Hard to tell and it only did it 2 out of the last 5 times I drove the car.

Really pisses me off...can't leave well enough alone.

Can't be the DP. There is nothing in it to do this except for that small cat. The exhaust guy says that there are no exhaust leaks. So where does this white/gray smoke come from.

I have traded 10 emails with the guy that sold it to me. He seems genuinely interested in helping me solve this. He seems very knowledgeable about MINIs and modding a MINI. He said it was on his car for 6000 miles and he sold it because he was parting his car out. He says it worked while it was on his car no problem up to the time he took it off.

Could it be Jan''s tune doing something funky? I traded emails with him. I told him I was getting this DP. He wrote back that there was nothing to modify in the tune. That its already set up for a DP.

I think I will put the stock tune back on a take it for a ride now.

 

Great idea Steve put the stock tune back on and then it starts to snow...ughhhh!!!

 

Has there been any moisture/rain water around the DP when it's smoking? When water gets in my hoodscoop and hits the heatshield it tends to produce some white smoke. Seeing that you have that massive hoodscoop and a hotter DP that might be the case.

Also, check to see if any of the coolant lines were damaged when the DP was installed.

 

My car is not a daily driver any more. It has not been out in the rain in weeks.

Good idea about the coolant lines. That could definitely be an issue, The coolant expansion tank is a bit low. But I have not smelled coolant nor seen any on the floor of my garage.

 

Went back to stock. Let see what happens tomorrow.

Yes. Its beyond a slight smell.

 

I just traded some emails with Jan at RMW. He says that maybe the gasket on the flange from the turbo to the DP is bad. When you guys have done this swap out have you always used a new gasket? I don't think the guy I went to used a new gasket.

I could see how this could be causing exhaust smoke and smell under the hood and in the cabin but could it also affect what is coming from the muffler?

This could also explain why I see heat rising off the hood around the area of the hood scoop. I have the M7 Vortex 2 scoop that is wide open.

 

I'm installing my DP next weekend and it did come with a new gasket. I was told to us it when swapping out the DP from the guy I bought it from.

That may be your problem. Sure wouldn't hurt to have a new one on there at any rate.

I didn't mention it before because I thought it was a gimme.

 

I didn't put one on when i threw on the Riss racing to mine. I don't think that could produce a white smoke even if it was the gasket. How would there be white smoke? sounds fishy to me.

what happened with the stock dp?

 

Could be a good idea. Put back the stock DP. All else being the same, if the problem disappears then it's probably the new DP.

 

What was your experience with the Riss catless DP? I have a used one and about to install it and was curious as to what you thought about it after running one for a while.

 

Brought my car into Prestige MINI today.

#1 Problem - Valve cover gasket was bad. That was the cause of the white/gray smoke. Replaced under warranty.

#2 Problem - Bung for the Lambda sensor that is on the top of the DP close to the turbo has bad weld joints. I do not know if the guy that sold it to me knew this or not but I am done buying used parts. I would have spent the extra $100 or so dollars for a new one. I do not need this aggravation. And this car is not my daily driver. I have other cars to drive.

The exhaust guy should have checked the car when he was done with his work. He did not. He just started it up and gave it to me.

He should have checked it over better when I brought it back and told him I had an exhaust leak. He basically said no exhaust leak and the rest is not my problem. Nice attitude.

Prestige MINI did not put the original DP back on. I called the exhaust guy and he is going to fix it. Since its right on top it should be easy to fix with a few welds.

I will bring the car back to the exhaust guy to have him fix this problem and have him put the resonator back on. Its way too loud for me.

Pics:







Lesson learned. Buying used is not worth the headaches.

I am so upset with the exhaust guy, I even called Way at WMW to inquire about buying a new Akrapovic DP. I really hope this exhaust guy can just do a few welds and all will be good.

I just wanted to follow up with those watching this thread to let you know how I made out.

Supposedly Akrapovic makes such awesome parts and Riss Racing was so bad they went out of business.

 

Sorry to hear the bad news. Glad you finally identified it and hope you can get it fixed with some welding.

All said and done, do you think the DP was a worthy upgrade despite the price and hassle?

 

Once it's fixed and I am not being gassed in my car I will follow up with another post to this thread.

They say all you really need is a DP, FMIC and tune to make the car better and faster. Let's see if that is true.

 

thats all i needed. your lucky BMW found the problem, thats not like them.

 

Hopefully that IS the problem and the exhaust guy just fixes it.

I am very lucky that I have a good relationship with the service dept at Prestige MINI. They have just about always taken care of me and they are fair with me. That has changed from time to time over the past few years as people come and go.

 

FYI not saying this is what happened as it sounds like it happened before you got it. But if a car is tuned really lean or with High EGT's this could cause a crack. Just something for everyone to consider with any exh mods.

 

If it is a lean tune pray that the exhaust valves did not get cooked.

 

The OEM DP looks like its cast as one piece so the area around that top bung would not have the problem that the Akrapovic DP has. See above pics. In other words the OEM does not have that bung welded in.

Way... just for kicks...If I had bought it new from you what would the process be from Akrapovic to get this RMAd?

I will probably buy the rest of the exhaust from you in the next few months.

 

How does Jan typically tune MINIs?

 

Jan runs a afr around 12. Check to see if you have any misfire codes stored.

 

So is that rich or lean?

Can I check for misfire codes with a ScanGauge?

 

normal. the oem mini tune was leaner vs jan or cobb.

never tried with a scan gauge I have a factory diag scanner,ask way.

 

Is that the Akrapovic downpipe pictured? That looks like some patchwork bung welded on. My Akrapovic downpipe has the bung welded into a hole cut in the pipe. There is no way that an Akrapovic quality pipe would leak from a bung weld, lean or not. This looks like some sort of patch weld. Maybe and early beta pipe or something? Maybe the previous owner did it?

FWIW....I always change gaskets on the hot side/exhaust side of the motor. Heat deforms things quickly and they take shape of the parent items. Not worth the risk IMO. Also not worth the risk to buy used parts to save $100....not with the amount of money you appear to have spent on your rig. Good luck!

 

This whole thing has been a disaster. I took a look at the Akrapovic DP install instructions, I see what you are talking about with the upper bung. Thanks for pointing that out. I do not know what is up with this DP but I am going to take it off rather than having it fixed.

I am going to call Way from WMW up on Monday and order the whole Akrapovic cat back Evo exhaust and take this DP and throw it in the garbage.

I also did not like the sound from the res delete either.

 

Sounds like the smart thing. When you are holding the Akrapovic downpipe in your hands.....it exudes top notch quality. No ******** looking patch like that.