330d swirl flap and EGR removal

Brendon.Myburgh

New member
this thread is interesting

So it looks a bit techyish to do, but not unatainable by doing it myself on my e90 320d.

so the questions i have is.

1. the blanking plates can then be purchased from Land Rover ?
2. Anyone have an idea on the price ?
 

XMAX

///Member
Congrats on owning an oiler.

2003 you say.

Where are you getting it from.

Spec (Sportpack, Exclusive, Individual)

Mileage

How Much.

 

Andy1GP

///Member
Another Thread revival!

Everything that has been mentioned applies to my questions. 2004 330d M57n motor, manual.

So did anyone do this swirl flap removal yet? I'd like to chat to someone that's gone through with it before I attempt it. Unless I find a lekker walkthrough on the net.

GOT IT!

http://www.bmwswirlflaps.co.uk/swirl_flaps.html

Near the end is a link where you download a step by step picture by picture guide .pdf (5.4mb)

Now to just order the covers and do eet!

EDIT
Click this link
http://www.bmwland.co.uk/swirl_flaps_bmw/swirl_flaps.pdf

In fact just had a brainwave.

I'm going to try use the original swirl flap housing. By just removing the screws and chucking the plate+screws or cutting the shaft off altogether. Replace with new O ring and voila.


 

Brendon.Myburgh

New member
yep, did it a couple of weeks ago. Nearly had the fright of my life. its a bit of a story but here you go....

work starts late the friday night after dinner & everyone is settled in the house & i can slip away into the garage. I get everything prepped & begin work taking off the covers etc etc. Then the wiring harnass attached to the manifold. Everything going smoothly so far. theres just this little hose thats a stubborn little so & so & doesnt wanna come loose at the back of the manifold. Eventually i strip my moer & yank the manifold off, but being carefull at the same time as there are these aluminim washer/spacers at the bottom of the rubber washers & if they go into the intake - well...... houston we have a problem. so everything comes off as its supposed to & i put a clean cloth over the intakes on the head. Then decide to close shop as im beginning to pull amps staying up way past my bedtime till all hours of Saturday morning.

i wake up reletively early as theres a splinter in my mind reminding me work is not done so i jump outa bed, don the grease clothes & off to the garage again. I begin light work of the swirl flaps on the manifold & take them off. I tried the dremmel to cut them off neatly but that didnt work & i kept on breaking disks so im like eff it.... Take out the mini me angle grinder & chop them off. I then did the el cheapo & used a high heat epoxy & no. 10 self tapping screw & put that into the swirl plates & wait for the epoxy to cure. but before that cut the screw to size so that its flush with the end of the swirl plate. Didnt take long mind you & you need to work quickly because by the time you hit plate 3 you need to mix a new batch of epxy as the previous lot has gone just about rock hard.

So then comes time to install the swirl plates again which i now refer to as blanking plates. I install them no probs, try clean the intake manifold as best i can and voila. time to put everything back together, which goes off without a hitch. Basically everything is assembled & im done before lunch time on Saturday arvie.

Sunday morning & i decide my ride needs a bath & im off to the local engen on the cnr of Hans Strijdom & st Bernard in PTA east & they do a real good job. in the meantime cause im so perdantic abt the car i drive it under boost cause the oil hasnt heated up enough to let the turbo boost. I get home, park my baby & thats it for Sunday

Monday comes & im to work. i get to the intersection of Hans Strijdom & garsfontein & thats the start of a reletively long climb for the car & by that time the oil has heated enough to start driving for real.I pull off no probs & all of a sudden i hear a funny clap noise & bam the acr has but eff all power. feels like im in a 1920 tractor. 3rd gear & im goin up the hill losing power with my foot pushing through the floor board, just about doing a fred flintstone manouvre & paddling the legs at the bottom.

Right now my heart has sunk further than the soles of my feet because boet you know you got problems right now & its gonna be an expensive one. all the while im thinkning of how im gonna break this news to the missus who told me dont do it cause you gonna break something. I hate it when that happens. worst of it all is this is a savings account trasher. all the wile trying to think of what went wrong. The car has now started to develope a pretty sooty smoke from behind & im just about in tears

I decide going to work aint gonna happen today so i decide to go down to my pops who doesnt stay too far away from me & go seek some advice or comforting or whatever one would call it.

