I've hit my 98 540iA on Dec 30. (The guy went through a stop sign) - I left it in the car on Friday(dec.30) to wait for the adjuster from insurance company - last friday I came to get some stuff from it and decided to start it - I didn't like the starting sound at first plase - it sound kinda whinning, then - when the car started it sounded like it was running on 6 or 7 cylinders - after a little while it became better, but still rough and missing. Also the blue, smelly smoke.

The car has 103K miles, new spark plugs, bad O2s.

Any suggestions?
Thannks

How long ago did you do your plugs? This may be a long shot, but it happened on my 98 540:

I failed to properly tighten one of my plugs, and so about 9-12 months later the plug worked its way out of the cylinder head. This caused the plug to sit cockeyed in the hole, and burned the spark plug connector (the 4-5 inch long boot that connects the sparkplug to the ignition coil.) I was therefore not getting any spark on that cylinder.

I did plugs less than 5000 miles ago.

does it eventually burn off and the idle returns to normal? The valve cover around the spark plug wells can start leaking, which will fill up your spark plug wells with oil and cause a misfire. I'd take a look at that first as it's a pretty common issue.

does it eventually burn off and the idle returns to normal? The valve cover around the spark plug wells can start leaking, which will fill up your spark plug wells with oil and cause a misfire. I'd take a look at that first as it's a pretty common issue.


Very possible. But since you just did this job, did you see any oil in the sparkplug wells? It won't hurt you to spend the 30 minutes to remove all of your plugs and make sure something basic is causing this.

I didn't see oil in plug wells in my 540i - but when I did the valve cover gasket on my 325is though, I did have oil in the plug wells. The rubber gaskets harden and shrink from heat and age and on 325, the inner gasket was so brittle that it broke apart when I took it off. The outer gasket was still pliable enough that it didn't break apart when I took it off - so it seems the inner gasket around the spark plugs is actually more susceptible to leaking - perhaps because it's more central to the block and get's exposed to more heat.

No, No oil, but the valve cover gaskets leak as well

intake manifold cover and intake gaskets, get some brake clean and sprary around the intake manifold, also pull the dip stick while the car is running and listen for a gargle or whistle noise, this will also tell you the back intake manifold cover is bad, call if you have any other question.

well - the oil may have already burned off if you just drove the car a bit, if you're really worried - you may just want to bring it to a shop for a diagnosis... as if it's not the valve cover...

when pull engine oil dipstic out the car stalls.

that is good, means there is good vaccum