A mate of mine was following me today and said that he noticed puffs of black smoke out the exhaust every now and again. Is this because I've topped the oil up too much or is it something else?

Its an oil burner so it will smoke! They all do

It's how your land rover communicates with other Land Rovers.  2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

I think lots of smoke can indicate EGR issues Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

At a guess I bet you use super Market fuel, try some shell or bp fuel for a few fill ups I bet this will sort it.

There's plenty of topics on this.

Long and short of it...the odd haze whilst cruising and puffs on accelerating are diesel traits, you cannot stop it with any brand of fuel. Don't worry about it. Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

I have noticed a reduction in smoke with Shell V-Power diesel. It is not a fuel that the car needs but it does seem to reduce smoke compared to normal Shell or BP and a lot better than supermarket fuel. I don't always use it but have done the last few times I have filled up.

On another note, I saw an 09 plate Audi A6 Avant 3.0TDi Quattro at Morrisons filling station whilst away in Scotland last week (in my Dad's A4 not the FL2) and I thought why the hell would you put such inferior diesel in such a big powerful diesel engine? Surely BP Ultimate or Shell V-Power is the only fuel for such a car. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

I only use shell/ shell v power fuel and get no black smoke out of the exhaust at all.

I had a bad experience with shell vpower diesel, but it was in 2006 when it first came out. It was in my td5 90, filled up on the way somewhere and on the way home it blacked smoked under all levels of accerleration, it was so bad I could loose all 3 lanes of the m5! In the end after driving as fast as I could to burn it, I had to have the whole system drained and new fuel filter.

Mojo, there should never be any black smoke from the FL2 engine, because it is an indication of poor combustion, either from too little air or too much fuel. Black smoke is in fact fuel that has not fully burnt (combusted), and is exhausted in its partly burnt state. I suggest that you do not ignore this, as your turbo charger will also suffer fouling, and could exacerbate the situation.
As to the remedy, go for the easy stuff first. Check your air and fuel filters. Do not use cheap fuel. Try a diesel additive to clean the fuel system. Failing that, get your dealer to check the air:fuel ratio parameters on the engine management system (ECU).
Older diesel engines do, from time to time emit a black puff from the exhaust, especially when pushed, but with modern common rail high pressure fuel systems, electronically controlled, one should expect a clear exhaust at all times, once the engine is up to normal operating temperature.

Thanks for all the replies, am getting LR dealer to have a check of engine management / ecu when it goes in for more trim falling off repairs. By the way, no cheap supermarket fuel here, generally use Esso now as no Shell garages within easy reach of home any more. Sometimes use Total as well. Have seen a few diesels spit out a bit of smoke as I've been driving around, not all of them old either! Hopefully not a major problem beginning.

Note for Landy19840, one of the things that V-Power does is clean you ijectors and combusiton chambers progressivly to a new level. The goo has to go somehwere durnig the cleanup so it's down the pipe and out. This could account for your early emissions.
I use Shell as msuch as I can and occasionally V-Power for a clean up (it's almost worth it for the cashback!) Gone... 2013 XS TD4 Manual Firenze Red
Gone... 2008 (09MY) XS Td4 Manual Stornaway Grey
Prior... 2003 G4 Discovery 2, 1998 Disco 1 and 1997 Disco 1 Company car before that
Also gone in Nov'13, after 7.5 yrs, to new owners with time for more TLC - 1980 Series III 88
Current 2015 Discovery Sport HSE 2.0

This was smoke like you have never seen, and over a 200 mile journey!! Black arrows springs to mind!