We open the bonnet, but see nothing is wrong. So my best bet is to get a diagnostic to see what kakked. My pops decides to stay away from work to try help me out - bless his heart !!!

Everywhere i go everyone is busy & cannot do a diagnostic from about 3 days. Im getting dispondent & want to break into tears. My car has now started smoking pretty bad the more things warm up. I evetually turn up at Menlyn auto as a last resort & pop into the parts dept as i know the problem is something to do with the intake manifold. 1st though i ask for a diagnostic - R750 for the 1st hour & R300 for every hour after that. Im thinking a diagnostic only takes a small while - so lesson no1 on the stealers is making me even more moedeloos - because who knows, they might be the only ones who can fix my baby

Guy behind the counter says to me i cant buy the swirl flaps seperately & nor can i purchase the swirl flaps shaft seperate. They only sell the intake manifold as a complete unit but i better sit down cause im in for a surprise of my life. My poephol is pukkering like you cant believe at this point. R8,200.00. I jumped out the seat & with one swift move was outa there.

My pops & i decide to strip this beeach again to see what could have broken. Right now the car looks like a chronic weed smoker the way the black sooty smoke is pouring out the exhaust.

Eventually everything has come off & i see nothing but nothing is wrong. I take off the cover by the turbo & the turbo sounds like clockwork. Fork im having a nervous breakdown right now. Ive told the missus & she is pissed. No.... she is ready to be locked away for good for commiting murder.

my pops turns around & says - my boy, i have no more suggestions. You gonna need to find a good mech or take it back to menlyn auto, explain what you did, face the music & cough some blood for payment. Im at the lowest point of my life right now & im praying so hard for something nothign short of miraculous to happen.

We start putting everything back together & then theres that stubborn effer hose that gave me uphill the friday evening thats just dangeling there. It looking kakkerig cause it tore from the yanking so i decide to cut it off completely & get in my pop's fortuner & make a turn to midas. Get what im looking for & back home again. Im feeling emotional right now cause having a preggie wife & broken car aint my idea of having fun exactly.

get home put that hose on, & by fluke im feeling where the hell did the hose come off initially. I feel lots of oil thats been blown out of a hole at the back of the manifold & im thinking oh my godd the manifold has cracked. so off i get a torch but dont see anything. i put two & two together & the hose fits like P!3L in P()03s

I start the car, Yirrie but it sounds sommer different. I say to my dad that we need to take a drive case my vroemie is sounding like she should. I take her out of the estate & drill her down de villaboux mariul drive. The more im drilling her the more im about to break into song with my car.

Turns out, that little effer hose was running from an airflow sensor just behind the head & it wasnt registering any airflow hence the car not working like it should as that little hose has a knock on effect to the electronics, Turbo & godd knows what all else.

So all i can say is, remember that little hose & learn from my mistake. it nearly cost me my marriage.

On the flipside, my swirl flaps are gone & my chorrie is driving like a charm. Even better still, my fuel consumption has come down. Dont ask me how or why but it has.

Safe driving
Brendon
Driver of '06 320d e90 m-sport

PS: Hope you like my essay:thumbs:
 

Andy1GP

///Member
I do Like your essay :thumbs: I've had similar experiences with the audi and what a relief when you do fix it. Makes one feel like a twat but boy that is a huge relief! Glad you got it right in the end.

I'm going to tackle the car later this week. Want to start early morning and have it done in one day if possible.
 

TOOFAST MP

New member
Brendon.Myburgh said:
yep, did it a couple of weeks ago. Nearly had the fright of my life. its a bit of a story but here you go....

work starts late the friday night after dinner & everyone is settled in the house & i can slip away into the garage. I get everything prepped & begin work taking off the covers etc etc. Then the wiring harnass attached to the manifold. Everything going smoothly so far. theres just this little hose thats a stubborn little so & so & doesnt wanna come loose at the back of the manifold. Eventually i strip my moer & yank the manifold off, but being carefull at the same time as there are these aluminim washer/spacers at the bottom of the rubber washers & if they go into the intake - well...... houston we have a problem. so everything comes off as its supposed to & i put a clean cloth over the intakes on the head. Then decide to close shop as im beginning to pull amps staying up way past my bedtime till all hours of Saturday morning.

i wake up reletively early as theres a splinter in my mind reminding me work is not done so i jump outa bed, don the grease clothes & off to the garage again. I begin light work of the swirl flaps on the manifold & take them off. I tried the dremmel to cut them off neatly but that didnt work & i kept on breaking disks so im like eff it.... Take out the mini me angle grinder & chop them off. I then did the el cheapo & used a high heat epoxy & no. 10 self tapping screw & put that into the swirl plates & wait for the epoxy to cure. but before that cut the screw to size so that its flush with the end of the swirl plate. Didnt take long mind you & you need to work quickly because by the time you hit plate 3 you need to mix a new batch of epxy as the previous lot has gone just about rock hard.

