white smoke coming out of the gear shift lever

[Newbie535i]

Hello all, it's been a while since my last post, but I do check out this forum regularly. I'm pleased that I usually find answers to my questions. However this one has eluded me: my 1989 535i automatic with 81K miles just spewed out white smoke and an acrid smell from underneath the transmission gear shift lever. It only did it once at startup and was over in a few minutes. Nothing electronic seems to have been affected, no error codes, no oil seepage underneath, or oil on the manifold, heater is working fine, transmission sounds and performs ok. What am I missing? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[spoolinturbo]

take it apart and look, i know on my 89 535i it gets hot at the base, so take it apart, if theres smoke theres fire so open up and see where it came from. wish i had more info for u man

[Kalevera]

Yeah, you definitely want to take it apart and have a look or have someone look at it for you.

http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/lowell/bmw1.jpg

....don't want that happening.

My guess is a gunked up or trashed neutral position switch. It's located just under the gear shift. White or black plastic.

Best, whit

[niall]

haha good pic mate

[an535i]

My 535i went through the same exact thing, and it was the neutral/safety switch.. I replaced mine but if you are up for it you might be able to dissassemble and clean the switch to prevent it from shorting and getting hot.

[Newbie535i]

Wow, that's some picture, I definitely don't want that. I'm gonna have to dissassemble it them. Thanks for the heads up.

[632 Regal]

Lowell, whose car is/was that??

[Kalevera]

Yup....another thing to note is that, in the picture, you can see the switch sitting at the base of the shifter. Here's the quick and easy way to get to it:

1) Get a set of hex keys and loosen/remove the gear shift knob via the hex fastener holding it onto the shaft (located on the dash side of the knob shaft), then pull the knob off.

2) Using a flat blade screwdriver (or a broad knife would also do the trick), pry up and disconnect the A/M switch (careful - the plastic on the harness is probably brittle and may shatter). You may even want to disassemble and clean the A/M switch while you're at it, as it does tend to get nasty.

3) Pull up on the dash edge of the woodgrain panel to loosen and remove it. Should come out without much fuss.

4) Locate the switch at the base of the shifter, remove the screws that secure it, make sure the parking brake is on and set the shifter to D to remove the switch.

Mine was nastily gunked up. I pulled it to clean it in hopes that it would solve a no-reverse issue. I used electrical contact cleaner & fine grain sandpaper to clean it up.

Best, whit

[Kalevera]

Jeff, that was a 750iL, recently on eBay, located in Columbus, OH. Owner said that the car was running when it caught fire. FD cut the posi lead on the battery.

I'm trolling around for other projects. Looks like a pain in the ass to fix, but I think the owner got a grand or so for the car...at least $700.

Sometimes, I wish eBay didn't have so many idiots running around using it -- keeps me from getting any good deals. Just lost a $2000 '89 5 speed 535 for that exact reason.

best, whit

[uscharalph]

That picture has me thinking about a fire extinguisher.

[632 Regal]

Extinguisher wont stop the short, just the resulting fires.

[525e34]

I'm also having a "smoke" problem with my neutral safety switch in my '95 525i. I've been able to partially loosen the switch and can see where it has burned some but cannot remove it completely. The problem is the top allen screw is blocked by an "extra" pawl/lever that does not appear in the Bentley manual. My guess is that it is part of the shift interlock that the manual mentions is in 1993 and later cars? How can I get the top allen screw and the switch out? I can't afford a burned up mess like the earlier picture!

[Scott C]

I'm also having a "smoke" problem with my neutral safety switch in my '95 525i. I've been able to partially loosen the switch and can see where it has burned some but cannot remove it completely. The problem is the top allen screw is blocked by an "extra" pawl/lever that does not appear in the Bentley manual. My guess is that it is part of the shift interlock that the manual mentions is in 1993 and later cars? How can I get the top allen screw and the switch out? I can't afford a burned up mess like the earlier picture!

I have the same one. I was fortunate in that I was able to clean mine. Last I remember, the switch is available (same as 94) but you need to buy the bolt (since I believe you will need to cut the existing one off). Again, If I remember correctly, the bolt is put in and when it reaches the correct torque, the fastening head tears off at the factory. Therefore, get the bolt, the new switch and grind that old puppy off. Make sure this is logical (look at new parts) before you DO anything as I didn't actually have to go through with this approach.

Scott

[George Davis]

My guess is that it is part of the shift interlock that the manual mentions is in 1993 and later cars? How can I get the top allen screw and the switch out? I can't afford a burned up mess like the earlier picture!

I have a '94 525i and have taken things apart a couple of times. Looks like maybe I'll do it again to check the neutral safety switch? At any rate, I recall there being a metal arm that blocks one of the allen screws. I found I could remove the metal arm only after removing the curved upper section of the white plastic shift housing. Look closely and you'll see it's held to the lower section by a number of clips. Use a small thin-bladed screwdriver to pry each of the clips loose and the top section will come off. Then the metal arm can be removed. I don't remember exactly how, but I think it involves removing a clip on the end of the shaft the arm pivots on, and maybe also the end of the lock cable that runs to the ignition key. You'll see it, or run into it, but it's fairly easy to deal with.

[525e34]

I found I could remove the metal arm only after removing the curved upper section of the white plastic shift housing.

Thanks - Do you mean pry apart the cover of the neutral switch itself? That occurred to me, however I was worried that the switch might have "innards" that couldn't be aligned/put back together without having it out of the car. I was espescially concerned there might be a spring or something pop out when the cover is opened. Is this not the case?

[George Davis]

No, I don't mean pry the switch apart, I though you wanted to get that arm out that is in the way of one of the allen screws. To get the arm out, I removed the upper curved section of the white plastic dohicky (shift quadrant, maybe?) that is right next to the shifter. I have little memory left, so I can't recall if it has the gear indicator or PRND321 on it or not, but it might have. I'm probably just confusing the issue, sorry if I am.

[525e34]

Was able to remove the metal lever and pull out the switch ( with the help of George - see earlier posts ). The attached picture says it all. Needless to say I'm getting a new replacement. This was working properly after it "smoked" the first time last week but who knows how long until it melted/burned completely.