So I just purchased a 2005 Mini Cooper S a few months ago with a little over 25k miles. I've put a couple hundred miles on the car as well as the 16% Super Charger belt and Stainless air intake.

My neighbor told me after I got home from the post office that there was a medium size black cloud of smoke that came out of my exhaust from my car as I left my driveway the other day...

Should I be concerned??

 

Try to replicate. I shoot black but it's carbon

 

Mini's tend to run on the rich side... They tend to leave a bit of soot on the exhaust pipes....just remember, unburnt fuel is black....oil is blue.... Coolant is white...
If it is just a puff or two before the cat lights off....might not be an issue...keep an eye on it...an occasional puff is OK....let's face it....the miles on the car is very low...so age is getting up there...
Make sure it idles smoothly.....and I'd keep driving... But make sure basic mataince is done...might be smart to toss some fuel injector cleaner in it...bet lots of stale fuel has been through it...and that can gum stuff up..making injectors spray poorly...resulting in an excess of unburnt fuel in some cases...

 

It could also be unburnt fuel do to a spark plug firing late (a misfire), have you inspected you spark plugs lately? They will tell you a lot about your combustion process.

 

Thats the first step I would take , bad plug or plugs .

It you get blue smoke all the time, plugs are find , might have a leaky valve stem seal or a ring.

MINI do tend to soot allot on the tailpipe and back end. But if blue smoke all the time. There is an issue.

 

The spark plugs are brand new, they came with the 16% pulley belt from way motoring.

 

Does it happen all the time or just at start up ?

 

Did you accelerate hard away from your driveway? I agree, maybe try a fuel injector cleaner like BG 44k as stated above. It's good stuff.

 

You can have brand new spark plugs and still get misfires do to ignition that's to early or late, if you're really seeing black smoke it's unburnt fuel pure and simple.

 

A code would be thrown if there are misfires. also any boosted car puts more fuel preboost since electricity is faster than air moving. getting unburnt fuel out through 2 cats and the stock exhaust would be an accomplishment. The car could have a fuel trim that isn't appropriate and its over compensating right now. the ECU adapts to a multitude of parameters, and learns them over time. if you are still getting it within the next tank or 2 of fuel, may need to look into it more

 

Ain't carbon suppose to be white smoke?
@stripeknight ... Maybe oil is dirty?

 

carbon is black, like coal.

 

White smoke can be coolant, sometimes carbon if its start up moisture , black smoke can be mostly carbon, blue smoke is usually oil burning.

 

I was finally able to have some one follow me today, apparently there was a black cloud upon start up and a cloud when driving down my street and a puff driveing up hill, all within the first 2 minutes of starting the vehicle.

The following 20 minutes of driving up and down hills, accelerating from stops etc left no other black smoke. So it has to do with starting the car and the first few minutes of driving only...

Any ideas?

 

I just had the oil changed a few days prior.

 

No CEL correct , have your scanned the MINI with a good scanner to see hidden lean codes ?

 

You're most likely running a little too rich during the warm-up period.