So then comes time to install the swirl plates again which i now refer to as blanking plates. I install them no probs, try clean the intake manifold as best i can and voila. time to put everything back together, which goes off without a hitch. Basically everything is assembled & im done before lunch time on Saturday arvie.

Sunday morning & i decide my ride needs a bath & im off to the local engen on the cnr of Hans Strijdom & st Bernard in PTA east & they do a real good job. in the meantime cause im so perdantic abt the car i drive it under boost cause the oil hasnt heated up enough to let the turbo boost. I get home, park my baby & thats it for Sunday

Monday comes & im to work. i get to the intersection of Hans Strijdom & garsfontein & thats the start of a reletively long climb for the car & by that time the oil has heated enough to start driving for real.I pull off no probs & all of a sudden i hear a funny clap noise & bam the acr has but eff all power. feels like im in a 1920 tractor. 3rd gear & im goin up the hill losing power with my foot pushing through the floor board, just about doing a fred flintstone manouvre & paddling the legs at the bottom.

Right now my heart has sunk further than the soles of my feet because boet you know you got problems right now & its gonna be an expensive one. all the while im thinkning of how im gonna break this news to the missus who told me dont do it cause you gonna break something. I hate it when that happens. worst of it all is this is a savings account trasher. all the wile trying to think of what went wrong. The car has now started to develope a pretty sooty smoke from behind & im just about in tears

I decide going to work aint gonna happen today so i decide to go down to my pops who doesnt stay too far away from me & go seek some advice or comforting or whatever one would call it.

We open the bonnet, but see nothing is wrong. So my best bet is to get a diagnostic to see what kakked. My pops decides to stay away from work to try help me out - bless his heart !!!

Everywhere i go everyone is busy & cannot do a diagnostic from about 3 days. Im getting dispondent & want to break into tears. My car has now started smoking pretty bad the more things warm up. I evetually turn up at Menlyn auto as a last resort & pop into the parts dept as i know the problem is something to do with the intake manifold. 1st though i ask for a diagnostic - R750 for the 1st hour & R300 for every hour after that. Im thinking a diagnostic only takes a small while - so lesson no1 on the stealers is making me even more moedeloos - because who knows, they might be the only ones who can fix my baby

Guy behind the counter says to me i cant buy the swirl flaps seperately & nor can i purchase the swirl flaps shaft seperate. They only sell the intake manifold as a complete unit but i better sit down cause im in for a surprise of my life. My poephol is pukkering like you cant believe at this point. R8,200.00. I jumped out the seat & with one swift move was outa there.

My pops & i decide to strip this beeach again to see what could have broken. Right now the car looks like a chronic weed smoker the way the black sooty smoke is pouring out the exhaust.

Eventually everything has come off & i see nothing but nothing is wrong. I take off the cover by the turbo & the turbo sounds like clockwork. Fork im having a nervous breakdown right now. Ive told the missus & she is pissed. No.... she is ready to be locked away for good for commiting murder.

my pops turns around & says - my boy, i have no more suggestions. You gonna need to find a good mech or take it back to menlyn auto, explain what you did, face the music & cough some blood for payment. Im at the lowest point of my life right now & im praying so hard for something nothign short of miraculous to happen.

We start putting everything back together & then theres that stubborn effer hose that gave me uphill the friday evening thats just dangeling there. It looking kakkerig cause it tore from the yanking so i decide to cut it off completely & get in my pop's fortuner & make a turn to midas. Get what im looking for & back home again. Im feeling emotional right now cause having a preggie wife & broken car aint my idea of having fun exactly.

get home put that hose on, & by fluke im feeling where the hell did the hose come off initially. I feel lots of oil thats been blown out of a hole at the back of the manifold & im thinking oh my godd the manifold has cracked. so off i get a torch but dont see anything. i put two & two together & the hose fits like P!3L in P()03s

I start the car, Yirrie but it sounds sommer different. I say to my dad that we need to take a drive case my vroemie is sounding like she should. I take her out of the estate & drill her down de villaboux mariul drive. The more im drilling her the more im about to break into song with my car.

