill would not be related to that problem at all.
If all you're doing is smoking a little, occasionally and burning a little oil, I repeat... What's the problem. Every solution will cost you hundreds of dollars more than the oil is costing you. One of my five cars never smokes. I consider that one an anomoly and it worries me.