Hi everyone, I stumbled across this thread by chance and it's funny because I've had mine e90 330d m57 231ps since 2015 and I have very similar symptoms to OP.
Initially, DPF clogged and wouldn't regen. Had it gutted and that's when all of this started...
1. Light white/grey steady stream of smoke at idle + very bad smell behind the car. Doesn't matter if the car is cold/warm. Smells of burned oil and is irritating to the eyes.
2. Same like OP, if driven calmly for a period or sitting in traffic or just idling for awhile and then when booted it will puff out a cloud of smoke. Due to 5% window tint on rears I cannot make out the exact color but looks like grey/brownish, definitely not black. Best visible with a set of good xenons directly behind me
Smoke comes after boost actually hits and it pulls away, not before.
3. An indy had the car diagnosed and drove it for a bit while reading live data and concluded the turbo is boosting fine but late... Not sure what to make of this, however it coincides with my feeling of lag in the lows.
4. Oil consumption, on the other hand, is pretty low for me... About 2 liters per 10k km. The coolant level is steady and doesn't move.
Before reading this thread I was convinced it is the turbo, but seeing how OP had it changed and the issue remained I am no longer convinced.
FYI I've tried the following so far:
Got the vortex type breather filter, which had absolutely no visible/noticeable effect on anything.
Replaced MAF. This I believe had a small effect on the problem. If nothing else, the car is more responsive and mpg is a bit better. Also, it feels like it's not smoking so much but still plenty of smelly...
Injectors adjustments look decent in INPA, all well below 1.00 under acceleration and ~0.10-.20 when idling.
Something I noticed when changing the MAF... The plastic hose connecting the MAF with the turbo inlet and some small third hose in between, not sure what it connects to, but I think I saw someone said its exactly the breather filter. So the small hose for the breather filter is drenched in oil, the whole low 2/3 of the plastic hose is actually pretty oily both inside and out. When inspecting the turbo inlet, there is a visible small puddle of oil under the compressor wheel... I found conflicting information on whether this is normal or not but to me it looks excessively oiled up.
Also, I had the swirl flaps removed 3 years ago but recently noticed the intake manifold is oily on its right side (when standing in front of the engine and looking at it), not sure if this is related since the problem was present before that.
Throttle body valve is kapput, reported by INPA and verified by symptom of shuddering when shutting down the car. Can this be related?
EGR is in-place and working. Recently changed cracked egr cooler, no difference.
I had the timing chain replaced on this car in 2016, along with every possible gasket along the way (which made sense) + glow plug and relay. Not sure if this eliminates the valve cover gasket or the seals as I am pretty sure at least one if not both of them was changed in the process.
Smoke/smell did not change before and after this service
So now I am left with two options:
1. Turbo on the way out... This would explain the smoke/smell, the oil consumption + the other symptoms
2. Injectors ... This would explain the smoke/smell, but not sure how it could be connected to oil consumption. Don't see how to be honest
3. Both injectors and turbo are on their way out and I am dealing with two costly causes for all these problems, instead of just one
P.S. Took some photos of the turbo to show the small puddle but on closer inspection of the photos you can clearly see a HUGE carbon/soot buildup on each fin of the compressor wheel
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...Tm?usp=sharing
This looks awful, can't believe I've been driving like this...