Turns out, that little effer hose was running from an airflow sensor just behind the head & it wasnt registering any airflow hence the car not working like it should as that little hose has a knock on effect to the electronics, Turbo & godd knows what all else.

So all i can say is, remember that little hose & learn from my mistake. it nearly cost me my marriage.

On the flipside, my swirl flaps are gone & my chorrie is driving like a charm. Even better still, my fuel consumption has come down. Dont ask me how or why but it has.

Safe driving
Brendon
Driver of '06 320d e90 m-sport

PS: Hope you like my essay:thumbs:
Well done but what condition were the flaps in that you removed and how many km are on the car , did you take any pictures of the old flap ?
 

Brendon.Myburgh

New member
kilos on the car was round about 102 000. Im now on about 105.

to my relief the flaps were still in really good nick, i cant complain about that. all the little screws were still on as tight as it was manufactured.

Really it probably wasnt neccessary to do it, but in this instance. You never know until it goes. Bottom line here is you dont want it to go !!!

& even if youdo an inspection, well youre 99.9% there already so one might as well do it then
 

///Moose

///Member
Guys,

Sorry for the thread revival but this is relevant....

While at Tunetech I had a chat with them to delete the EGR and blank out the swirl flaps as this seems like the consistent message.

They said the EGR delete is necessary but the swirl flaps should not be removed, so now I'm confused :flyfun:
 

Andy1GP

///Member
MOO5E said:
They said the EGR delete is necessary but the swirl flaps should not be removed, so now I'm confused :flyfun:

Then maybe just check that the swirls are still nice and tight :thumbs:
 

netercol

New member
MOO5E said:
Guys,

Sorry for the thread revival but this is relevant....

While at Tunetech I had a chat with them to delete the EGR and blank out the swirl flaps as this seems like the consistent message.

They said the EGR delete is necessary but the swirl flaps should not be removed, so now I'm confused :flyfun:

they can say what they want.. obviously the swirl flaps have a purpose, the object being (in a nutshell) to lower emmisions at small throttle openings, by promoting swirl in the combustion chamber.

however the risk posed to your engine by this under engineered part is considerable, often destroying the engine when they come loose and get eaten by the engine..

the removal of these will thus worsen emmisions (debatable, since even the poms do delete these, and still pass their mot's)
and causes no noticable drivability issues.. so why keep them?
 

Brendon.Myburgh

New member
Rooi_Willie said:
Cool thread guys! :thumbs:

So I take it an 08 E90 320d would be safe from these defects?

nope, im under the assumtion you have to '08 E90. It has swirl flaps !!.

I did a bit of research about all the failures. It would appear with the face lift E90 the swirl flap shafts were made in a bigger diameter & the flaps were engineered a little better than the pre-face lift, however did not stop failures at all. It minimised drastically however did not stop all together.

I questioned BMW technicians about this & the one guy i spoke to tried to change the conversation all the time & divert the conversation in a different direction. That tells me its actually a useless piece of engineering when BMW's employees even shy away from the question.

I also did not do an EGR delete. I have never heard of that nosense before. My car runs like a breitling watch. My fuel consumtion came down from 6.7 l/100 down to 6 or 6.1 urban cycle. ( meaning i travel mostly from PTA - JHB & Back home everyday.

I can honestly recomend doing this, however the onus is up to you. If youre not comfortable with it - well then you have your answer.

I wanted peace of mind & theats precicely what i got. I have now done more than 10 000km so if something would have gone wrong it would have already

just my 2 cents
 

330dwp

New member
HI GUYS PLEASE HELP IVE GOT AN E90 330D MANUAL 2006 MY REVS AND SPEEDO HUNT SLIGHTLY ON IDLE AND IN THE DRIVE BUT I DO NOT EXPERIENCE ANY LOSS OF POWER. COULD THIS BE SWIRL FLAPS ? IF NOT WHAT OTHER POSSIBLE CAUSES COULD THERE BE?
 

TheDonC89

Member
Egr stops a run away diesel from happening. Otherwise you have to try stall car while it redlines


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