I just bought an 05 Cooper S w/ 11k miles about 2 weeks ago. The car came with headers/downpipe(no cat), stock intake and stock exhaust. I just bought a brand new Invidia exhaust and the car started to throw out tons of smoke and it's back firing! At first I thought the reason why it smoke is because of the new exhaust. I drove it for about ten miles and it's still smoking . I've never seen anything like this before!!! It's very strange, anyone know why??? Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

hmm. there was no smoke when you bought it, just when you put the new exhaust on? i would think smoke is caused by trashed cylinder heads, or a perhaps your fuel levels and timing are all messed up, does it drive fine? perhaps you left something nasty in the exhaust, maybe there is a peace of plastic in there or something. does the exhaust smell funny?

 

yikes....the new exhaust might be the culprit, if its allowing the exhaust gases to flow better. do you have any sort of O2 simulator installed since you are running without a cat? since their is no longer any o2 sensor feedback the ecu might be having a hard time adjusting the a/f ratio..

 

Yes, that's correct. No smoke before, only after the new exhaust intalled. I car actually drive better than before. I noticed ia huge improvement in peformance.

No plastics, I checked.

Yes, it does smell like something is burning.

 

The only thing I did was the installation of the Invidia exhaust. I did not touch the O2s.

 

I would like to say thanks for the quick replies.

I know that it's normal for the car to smoke a little bit when you intall a new exhaust. So I was wondering if I should drive some more...kinda afraid to .

Can anyone think of anything else?

 

I've seen brand new exhausts smoking. Mostly whitish in color if I remember correctly.

Did you accidentily swap the positions of the two O2 sensors. The one closest to the engine does most of the work. The one further down the exhaust pipe just checks to see if the CAT is working as expected. If you've swapped the O2's then the ECU might be adjusting A/Fs incorrectly.

Whoops, just read your last post. Disregard my O2 comments.

 

Just drive it hard and see what happens. What's the worst case? You're only out $6k for a new engine.

Oh, wait. Actually, that would suck.

 

HAHA!! Not very funny!

 

Is it perhaps packing material burning off in the new muffler(s), as is relatively common in new exhausts? Or that special exhaust paste that you use to seal joints with two interconnecting exhaust pipes?

I just installed my new Milltek, and for the first few rides, it smelled like burning plastic or fiberglass afterwards. But I didn't notice any smoke...

 

I just went out to start the car so I can post some pictures of the car smokin' but I guess I was smokin' cuz it's not there anymore!!!!

Thanks XAlfa, I took the car out for a quick spin and the smoke went away!

I'm gonna test it again tomorrow. Phew! What a relief. I'm keeping my fingers cross.

Boy, this baby has some crazy top end power with a free flowing exhaust system! I can't wait to get my intake. Thanks everyone for all your help.

 

That's what I thought too but it was doing it for about 10 miles. Whatever it was, I'm just glad that it's not there any more.

 

Glad I could help. Time to move on. My work here is done.

 

Just installed a Invida system on our 03 Cooper S and it is also smoking.
After reading this thread I won't worry right away.

Cheers,
Jack