[cpie168]

Hi Everyone. Today, I took my E90 328i out for gas. After filling her up, when I started the engine, the cranking was quite hesitant, and for one second I thought the battery was dying. Once started, I saw some white smoke coming from under the hood. By the time I popped the hood and took a look, there was no further signs of smoke.

This happened a second time later in the day, but there was a normal start in between the two occurrences.

The vehicle has been sitting from April until just last weekend. I took her out for a long drive last weekend without any problem. When I took her to fill up today, that's when I ran into the issue.

Any idea what the issue could be? Thank you in advance!

[E92William]

No idea maybe some short? Did it smell like anything under the hood? White smoke can be often caused by spilled coolant from a broken hose which a common one is the one on top of the radiator that goes to the coolant reservoir.

One thing I would immediately look at is the pcv heater as this is a recall item and will short out and melt and catch your car on fire. If the cranking were to be related to the smoke maybe you have some short by the starter wires or something around there.

[desertman123]

Your valve cover gasket is probably leaking onto the exhaust manifold

[cpie168]

Thanks desertman. Would that explain the hesitant start?

[HydroxFrost]

Originally Posted by cpie168

Thanks desertman. Would that explain the hesitant start?

Have you ever replaced your starter? Its hard to know how to help without knowing where the smoke is coming from. But the starter could be on its way out as well. That's my only logical guess based on smoke from engine bay and hesitant start.

Edit: Also while I'm here, did you top up the gas even after the pump at the gas station clicked off? Evap systems don't react well to that usually.

[cpie168]

Thanks everyone for your input. Turns out it was a failing ground cable, the one leading from the engine to the passenger side strut tower. It literally snapped in 2 by burning itself out like a piece of lightbulb filament. I replaced it with an aftermarket piece and it's now starting perfectly!