Car trouble

billwill

I drive a 1994 BMW 525i. I've had it for three years and it hasn't needed any major repairs.

I ran to the store today and on my way home I noticed smoke was coming from vents on the driver side of the vehicle. I switched it to outside air instead of recycled (which is what it was on) and the smoke stopped. However, the vents right in front of the windshield started to let out a bit of the smoke again and it made the windshield (again, on the driver side) very foggy.

Of course this happens two days after I find myself unemployed.

Any ideas? I've looked online but I'm seeing a wide range of possibilities. I can't take it anywhere tonight, on account of the time and it being Sunday night, but I need my car for class tomorrow. Is it able to be driven, at least to school and then to the repair shop afterwards? And if not, how can I get it to the correct [at least temporary] state tonight with supplies from an Autozone around the corner?

Any advice or perhaps previous experience with this would be great.

Essee

I don't know cars, but no, I don't think it's a good plan to drive something that has smoke coming out of it... Have you asked the Autozone guys about it yet? 'Cause I mean, they seem like the kind of guys who might know what you could do to put a Band-aid on the problem.

billwill

Also: I ran the car in my driveway and smoke was only coming out of the vents, not under the hood at all.

And no I haven't. The workers, at least at my store, know nothing. I learned this from experience.

Essee

Rereading it again, is the smoke only happening when you have the air on in your car? Is not turning on the air/heating an option maybe? Like, maybe you could bundle up instead?

Also, sucks that the workers don't know anything. Oh well. Would've been a quick fix.

billwill

It seemed like it was only happening when the heat was on but like I said, I only did it for like three minutes before I got home and then I didn't want to push anything and risk blowing something up in my car or something. :P

I should note that a lot of online stuff says the engine might be overheating, but mine stayed in the normal temperature range the whole time. And like I said, no smoke was coming from the engine itself, just the vents in the car.

Varinn

Smoke? or Steam?

I am going to assume when you say smoke it is not dark and gray, but light coloured and smells almost fruity in a way. How you describe the issue causing fog on your windows makes me believe you have a leaking heater core. This is essentially the part that funnels the hot water from the engine into the fan ducts to make your heater function. When they get old and begin to leak you end up with hot water/coolant spraying out (usually it will start as a smoke/steam mist before it fully breaks open). Sadly because of the nature of a heater core they tend to be tucked up in the bowels of your dash and involve quite a bit of

YOU DO NOT WANT TO DRIVE YOUR CAR LIKE THIS as when they break you put yourself and a passenger at risk of severe burns to your legs/feet as well. As well they have potential of overheating your car or destroying electronics in your dash. Most cars include safety measures to stop this from happening but I have seen and have had a car damaged myself by a heater core rupturing and spraying coolant onto the floorboards.

An e34 is still a relatively DIY capable car if you do not have the money to let a shop do this repair, and it can be attempted yourself. Luckily, this is not incredibly difficult to do on your own if you have the basic hand tools, and the part itself is not terribly expensive.
The core can be bought from a website called PelicanParts (a reputable BMW/Porsche supplier) here

The DIY walkthrough can be found here

An e34 is a great car, the m50/m52 engine is quite reliable and I recommend learning what you can and trying this repair yourself if you feel comfortable. The major downside to an older BMW is the "German tax" that local shops feel they can put on any repair, as buyers tend to thing buying a BMW is inherently expensive and accept the increased fees.

Varinn

Triple post

Varinn

Triple post!!!!